VENROOY, ESTHER — The Spiral Staircase

"Those fortunate enough to be familiar with the thrilling sensory overload of Esther Venrooy’s To Shape Volumes, Repeat from 2003 might have a hard time believing that the leisurely drones of The Spiral Staircase are the work of the same person. But careful listening reveals the same meticulous ear at work. The Gent based Dutch composer’s fondness for subtly shifting warm tones sourced from a vintage EMS analogue synthesizer inevitably recalls Eliane Radigue, but there are surprises in store in exquisitely worked found sounds, sprinkled over where you’d least expect them. There’s a compositional maturity and sureness of touch here worthy of Feldman, the sense that each sound is exactly what and where it should be. Entr’acte’s sober packaging might lead you to expect grey austerity, but the music is as luminous and richly hued as a Vermeer. In the same way that he achieved transparency by applying granular layers of paint,Venrooy’s seemingly simple sonorities are masterly assemblages of different timbres and tones." [Dan Warburton / THE WIRE]

"The Spiral Staircase is a series of short electronic vignettes that constitute two vertical progressions. The pieces were composed during 2006–7 and consist of layered bodies of sound. Some of the source material was created on the EMS Synthi 100 at the IPEM (Institute for Psycho-acoustics and Electronic Music) in Gent, Belgium." [label info]

"... comprised largely of modulated drones amidst other electronic detritus but no disembodied voices. As with the melodic segment that began “Brussel”, the impression is less one of detecting something “new”—indeed, many of the sounds have a familiar aspect—but more with the grace and thoughtfulness with which the sounds are aligned and juxtaposed. The ringing throb that begins side one here, waxing every four or five seconds, is, in a sense, a recognizable enough element but Venrooy manages to invest it with something, some combination of frequencies, that endows it with a unique and weighty presence that focuses one’s attention sharply and immediately. Various other sounds are gradually layered in, “above” and “below” the initial pulse, generally possessing a harsher, more granular character, each enhancing the disquiet. It wells to a climax then subsides into a growling, steadier drone which, in turn, is encased in a multitude of others, fashioning a complex matrix wherein the listener can discern at his or her will a vast number of patterns, reflections and relationships. Gears are shifted several times throughout the piece, though it remains drone-centered for the duration and the changes straddle that giddy territory between initial awkwardness and retrospective naturalness.
Side Two (it seems to be an entirely different piece, though no titles are supplied) remains in the general area of dronage but over in the part of the yard with all the crackling and static. Again, Venrooy weaves together countless strands, each clear enough to focus on individually if one desires but better to hear in a relational manner, something that will doubtless vary upon each listen. I was often reminded of the “standard” result of Cageian listening in a given environment: at first you might think there’s only two or three sound sources in play; listening more attentively inevitably serves to uncover many more. This construction includes a mélange of massively deep tolling with wonderfully quirky, almost cuckoo-y chittering and blooping atop, sending the piece momentarily reeling off into the middle distance. The disc fades out in a series of ringing tones not too far from those that opened it, a bit icier but less foreboding..." [Bagatellen]