Miguel Carvalhais and Pedro Tudela recorded these files from 2002 to 2007, assembling the result in a multi-faceted patchwork that fuses improvisation, electronic, sampladelia and musique concrete. Surprisingly, after a couple of headphone sessions – in which, admittedly, this writer admired the quality of the studio work and the clever methods of combination applied by the duo – I gave the CD a try in my overall favourite listening setting: tranquil evening, open windows, moderate volume. The music became a great active ambience: incredibly rich, complex, full of chiaroscuro yet flowing without obstacles, sounding extremely natural to the ears. In a word, rewarding. To achieve this effect, @C taped several among the musicians with whom they had an artistic relation in the above mentioned time span (most names are not really familiar to yours truly, though Neil Davidson and Raymond MacDonald are well known in this place). Not that you can spot someone, as the timbral personalities get thoroughly mashed by a “quest for the unidentifiable†that makes Carvalhais and Tudela define them as “sampled guestsâ€, although they also describe this work as a homage to the involved artists. So what does all this mean in terms of sonic manoeuvre? The definitive picture is one of technical excellence, a little less heart (but it’s not mandatory for this kind of stuff) and the will to discern deeper implications in something that, in all probability, is not containing them. It does remain a very good release, whose real value is not explicable on a single listen. This record needs persistence and attention.
Massimo Ricci