André Gonçalves will perform tonight at Lab Synthèse in Montreal. Also playing will be Peter Kutin, Blake Hargreaves and The Human Athlete.
From the archives: Club Transmediale’s Creative Independents Network Market
Two pieces by Cem Güney at First Spark
Factitous Phobia & Hysteresis 1 + 2 by Cem Güney will be broadcasted by www.soundartradio.org.uk for First Spark. Friday February 6 from 12 to 14h, and Saturday February 7 from 14 to 16h.
“Factitious Phobiaâ€, from the album Praxis: the structure of the composition is built on a recorded, and then edited shortwave radio broadcast of a middle eastern song.
“Hysteresis 1+2†(unreleased pieces): 2 tracks constructed to be played sequentially. Hysteresis, is an improvised recording of pre-recorded shortwave radio transmissions, online radio broadcasts and TV transmissions, with the company of a minidisc player, a stereo walkman headphone and computer.
The compositions main purpose is to research the psychological effects of hysteresis (a lag between an effect or response and the force that caused it), compositional elements such as silence and amplitude modulation, and the effects it may have on the listener.
“Praxis†reviewed by Neural (english edition)
With sudden audio constructions, electro-acoustic and microsound influences, the Turkish multi-instrumentalist Cem Güney (who can boast past experiences as DJ and trumpet player) gives birth to a fascinating sequence of synthetic sounds and field recordings for the Portuguese experimental label Crónica. Compositions orbiting around an authorial attention focused on the perception of fragments, in forms of reverberations, crackles and wide iterations that come together in ambient and acousmatic scores. Gentle but still somewhat harsh, an elaboration of conceptually sophisticated and shining themes, experimental in articulating algorithmic sequences between science and spirituality. A meditation on the audible universe that bases its exploration on the same imagery evoked by our bodily automatisms: the flowing of blood, the electricity of nerves, the crackings in our ears. ‘Nada Yoga’ without melodies, words, rhythms or harmonies: just the sound of a humming breath. Aurelio Cianciotta
via Neural
“Digital Sound Drawings†reviewed by 5 against 4
Many moons ago, i wrote a lengthy retrospective of the work of Ryoji Ikeda, creator of some the finest raw digital music yet created • It’s an unfortunate corollary that Ikeda, like all great innovators, has a sizeable cluster of imitators (‘flattery’ be damned), many of whom form part of the now woefully tautological output from the once interesting Raster-Noton label • But something quite new appeared today, from the Crónica netlabel that i’ve praised so highly in the past • Out today is the fifth of their ‘Unlimited Releases’ series: Digital Sound Drawings by the Danish composer Morten Riis • The short programme note speaks of these six compositions being “composed through the drawing of images and their direct conversion into sound”, which brings to mind the well-known spectral imagery occasionally used by, among others, Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares & Plaid (about which more can be read here) • Riis’ compositions are quite different, however, more akin to ‘sculptures’ than anything else, something that becomes strikingly apparent when the music is listened to using audio editing software, as recommended by the composer • i found this a fascinating way to listen, proving revelatory about the sound structures Riss has created •
The opening track, “[d.raw]”, is uncompromising from the outset, hard-edged & frenetic, its material skittering & glacial, sounding precisely how one might have imagined it would • Not surprisingly, it suggests Ikeda (or Alva Noto, in one of his more inspired moments), & yet there’s an undeniable warmth & richness demonstrated that is quite disarming • Nonetheless, it’s the kind of opening track that might put off a timid listener; but that would be a mistake, as what follows is markedly different •
“new.s” presents an immediate shift, opening with a delicate fluttering of blips that quickly yields to a surprisingly gentle noise journey • This journey, as the waveform shows, exploits the creative potential of the DC offset, something most sound engineers would seek to avoid • It’s highly effective, bestowing on the sounds a paradoxical powerful softness, punctuated by sharp jumps in voltage that are also usually avoided • Already, this is material most unlike the majority of digital sound artists •
This expressive use of DC offset is taken to further extremes in the surreal but very beautiful “[wav.form]”, the waveform of which betrays clearly its image-based origins • The result is rather like bombarding the ears with a ton of feathers, a myriad of light poundings that are forever changing in shape & timbre • It’s tough at first, but ultimately very rewarding •
As its name suggests, “[nor.m]” returns to more ‘normal’ sonic territory, this time founded upon stable fundamental voltages • It’s the most timbrally varied track on the EP, juxtaposing many kinds of noise beside jittery drones & fragmentary high sonics • The whole is somewhat reminiscent of Cage’s music involving radios, but without ever alighting on something concrete •
Extremes of DC offset return in “[raw.d]”, by far the most ethereal track, exploring a microsound landscape worthy of Roden or Hudak • It suggests the transcendental possibilities of such voltage extremes, simultaneously hovering on the brink of audibility & overload, its unrelenting pressures again taking its toll on the ears (especially through headphones), while never departing far from pianissimo •
