“Three-Body Problem” reviewed by Black Audio

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‘Three Body Problem’ is the 16th album from this duo; and their longevity has to be commended, considering the obscurity of their releases.

Like their previous release ‘Ab Ovo’, this latest output started as music formulated for a puppet theatre play ‘Agapornis’. This however, was recomposed after the event and is now its own soundtrack.

Minimalistic but understated, this latest piece of work is a sea of crackles and hisses dancing across a foundation of atmospheric ambient textures and bass lines. Overall, the sparse nature of the album steers distinctly away from being actual music, regardless of the interplay with actual instrumentation.

As far as sound experimentation goes though, @C will appeal to artistic types who revel in juxtapositions of noise that would sit well within an installation, or indeed within a live environment with corresponding visualisation. As such, this is an album that will not appeal to everyone; but does its job well, as far as contemplative aural exploration goes.

via Black Audio

“Roha” reviewed by Black Audio

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The field of electroacoustic music has its fair share of garbage, as it does those that are truly inspirational; Andreas Trobollowitsch sits pointing towards the former, just left of the middle ground.

Processing acoustic instrumentation with electronics is an art in itself, if the producer is to create anything of actual value; and when Andreas goes full flow it works well. However, he does fall into the trap of using space to its detriment; and on more than a few occasions there is barely an audible sound, apart from the odd pluck and flutter of glitch and squeaks. Then when things do kick off it can be an irritating mess.

Once again, here we have an artist that doesn’t work well on this format (if this release is anything to go by). It’s often I encounter an album that would work better as an installation and ‘Roha’ is no exception.

via Black Audio

“Bittersweet Melodies” reviewed by Black Audio

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Slavin returns with his 11th studio album, fixated with Crime time ambient poster sunsets and middle-eastern noire; opening up with Saturday’s Dress’, awash with ambient sub-textures and wiry electronic low-fi scratches.

The lounge electronica of ‘Category: Murder Entertainers’ sets the scene for the rest of the album. With stop/start loops and a nostalgic veil over the sound as a whole, Slavin creates a thick atmosphere that resonates as an image of over saturated film, overplayed until it burns away from the reel.

There is an underlying Jazz influence throughout, that battles constantly with the electronic format with which this album is created. The warring factions make for an interesting and surprisingly complementary voyage of experimentation; that keeps the listener on their toes.

With ‘Bittersweet Melodies’, Ran has created an album that should appeal to small cross sections of many a genre lover; appealing to those who are willing to accept traditional music sources as scattered and broken storytelling arcs, with a hint of shoe gazer appeal to boot.

via Black Audio

Futurónica 166

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Episode 166 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 13th.

The playlist of Futurónica 166 is:

  1. Brian Eno, Neroli (Thinking Music, Part IV) (1993, Neroli, All Saints Records)

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

@c presents “Three-Body Problem” in Porto

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Anticipating the release of their new album, “Three-Body Problem”, Pedro Tudela and Miguel Carvalhais will present a session of videos commissioned to the tracks of the album, featuring new work from Miguel Leal, Roav & N. Teluric, Nuno Tudela, Cristina Mateus, Lia, André Rangel, Marc Behrens, Rodrigo Carvalho, and Tudela & Carvalhais.

“Three-Body Problem” is @c’s newest album, composed from the original soundtrack to “Agapornis” by Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, and featuring Susana Santos Silva, Angelica V. Salvi, Ricardo Jacinto and João Pais Filipe.

It’s next May 19, in Passos Manuel, starting at 22h. Entrance is free!

TRANSCENDENCE 115 from Lia on Vimeo.

“Bittersweet Melodies” reviewed by Nitestylez

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Put on the circuit only recently via the Portuguese Cronica-imprint is “Bittersweet Melodies”, the most recent album effort by Ran Slavin who has released a string of numerous releases on labels like Earsay, Sub Rosa, Mille Plateaux and of course Cronica since the late 90s. With his eleventh longplay effort we see the artist, who’s mainly at home in the field of video installation and film, delve deeper into the musical spectrum of Ambient, Electronica and Clicks’n’Cuts-influenced textures, serving fascinating loop cut-ups like the highly hypnotic “Category: Murdered Entertainers” which introduces scattered bits of Jazz Noir and a tense, gut-stimulating overall feel as well as filtered, off-tune pianos blown over from afar in combination with glitchy beat abstractions and ultradigital sound manipulations in tunes like “Disruptive Lounge”. In “Fake Sunsets” cinematic and kitsch-loaden strings are clashing with dope beats and layers of tribal drums in an Illbient-reminiscing manner, “Dubai Dawn” fuses more sonic cinematography with chopped vocal bits and a little bit of balearic cheesiness, “Sad But True” sees piano loops meet waves of disortion, a steady heartbeat provided by low frequency pulses, alarming signals and a post-fall out atmosphere whilst “Sinatra Was Here” brings in what seem to be Spanish guitars and a tropical feel in contrast to off-kilter classical samples and digital skips, all combined and merged to be a well laid back yet unsettling variation of TripHop / Downbeat. More loops and surface crackles are to be found in the well dark’ish cut named “The Pineapple Assassin” which could be described as an abstract, slomo take on Minimal Techno / Armchair Techno, the “Collapsing Melody” introduces the vacillating, crackling and jarring unsteadiness of glitching, digital sound modification and manipulation in DAW Ambient and “Fast Moving Circumstances” are not that fast moving but exploring Armchair Techno realms in a decent, yet thrilling way. Finally “Deserted New Buildings” seems to be the most dancefloor friendly tune featured in this longplay piece, sporting mechanical, uncompromisingly marching drums and trippy loops in rewind for the Minimal House posse before the concluding track “Discreet Features” builds tension through a feel of immanent danger and fast-paced, slightly robotic sci-fi grooves built from clicks’n’crackles. Defo a good one, this.

