Jos Smolders’s “Submerge-Emerge” reviewed by Nieuwe Noten

Voor het bijna twee uur durende ‘Submerge-Emerge’ liet Smolders zich eveneens inspireren door een kunstwerk, nu het gedicht ‘Un Coup De Des Jamais N’Abolira Le Hasard’ van Stéphane Mallarmé. Al veertig jaar is Smolders gefascineerd door dit gedicht, maar pas na meer onderzoek naar de achtergronden, was hij in staat om er ook muzikaal iets …

New release: Jos Smolders’s “Submerge-Emerge”

Stéphane Mallarmé’s poem Un Coup De Des Jamais N’Abolira Le Hasard (1897) immediately fascinated me when I first encountered it during my teenage years. At the time, you could always get my attention by showing me something(anything) out of the ordinary. Modern art, unpopular music, crazy movies; all was absorbed by eyes and ears. When I first …

“Submerge-Emerge” reviewed by Ambient Blog

You can trust Dutch electroacoustic composer and sound artist (and mastering engineer) Jos Smolders to come up with amazing sounds. After all, he has the experience of experimenting for more than 35 years – learning to work with â€œa combination of instinct, talent, skill, and patience”. Submerge-Emerge, released on Crónica as a 2-CD set and digital download, presents a fascinating …

“Submerge-Emerge” reviewed by Vital Weekly

Jos Smolders was inspired to write “Submerge- Emerge” by a teenage encounter with an 1897 poem called “Un Coup de des Jamais N’Abolira le Hasard” by Stephane Mallarme. As art tends to do when a receptive kid encounters it for the first time, the poem stuck with Smolders for decades afterwards. He continued to think …

“Nowhere: Exercises in Modular Synthesis and Field Recording” reviewed by The Sound Projector

We haven’t heard a great deal from Jos Smolders, the Dutch musician who began his career studying architecture, outside of his contributions to a compilation of sorts called International Musique Concrète Assembly where he appeared with fellow Netherlandish droner Frans de Waard. But that was in 2007. It would have been nice to have heard …

“Nowhere: Exercises in Modular Synthesis and Field Recording” reviewed by RNE 3 Atmosfera

Durante su preparación, colocando el papel, mojando el pincel y moliendo la piedra de la tinta, el calígrafo está profundamente concentrado. Luego, cuando está listo, realiza el dibujo en unos cuantos movimientos rápidos. Esta alegoría le sirve a Jos Smolders para afirmar que sus trabajos siempre han sido precisos, meticulosamente editados. En la última década …

“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 …