HUDAK, JOHN — Sand or Stars

Bei HUDAK geht es nicht um die “Entwicklung” einer Komposition über die Zeit, es geht um den reinen “Klang an sich”. Was das genau ist, dürfte genauso unmöglich zu sagen sein wie beim „Ding an sich“, aber HUDAK fasziniert immer wieder mit Geräuschen, die nicht von dieser Welt zu stammen scheinen (und doch meist von den Dingen an sich kommen). So gibt es hier klackernde Stakkato-Geräusche wie von elektronischen Spechten & hyperseltsames elektronisches Summen, alles sehr ruhig, fragmentiert, wie Botschaften von fremden Sternen, die man nicht deuten kann.....

“It has been quite a while since I last heard a work by Hudak, so this disc comes as a very nice re-introduction to his work. The CD contains three tracks, all of which clock between 17 and 20 minutes. The compositions are the same: a long stretch of stretched sounds, edited and put together almost at random. Of course this has a purpose: it pulls the listener to focus on the sound itself, instead of on development in time. This character of the music is enhanced by the duration of the tracks: after 5 to 7 minutes time becomes quite irrelevant and the quality of the sounds is all important. And here lies Hudak's great strength: the original material is treated so very well, that one keeps listening to the sounds, intent on grabbing them in some way, while they themselves elude captivity all the time. This is a pretty miraculous feat and one that Hudak maintanins throughout the whole disc. Excellent listening experience!” [MR / Vital Weekly]
“Comparisons between the sand of the earth with the stars above are
many, but comparisons of this release by American composer John Hudak with his previous work are far less to be found. The first piece of this CD mastered by John's friend and collaborator Stephan Mathieu (Sirr.ecords, Lucky Kitchen, Hapna, etc), is unlike much of John's previous work in that it features sharp staccato percussive sounds suddenly dodging in and out, but nevertheless it still has John's "endless" compositional sense written into it. A subtle sense of humor seems to be inherent in the piece as well, as if some of the sounds hesitate with indecision as to whether or not they should make their presence known or perhaps they are trying to avoid colliding with some of the other sounds. And upon listening to this piece, be careful with volume settings at first listen, because the listener will quickly discover another aspect of this piece that is unlike much of John's previous work: sudden volume shifts. This seems to suggest that the sounds are also changeable in temperament as well! The second piece on this CD is perhaps the most meditative of the collection with its muted midrange buzzing that jumps around within the stereo spectrum, perhaps being reminiscent of musical radar signals or sonifications of normally inaudible activity occurring in a planet's magnetosphere, all the while maintaining a benevolent warmth throughout. And what could possibly be described as the amplification of rolling ion particle blasts being broadcast via shortwave radio, tells us that we have reached the third and final piece of this collection of that could be considered as being among John Hudak's finest works.” [label info]