{"id":9784,"date":"2017-05-27T10:41:51","date_gmt":"2017-05-27T09:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=9784"},"modified":"2017-05-26T18:45:16","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T17:45:16","slug":"juryo-duree-de-la-vie-de-lainsi-venu-reviewed-by-musique-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=9784","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Juryo: Dur\u00c3\u00a9e de la vie de l\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ainsi-venu\u00e2\u20ac\u009d reviewed by Musique Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nHere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sombrely presented CD (pro-pressed and printed) on Cr\u00c3\u00b3nica. The imagery, and explanatory notes on the back cover, suggested to me that Juryo: Dur\u00c3\u00a9e de la Vie de L’ainsi\u00e2\u20ac\u2039-\u00e2\u20ac\u2039venu koxx might be an album dominated by field recording, and whilst it very much is, in one sense, sonically it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really quite different. The album is largely constructed from field recordings from across Asia, sometimes processed, sometimes raw. The second, third, and fourth tracks are inspired by a chapter of the Lotus S\u00c3\u00bbtra – a famous text of Mah\u00c3\u00a2y\u00c3\u00a2na Buddhism – whilst the first, Tanit Astart\u00c3\u00a9, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcis a quotation from Antonin Artaud\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book H\u00c3\u00a9liogabale, and refers to the moon goddess, as described in Phoenician myths.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122
\nThis first track, does indeed stand apart from the rest of the album, to the extent that I wonder whether its inclusion was a good idea, really\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inferior in any way, but just that the remaining three tracks together might have been a more coherent, stronger release. Regardless, Tanit Astart\u00c3\u00a9 is quite similar to its companions: droning electroacoustic sounds, alongside more kinetic sections. The only issue I have – and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not only very personal, but also rather fundamental – is that the actual sounds themselves are not always interesting. Indeed, across the entire album are sounds which remind me of a certain effect filter, which produces a resonant timbre not unlike a steel drum. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible that many of the sounds are just field recordings processed in this way, and certainly that would account for some of the wonderful movement that it is to be found on Juryo. However, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unfortunately simply a sound that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enjoy, so Tanit Astart\u00c3\u00a9 – for all of its swirls and intricacies – is not something that will ever stay in my stereo very long.<\/p>\n

The remaining three tracks fare much better. This is in part due to the interspersing of recognisable field recording elements amongst the synthesized sounds. So, folded in with the drones and modulating judders, we can also hear: flutes, street sounds, waves (or trees in the wind\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6), religious ritual, animal noises, voices, and the radio. These anchor the more abstract elements, and provide welcome colour in the tracks, which are all to the longer side of things. Whilst there are definitely melodic elements at work – the beginning of Taisi Funeral has a dreamy feel – the pieces are overwhelmingly textural and abstract. However, rather than exploring anything abrasive or frenetic, or minimal or quiet, Mieville occupies a tangled middle ground – tangled in the sense that Juryo is at points minimal, quiet, (nearly) frenetic, (nearly) abrasive, but never in thrall to any one direction. (Perhaps the most abrasive elements are the odd drop-outs (or cut-offs) during Murasaki, which jolt the listener, although frankly in an annoying way.)<\/p>\n

Initially, I was very non-plussed with this album, but after many listens, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come to appreciate it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s depth. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not an easy listen, there are no cheap thrills here, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a release that covers quite a bit of ground – as long as your ears can excuse that certain sound that mine can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Martin P<\/em><\/p>\n

via Musique Machine<\/a><\/p>\n