“Intuited Architectures” reviewed by Chain DLK


Graeme Truslove’s sonic mosaics use glitchy, electronic sounds to create gently disquieting ethereal soundscapes full of synthetic bubbles, clicks and pitter-patters. Exploring automation techniques, Truslove generates music that seems to be disassembling and reassembling itself.

The opening “Suite II”, in three parts, is generally quite frantic. Tones and layers shift impatiently, never settling into one arrangement for more than a few seconds. It’s a sometimes unpleasant bath to wallow in, often abrasive, yet at other times pretty.

“Elements” is somewhat simpler and darker, with some John Carpenter-esque elements as low impossibly-sustained piano notes underlie ghostly noises.

“Concrètisations X” is mellower in tone and puts the emphasis back in the micro-cut noises, complex, mechanical and challenging the distinction where one person’s ‘deconstructed’ is another person’s ‘broken’. At the beginning and end there are crunching, biting notes, but the second half certainly returns to the underwater feeling, with waves of slow breathing and muddy, deep rumbles.

Longest piece “Strata” is more audibly dominated by strained and rapid sounds sourced from a guitar- objects being dragged up the strings, guitar bodies being tapped and pulled and so on. The energy of this appears to run out after five minutes so we move to an environment of light industrial drone, one that makes you realise the importance of the space inbetween which is sometimes a little bit overlooked in these arrangements. The manner in which the guitar, and other new elements slowly reintroduce themselves is the most beautifully controlled section of the album, before another drop after fifteen minutes with guitar tones bringing us full circle to a close.

The self-devised digital instruments and processing give “Intuited Architectures” a character that’s unique, yet not a country mile from the well-trodden paths of sonic experimentation of this kind. It’s a little too manic too often for my tastes but it does exude quality and care. Stuart Bruce

via Chain DLK

Futurónica 192


Episode 192 of Futurónica, a broadcast in Rádio Manobras (91.5 MHz in Porto, 18h30) and Rádio Zero (21h GMT, repeating on Tuesday at 01h) airs tomorrow, May 12th.

The playlist of Futurónica 192 is:

  1. Mika Vainio, Kelvin (1997, Onko, Touch)
  2. Mika Vainio, Jos [If?] (1997, Onko, Touch)
  3. Mika Vainio, Onko Parts 1-11 [Is It?] (1997, Onko, Touch)
  4. Mika Vainio, Viher [Green/Cellular] (1997, Onko, Touch)

You can follow Rádio Zero’s broadcasts at radiozero.pt/ouvir and Rádio Manobras at radiomanobras.pt.

New release: Graeme Truslove’s “Intuited Architectures”


Graeme Truslove’s musical output so far has been divided between the opposing spheres of fixed-medium electroacoustic composition and improvised performance. All of the works presented in Intuited Architectures focus on integrating these conflicting extremes in various ways. Throughout their development, the creative processes employed shifted from the sculptural to the performative – from the creation of sonic mosaics, constructed from the careful placement of individual sonic impulses, to the recording and manipulation of performances on self-devised digital instruments. This shift arose initially through attempts to analyse and automate laborious micro-level techniques, however as the possibility to interact with these techniques in real-time emerged, so too did a number of unforeseen expressive possibilities. Montages became performances, which in turn became montages again. Central to all of the compositions is a preoccupation with musical time scales, ranging from the fabrication of synthetic timbres, via these performative-algorithmic approaches, through to their integration within larger-scale temporal strategies.

Graeme Truslove is a composer and performer based in Glasgow, Scotland. His output includes sonic and audio-visual compositions, and improvised music – playing guitar and/or laptop in various solo and collaborative projects. He holds both an M.Eng in Electronics with Music, and a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Glasgow. He currently lectures in Composition and Music Technology at the University of the West of Scotland.

Truslove has performed and exhibited his work internationally, and has attracted awards and nominations from: Métamorphoses (Belgium, 1st prize), The Salford Sonic Research Commission (UK), Creative Scotland, The British Council, The Performing Rights Society Foundation PRSF (UK), The Dewar Arts Award (Scotland), Sociedad General de Autores y Editores SGAE (Spain), The Prince’s Trust (UK), The Phonos Foundation (Spain), The Lumen Prize (UK), The International Computer Music Association (USA).

Portals won 1st prize in the Métamorphoses 2010, 6th Biennial Acousmatic Composition Competition, and was released previously by Musiques & Recherches (MR2010). Suite II was created with support from the Dewar Arts Awards, Scotland. Elements was funded by a bursary from the Performing Rights Society Foundation, UK.

  1. Suite II, Portals (07:36)
  2. Suite II, Convergence (08:26)
  3. Suite II, Divergent Dialogues (08:19)
  4. Elements (08:22)
  5. Concrètisations X (14:45)
  6. Strata (20:24)

All pieces created 2004 to 2010 by Graeme Truslove.
Double Bass on Strata performed by George Lyle.
Photo by Alison Clifford.
Produced with support from The University of the West of Scotland.

