Tag: Giuseppe Angelucci

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review – physical, absent, tangible (contour editions) – Giuseppe Angelucci, Spiritual Archives

Physical, Absent, Tangible, i8u, Christopher Delaurenti, Gil Sansón and Brian Mackern & Gabriel Galli –

Thursday,  July 8th 2010

Five names selected for the first title in CD format on “Contour Editions”, relatively young label run by Richard Garet.
The catalogue also includes a section devoted to online releases and another one related to visual elaborations.
Just a year ago Richard (acclaimed sound artist who enjoys high esteem and needs no further introduction – his discography here) chose to carry out the project of a record label, a good place where to amplify his visions, a laboratory of new extensions able to represent his personal concepts of aural perception.
“Physical, Absent, Tangible” is an excellent starting point, formed by contributions which promptly succeed in materializing Garet’s ambitions.

Canadian composer i8u (see here) opens the disc: “Rarefaction” is a long, bumpy navigation constellated by short interruptions and abnormal signals which interfere with the main theme. Quite nonlinear, progressively unpredictable, it evolves into delicate shades of sound, randomly hit by sinewaves.
More density in the second half, a sinister landscape as background, some insertions, processed lines, always in a whisper. Great assemblage and stratification of layers.

Seattle based phonographer Christopher DeLaurenti provides the second and third track. “Sigil” wiggles between noise-oriented iterations and sombre tonalities; also noticeable are whirling effects, employed to emphasize the tones. Some passages are heavily affected by manipulations, some patterns deftly juxtaposed, the whole gives an idea of expansion.
A negligible gap leads to “Nictating”, whose break-in is truly disruptive: a resounding rumble and measured impulses rush in parallel, immutable, beating time, for some moments. A slight change of scenery follows, elements of variability are added, all instances become almost imperceptible, the depth of field more palpable.

The next eight tracks come from Venezuelan Gil Sansón (essayist and composer, meaningful presence in the project EA, shared with Garet, Owen, Arno, Graydon and Gonçalves). Eight movements as product of digital sequences and raw recordings, imprints of musique concrète, sketches of organic shapes. Gil uses effective techniques that transpose the listener into open-ended spaces, by (de)structuring the visible: a cinematic (re)construction of familiar places we will never visit.

A weather event (the Santa Rosa storm) as primary source for the last track. Brian Mackern & Gabriel Galli (both from Uruguay) deal with/manage electromagnetic phenomena occurred on the occasion: interferences picked up by radio reception systems are connected with morse code blips, vocal registrations and looped interludes. The piece has a striking impact, passes through phases of transformation, reaches unexpected levels of outspoken melody.

Collection of works substantially in line with the strategies pursued by Garet, despite a strong and variegated personality of the contributors, which offers exciting prospects for the future of the label.

Label: Contour Editions
Cat. #: ce.cd_0001
Format: CD-R
Release date: 02/2010

Tracklist:
01 – i8u – Rarefaction (11:31)
02 – Christopher DeLaurenti – Sigil (05:25)
03 – Christopher DeLaurenti – Nictating (11:00)
04 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 1 (02:59)
05 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 2 (03:41)
06 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 3 (02:15)
07 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 4 (04:20)
08 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 5 (00:43)
09 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 6 (01:26)
10 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 7 (01:09)
11 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 8 (02:58)
12 – Brian Mackern & Gabriel Galli – 34s56w / Temporal De Santa Rosa (14:24)

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Review – Ligne i8u | Tomas Phillips (ATAK) 2009 – by Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly


i8u – Tomas Phillips ligne (CD by ATAK) 2009

Things have been quiet for Japanese Atak, as of May,  they make a return with an album by Canada’s I8U and Tomas Philips. Both are perhaps known for their work in the field of microsound and together they have been working since 2005. They work out of improvisation while being inspired by one thing or another. A film by Sergio Leone or a piano for instance. These improvisations have been revised, reworked, added or subtracted. Perhaps that might be hard to believe, since if you hear this CD, you’ll be listening to some very minimal music. A few static lines, some click like sound, deep bass, sine waves and such like. Like the vague images on the cover, this music is more like an environment, surrounding you. The flickering of shadow on the wall, this music is also altering your perception. Carefully, slow, meditative, delicate and precious. All of these words are appropriate for this album. Label boss Keiichiro Shibuya’s remix of the title track at the end brings the material in a slightly different terrain: its more present than the other three pieces and more firmly rooted in somewhat louder laptop music, but it fits well in this release, providing a nice counterpoint. (FdW)


Label: Atak
Cat. #: ATAK013
Format: CD
Release date: 2009

Tracklisting:
01 – Ligne (18:23)
02 – Point (08:38)
03 – Donnée (19:15)
04 – Ligne (10:10)

-Vital Weekly-
Frans de Waard

Address: http://atak.jp

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Review Ligne i8u | Tomas Phillips (ATAK) 2009 – by Giuseppe Angelucci, Spiritual Archives

i8u – Tomas Phillips ligne (CD by ATAK) 2009

Atak is a Japanese label born in 2002, founded by Keiichiro Shibuya and maria, a duo also known as “Slipped Disk”. Its catalogue comprises fifteen releases so far, including Shibuya’s newest work (“For Maria”). All published albums have electronics as predominant factor, although managed from different viewpoints, primarily dealing with experimentation fields and sound art aspects.

”Ligne”, out two months ago, marks a collaboration (a new synergy after “Anther” in 2006) between France Jobin, Canadian sound-sculpture artist (i8u) and Tomas Phillips, American composer as well as literature teacher.i8u creates, since more than a decade, acclaimed works, live performances and installations, Phillips’ sound is usually associated to reference labels like Trente Oiseaux, and/OAR, Non Visual Objects, Line, and, recently, Koyuki.

”Ligne” could be read as a report of visions, feelings and aesthetic attitudes, reflecting the intellectual background of its authors, whose abilities, combined together, produce an astounding result beyond expectation.

Four tracks here: two “lines” (which open and close the work) as boundary for a point and a data (names given to the other pieces), about a hour of encoded information, a persistent stream from the start-up to the last pulse, unpredictable sound sceneries proposed.
Environmental recordings are present, of course, but it is also possible to notice compositional moments, forceful changes of state, harmonic structures which tangle up.
Dilated, extended soundscapes burst on the scene, fade away and revitalize themselves after a while.

The first drawing is built on cracklings, glitches, interferences which intersect resounding patterns, melodic (in rare moments) or (more often) soaked with a hypnotic vein.
This scheme is kept for the first half of the track, then new, different perturbations on a more minimal ground and a new mutation around the thirteenth minute: electronic pulses meet repeated, manipulated piano tones.
In the second piece there’s a prevalence of subtle frequencies and defective insertions, what causes a granular effect in pure microsound style.
“Donnée”, the third track, is also the longest and the most fascinating: it starts with rustles, scattered noises, rumblings placed in continuum, then evolves in suave patches put on abrasive surfaces.
Lastly, “Ligne”, once more an immersion into profound sounds, exploded with more violence, sharp-pointed projections which afterwards dissolve into more peaceful states, almost meditative.
Excellent interaction between the two protagonists, intelligent use of (re)sources, spent for a very complex work, really expressive…or, to be precise, visual.

Label: Atak
Cat. #: ATAK013
Format: CD
Release date: 2009

Tracklisting:

01 – Ligne (18:23)
02 – Point (08:38)
03 – Donnée (19:15)
04 – Ligne (10:10)

-Spiritual Archives.

Giuseppe Angelucci

Address: http://atak.jp