“Roha” reviewed by Bad Alchemy

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Andreas Trobollowitsch konnte einem schon zu Ohren kommen zusammen mit Johannes Trödel als Nörz und deren “(Also Known As) Acker Velvet” (Schramm, 2009) und als Acker Velvet mit “Carbon & Chairs” (Monotype, 2012). In erstem Fall wurde als sein Instrumentarium Tape, Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Melodica [Prepared] uns Electronics [Inside Radio, Feedback] gennant. Das ist auch bei ROHA (Crónica 105~2016) gut vorstellbar, auch wenn da nur Drum- und Basssamples als weitere Zutaten gelistet werden. Bei “1’11”” wellt sich zitternd und surrend das Feedback von einem E-Bass. “Ratt” dreht sich klapprig quietschend und zwitschernd als mit einem Vokalsample und Melodica tätowiertes, drahtig-blechern mahlendes Etwas. Bei “tapco” lobt schwerfälliges und knattriges Schlagwerk zu einer surrenden und dröhnenden Klangwand mit Kontrabassingredienzen. Auch “tuul” mischt Bass mit Gedröhn und Schlagzeug in einer Reihe von Schüben. “i.ii.” besteht aus elektroperkussiven Drehungen, gesäumt von klickenden und surrenden Klären und einer spitzen Frequenz. Bei ‘Essbeat’ sind ins elektroperkussiv knarrende und läutende, mühsam angeblasene und mit Minuswelle angestochene Dingding Pianosplitter gestreut. Ein weiteres, von Becken leise beticktes, spitz bedrohtes Spiel mit Kontrabass ist mit seinen Schlagfolgen ‘rain’ getauft. Zuletzt beginnt ‘klavirzinho’ als Innenklaviercymbalum, das sich mehr und mehr in sein Geklöppelt einspinnt, plötzlich abdunkelt und allmählich als gedämpft pochender Trauermarsch verhallt. So manches wird ‘organisch’ gennant und ich weiß nicht so recht warum, hier aber, wenn man sich das einigermaßen hybrid und chimärenhaft vorstellt, schon.

“Against Nature” reviewed by Bad Alchemy

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Sehr schön umraunt Jim Haynes, der ja auf Helen Scarsdale Agency Simon Whetham’s “From The Mouths of Clay” (2014) herausgebracht hat, mit “loom… unease… carcinogenic… confusion” die unheimliche Suggestivität, mit der der Brite sich dem Unbekannten annähert. Ausgerechnet in Kristiansand fand Whetham im Herbst 2013 die Sounds, aus denen er Against Nature konstruierte. Er bezieht sich damit auf “À Rebours” (1884, zu dt. “Gegen den Strich”) von Joris-Kalr Huysmans, dessen Protagonist Des Esseintes selbst bei Houllebecqs “Unterwerfung” noch die Quintessenz des Dekadenz verkörpert. Bei Whetham ist Natur ein nebulöses Beinahenichts, anfangs noch von Grillen bezirpt. Aber je abgenutzter und abgeschliffener und aus zweiter Hand, desto mehr wird sie zum rauschenden Schleifstein, an dem sich die Gedanken und Gefühle wund reiben. Brausende uns fesselnde Impulse könnten von Regen herrühren, werden jedoch zu einer abstrakteren Wall of Sound und in ihrem wummernden Grau in Grau zu einem Nessushemd für jeden Des Esseintes. Stöhnende Laute sausen umeinander wie poetisch auf Fliegengröße verkleinerte Rennwagen, reibeiserne Verzerrungen zerren am Trommelfell. Nadelige Beats säumen ein abbruchunternehmerisches Rumoren, das abbricht für windspielerisches Geglöckel. Hatte nicht Léon Blog, einer von Huysmans großen Bewunderern, sich als ‘Entrepreneur de démolitions’ vorgestellt? Whetham setzt Verzerrungen als Bohrer an, lässt es links bersten, rechts prickeln, in der Mitte brodeln und brummen. Er scharrt und scheppert mit Eisenteilen und endet mit einem durchflatterten Aufbrausen une einer stotzigen Blechdeppenversion von R2-D2. Ihr schwachen Sträflinge des Lebens, seht es doch ein, die Welt gehört robusteren Naturen.