Similar extremes in the final track, “[pic.ture]”, that serves as a suitable (if a little less engaging) denouement & summary of what has gone before • Once again, dynamic restraint is considerable, submerged in the high pressures DC offset affords • i say it’s less engaging, but the way in which the material hovers in a place that defies tangibility is interesting, & perhaps the standout quality of the EP as a whole •
Available for free download from Crónica here, in high-resolution (44.1kHz, 24-bit) AIFF files • i recommend listening through headphones (as long as they have excellent frequency response), & with the aid of audio editing software (for those who lack some, Audacity is a reasonably good, free program), in order to follow the trajectories of the sound waves as they progress •
via 5 against 4
“Berlin Backyards†and “Ification†reviewed by Vital Weekly
One of the things I like Berlin (and some other German cities), is the backyards which houses. A small entrance and then you are surrounded by four sides of houses and apartments, and which are excellent for parties, concerts and such like. A form of social control also, that might be the downside, but I don’t know: I never lived in Berlin. The backyard is also the place were all the technic stuff from buildings come together, like ventilation, trash, recycling containers and electrical wiring. A noisy place by itself, and sometimes allowing street noise to come in. I never made any recording in there, but Gilles Aubry, who lives in Berlin since 2002, did, perhaps with the same fascination for these places. Its not easy to say what, if anything at all, Aubrey did to the sounds he recorded. In these eight pieces there are moments when I think these are pretty straight forward field recordings, and in other cases I seem to think that uses loops of the material. My best guess is however that’s a combination of both. There is however very little other ‘processing’ going here, save for a bit of panning and equalization. I thought that was a pity, since eight of these pieces is pretty much. The street sounds, electric power station, the rolling of containers: after about six pieces you know the drill of it.
Something entirely different is the latest album by Pure, from Vienna. He works under various guises, and this is fourth Pure CD, following ‘Noonbugs’ on Mego for four years ago. Seven pieces of electronic music, six of them recorded with the help of others, like Christoph de Babalon on guitar samples, Martin Brandlmayr on drums, the screams of Alexandra von Bolzn and Anke Eckardt on bass guitar. What Aubrey lacks in variation is made up here by Pure. The heavy start of ‘Fire’, into to post nuclear war zone with no survivors of ‘After The Bomb’ (an appropriate title), Pure takes the listener on a ride that ranges from subtleness to the utter crude, which ends with the nightmares of ‘Iron Sky’. Excellent music for b-movies that deserve a-music. Certainly not always ‘pleasant’ in terms of nice background music for your living room, but unpleasant music to make your life a bit easier and less painful. (FdW)
via Vital Weekly
“Filare†reviewed by 5 against 4
This is another free download album from Crónica (available here), intended to “produce sustained music which at the same time would contain movement and harmonic richness”. Filare is, indeed, rich, & its ambient textures are ever in flux, ever at the boundary between commanding interest & being (to use Eno’s term) “ignorable”. It is highly organic throughout, giving the impression of a composer who has set (carefully ordered) things in motion that then run their course, rather than controlling the sound at each passing moment.
via 5 against 4
New series of releases available from Zero Inch
The Beautiful Schizophonic’s “Musicamorosaâ€, Davor Mikan’s “Täuschungâ€, Cem Güney’s “Praxisâ€, Gilles Aubry’s “Berlin Backyards†and the forthcoming Gintas K’s “Lovely Banalities†are now available through Zero Inch. More to come soon.
“Berlin Backyards†reviewed by Rockerilla
Quando si tratta di complicare l’ascolto la portoghese Crónica non è seconda a nessuno. Gilles Aubry è un ingegnere del suono svizzero con il pallino per i field recordings. Nel 2006 he ha registrati un bel po’ in giro per Berlino. Dopo averli rimaneggiati con i suoi calcolatori elettronici li ha assemblati in un blob di cinquanta minuti che la Crónica dopo tre anni ha deciso pubblicare. “Berlin Backyards” ca ascoltato con la fantasia e con le orecchie molto aperte — come nel caso di tutti i dischi di field recordings. Su gran parte del disco, in sottofondo, non smette di brulicare un rumore che sembra venire da un’acciaieria più che del traffico cittadino. Reperti di aria industriale, quindi. Ma poi anche fringuelli e pappagalli. Il suono viaggia da un canale all’altro, addensandosi e dilatandosi durante tutti gli otto movimenti senza titolo del disco. Roberto Mandolini
“Nocturnal Rainbow Rising†reviewed by 5 against 4
Ran Slavin’s latest release is another free download, from the excellent Crónica netlabel. It’s a disc that demonstrates real skill at shaping sound, as well as formidable restraint, the tracks given space to develop at their own pace, never seeming forced along. Its use of bass frequencies to punctuate the material is very striking; “Pure Honey in Lack One” is perhaps the best example.
via 5 against 4