Intuited Architectures is available as a limited-release CD and a digital download.

“Digital Junkies in Strange Times” reviewed by Rockerilla

Ran Slavin è un virtuoso del laptop, che si è ormai imposto nella cultura musicale contemporanea come uno strumento a sé a tutti gli e etti. E etti che nel caso della musica di Slavin si palesano in una manciata di pezzi techno dove a farla da padrone è un’ambient “sporca” e spuria nella quale si innestano spunti r’n’b a presa rapida. A farla da padrone nel suo nuovo disco sono ovviamente i 41 mastodontici minuti di Moonlight Compilations, che ricalca certi cerimoniali electro-minimal a base di musica cosmica, industrial, ambient e new age di Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never. Massimo Padalino

“Hiku Komuro, Hikikomori” reviewed by Rockerilla

La Cronica non delude mai con le sue pubblicazioni e anche questa volta fa centro con la cassetta dell’artista spagnolo Durán Vázquez, autore di tracce sperimentali reperibili ovviamente anche in digitale. Il galiziano utilizza software di Windows, vecchi plug-ins degli anni 90, campionamenti da vecchi videogame anni 80 e varia strumentazione per un lavoro la cui ricerca sonora si muove tra isolazionismo ambient, musica concreta
e citazioni da un passato ludico (vedi i suoni dei videogiochi inseriti su un drone nel brano conclusivo di oltre 26 minuti). Gianluca Polverari

“The Wayward Regional Transmissions” reviewed by Data.Wave


This is another chapter in our research project of Ran Slavin’s music, where we are listening to The Wayward Regional Transmissions.

Artwork of the album is very original, we are looking down to the desert’s surface from a satellite, while receiving a transmission or from the command centre. Every single of Ran’s releases is a new step into the unknown territory of sound. Listening to this album you transit to Oriental Abstract Spiritual Music and glitch, combined with experimental ethno-electronic music.

The first track Village mesmerizes with its folklore-like sounds. I don’t know was it in Middle East, India or someone from another planet, who invented musical instrument Bulbul Tarang, played by Ahuva Ozeri. You can listen for hours for its space-like sounds, and combined with the digital technology, this instrument produces
unpredictable and surprising results.

Have a listen to the spiritual and, at the same time, psychedelic track Wayward Initial. Its music levitates your consciousness above the vast space of Sahara desert and once you are ready to cast your eye to the horizon, it introduces a hard glitch, resembling a secret transmission from an unknown radio station directed at you.

Shelters and Peace has another level of sound, introduced by clicks’n’cuts – the air above the desert is hot and static, you are starting to see images of an oasis, jittering with each click.

DAT Beats – first loops and sounds remind us that we are still listening to electronic music. Ironic track Kiosk in Furadis with its colorful flying voices adds its own flavor and the picture turns unbelievably rich: Earth, space, sound, music, color. The only unfortunate thing about the track Hagalil – is that it is the last track of the album and that our Transmission is over.

“Nowhere: Exercises in Modular Synthesis and Field Recording” reviewed by Vital


Ten years ago J. Smolders quit developing work from preconceived compositions, planned into the smallest details. Since them, he has been using ways of work more undefined and fuzzy. While taking these steps, he cultivates states of deep concentration, and then he makes the work with a few quick touches. He uses these elements when he plays with the modular synths and the field recordings. He prepares, and then lets it all flow, keeping the original sounds simple and limiting the overdubs and the editing procedures, according to the main free form concept of “here and now”. The sequences of Nowhere seem to be quite abstract, dilated, filled with hum and static discharges, cosmic hyperbole and crackle, feedback and distortions. The work has strong goals and is strong in its performing too, thanks to the unimpeachable work procedures.

“Stikhiya” reviewed by Vital


Let go theorizing, theories, rational reasoning. Strive for Stikhiya. Or: primitive immediacy. Then and there, organic holistic experiences (may) emerge, dixit Yorgis Sakellariou. It’s where unfathomable and formless forces of perception are at play; awe-inspiring, myth-making.
On his cassette Sakellariou manipulates field recordings from various sources; be it natural or technological/industrial, be it in the field or at home. The crash of a waterfall joins a fridge’s hum in a symphony of clashes and juxtapositions. Scratching and scraping, creepy and crawly, rumbling and bustling the aural zoo maintained by Sakellariou is teeming with lively action.
This projects a power of catharsis in as much as these works bear their elementary building blocks precisely to remain firmly rooted in reality, whilst rearranging these familiarities towards expansions of the real; a rarification, perfecting too – also in size of the sound field and scope of the emotional rapport. Sakellariou’s rawness of sound is worn on his sleeve; a throbbing heartbeat – the sound of what it means to be alive, hearing living – living hearing: here, now and with an eternal glimmer from the noise of stern stuff, from which epic is written. (SSK)

via Vital