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Format: do-CD Label & Cat.Number: Elevator Bath eeaoa030 Release Year: 2009 Note: four subtle work-outs of machinery sounds (clocks, elevators, laboratory & factory equipment), lim. 500
Price (incl. 19% VAT): €17.00 Warning: Currently we do not have this album in stock!
More Info"Elevator Bath is extremely pleased to present this new double CD set of thematically-linked works from Francisco López, still unquestionably one of the major figures of contemporary experimental music. Machines collects four pieces recorded from 2004-2007, each of which is based upon sounds of machinery (clocks, elevators, and various laboratory and factory equipment) gathered, respectively, in Amsterdam, Leipzig, Barcelona, and Riga. Yes, these compositions are permeated by an 'industrial' sound, but these are very subtle arrangements, even with a wide dynamic scope and with silence playing a lesser role than in much of López' output. There is a strong rhythmic presence in these recordings, heavy with the weight of machinery. Thick sounds held in crisp clarity. Blindfold or no, Machines offers an involving listening experience, drawing the listener deep into the various locales of its sources. And with a running time of more than two and a half hours, this is a substantial and important addition to the world of absolute concrète music by one of the most distinguished and distinctive artists in the field. Packaged inside an elegant printed sleeve with a fold-out insert featuring color photography by the composer. Printed with soy-based ink on 100% recycled paper. This double compact disc set has been issued in an edition of 500 copies." [label info]www.elevatorbath.com "Industrial Music for Industrial People," well that was a tagline that Monte Cazzazza used to 'brand' Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records, who intended the slogan to be an expression of going beyond the 'agricultural music' which came before. Some 30 years later, and the meaning of Industrial Music has gone through numerous permutations, some of which are quite reprehensible. Yet, that transition from the 'agricultural' into the 'industrial' ethos could be apt for this body of work from the self-proclaimed purveyor of 'absolute' music, Francisco Lopez. It's all machines, all the time for this 2cd set of recordings; and he's clearly building upon the techniques he had used during his seminal recordings of natural sounds such as La Selva or Wind. Yes, yes, yes, Lopez *has* used mechanical sounds throughout his body of work, so the Industrial Records metaphor might not be an exact fit. But it's close enough. "Klokken" is the first piece on Machines, built out of recordings collected from large collections of clocks from the Netherlands. His piece is a bright collage that overlays the precise motors and machinations found within each of those machines. As these flywheels spin and gears click, the regularity of these repetitions is surprisingly uneven, perhaps as a metaphoric explanation as why time can be a relative construct with the machines pushing time forwards and backwards ever so slightly. Whether intentional or not, this piece has a considerable aesthetic similarity to Ligeti's Poeme Symphonique, composed strictly through metronomes. It ends with 6 minutes of silence, just because that's the way Lopez is. "Fahstuhle" is more of a typical Lopez construction with the sources culled from various elevators in Germany, as the elliptical hisses and tension-based drones from the elevator cables emerge as the fundamental sound construction that Lopez punctuates with various resonant clangs and motorized ruptures. The source material to "Labs" should be somewhat self-evident, with resonant frequencies captured from large-scale institutional devices of unknown origin and pressurized aerations. Compositionally, this is again a signature Lopez piece, focussed upon the gradual acceleration and occultation of his sounds, with grandiose bursts of sustained energy. "Fabrikas" finds Lopez indulging in the fineries of chocolate and beer factories, all the while taking time to make some field recordings. At first, it seems like a reprise of the mechanical whirlings of the clock piece, but as he builds the layers with greater density, this piece grows into a huge mass of rasping buzz and accreted white noise. Excellent! After so many years at the turn of the millennium of high caliber records, Lopez has been floundering recently. Machines is a welcome exception finding Lopez once again at the height of his game." [Aquarius Records review] |
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