“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 …

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

Dopo trent’anni di pratica compositiva — a partire da THU20 sino alla pura ricerca sulle componenti struturalli del suono — passando attraverso varie esperienze a margine da co-editore di Vital Magazine e da fondatore della piattaforma web EARlabs.org, Jos Smolders negli ultimi anni ha applicato alla propria produzione artistica le pratiche Zen a cui si è …

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

The modular synthesizer has always been a remarkable instrument: a huge panel of boxes with knobs and sliders, with components that can be replaced, converted and connected at will. I would imagine that playing such a machine is quite similar to steering a space ship, and that compulsive players of flight simulation games must have …

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

The “Nowhere” in the title is initially a barren place, the first three minutes of the opening track little more than faint geiger-counter-like glitches, before being crashed into by industrial electronics and barely discernible vocal declarations that form a jolting chaos for a couple of minutes, before disappearing as abruptly as they arrived, leaving only …

“Nowhere: Exercises in Modular Synthesis and Field Recording” reviewed by Revue & Corrigée

Il est d’ailleurs un instrument on ne peut plus électronique qui dit aujourd’hui ce paradoxe apparent, celui de jouer — non, d’utiliser — un instrument sans viser uns musique particulière, juste le simple plaisir de produire du son, comme à son insu: le synthétiseur modulaire, dont c’est actuellement l´âge d’or (alors qu’on le penserait quelque …