al voltant d´un paral.lel

Cremaster sure seems ages ago. It could be said that his duo projects with Alfredo Costa Monteiro comprised the formative years for Ferran Fages, yet Cremaster’s music (2001 — 2003, roughly) remains so… tip-of-the-spear. While Fages and Monteiro were utilizing in their music electronic equipment and instrumentation that was on its way to orthodoxy in experimental circles — gear and approaches of the same vein as, say, Keith Rowe and Toshimaru Nakamura — their concept was utterly fresh. Tell the uninitiated that your man plays a mean no-input mixing board, and the response might be, politely, “WTF?” Yet when the aficionado learns that this board is played unadulterated, sans effects, no peripheral materials, it’s daring. And it really is. This continues to be the essence of Fages’ approach to music; a rawness to the practice of creation, with the aim of listenability as the end product.

Fast forward to 2009 and one finds that Fages has released his third solo guitar record in about as many years [the second of those reviewed here]. Recorded live in 2007 at the Almazen artists’ space in Barcelona, al voltant d’un paral‘lel is a waypoint in a continued search for chance integration within the envelope of a conventional instrument, and he plays it rather well. Fages’ tone isn’t the easiest to pin down. Were Jandek’s playing more technically inclined, stripped of its ashen Americana, and fashioned of slightly less dissonant tunings, he might be in this ballpark. Fages’ solo guitar work has traditionally focused on intervals and tonal relationships in lieu of meter and melody, although here he offers a bit of the contrary. It’s a gorgeous, full sound, wrought from heavier-gauged strings and a sniff of sustain, and the music adheres to similar, earlier doctrine, not least in the effects department.

I won’t begin to attempt to translate the Spanish titles. (They’re pretty enough to look at, anyway.) Fages employs the cleanest of tones across five tracks, which range in duration from a couple of minutes to in excess of thirteen. He focuses exclusively on the melancholy. There is a sad, desolate feel to the record, as if offers of relief are consciously avoided for fear of further, unanticipated discomfort. In the longer tracks, explorative patterns of sequential notes morph into bastardized chords, and the chords become finite, chance laboratories for the examination of tonal relationships. Fages also finds slow, canted grooves within (apparently) pre-arranged sequences consisting of orthodox strumming and cadence, gentle bends, and sparkly harmonics. Nuances abound, to the credit of the room’s lush acoustics for this performance, and a very disciplined audience. The disc as a whole doesn’t offer much variety in mood, but those who view their visual art in 15-minute tethered chunks so that no details are missed will find much to hear. While Fages soars in his more well-known, migratory collaborative efforts of the laminal vein, these guitar outings are hugely refreshing as parallel detours. -Alan Jones (Bagatellen)

One general aesthetic notion that unfailingly fascinates me is what I think of as the "pendulum effect", that is, when a form or individual artists swings between one (ostensible) pole and another, picking up information from each and applying it across town, so to speak. So, an abstract painter might return to a kind of realism, but it will be informed from lessons learned in abstraction and, inevitably, emerge differently than it would have otherwise, generally reinvigorated. Fages, for a while now at least on his solo projects, has "returned" (I imagine he never left) to a kind of traditional approach, the guitar played as a guitar in a fairly tonal, very seductive manner, melodic after a fashion, intuitive. Quantifying exactly how it's different from what would have transpired had he not been involved in freer formats is, to be sure, a fool's errand, but one has the strong sense that it's the case. The pieces here are quite overtly beautiful, somewhat self-similar, Fages spending much time in the lower registers, brooding, allowing tones to hang, contemplating them with a certain melancholy. Take Bailey at his most tonal then up that tonality by 50% and you're in the ballpark. Lovely disc, well worthwhile. -Brian Olewnick (http://olewnick.blogspot.com/)

As it happens I’ve played this one a couple of times over the last two days myself, and as my train listening today was spent with demo recordings that I can’t really discuss yet its the Fages I’ll talk about here now. First of all what is it about experimental music CDs and odd spellings of the word parallel? One of Fennesz’ early releases was called Hotel Paral.|el (one of only a few discs of his I like as it happens) Given that the title appears to be in French maybe there is some obscure Deleuze reference I’m missing. (If there is I don’t want to hear about it thanks! ;) ) Anyway my basic French understanding doesn’t stretch far enough to any kind of translation so it will have to remain a mystery. The music itself follows very much in the vein of Fages’ first two guitar solo discs, Cançons per a un lent retard from last year, and A cavall entre dos cavalls which was released back in 2004. This new release actually contains versions of some of Fages’ pieces from that first album alongside other newer works, and is immaculately recorded live at a gig in early 2007.

Ferran Fages’ work with Alfredo Costa Monteiro in the group Cremaster could be really quite brutally rough, jagged and dirty. It was really good, vibrant music, but with a wild edge to it. It comes both as a shock but also as a sign of his considerable musicianship that Fages’ guitar albums offer a completely different side to him. The music on this disc is slow, considered and melancholic (achingly so). It falls somewhere between Derek Bailey, Taku Sugimoto circa Opposite and Loren Mazzacane Connor to my ears, meandering, partially melodic studies that hint at the angular awkward genius of Bailey’s Aida mixed with a hint of blues affectation. The fact that some of the pieces are described as versions of tracks from a previous album suggest some degree of notated composition is involved though I suspect it is relatively loose.

The music is very beautiful. It was a joy to sit and listen to this album late on Saturday night with dimmed lights and a glass of single malt, just enjoying the music’s ability to warm the room as the whisky warmed my throat. There is a real sense of confidence to the album, as if each note is placed carefully and assuredly in all the right places, and yet it also sounds very human, almost like a spoken voice. Its an album for that kind of occasion though, and not one that would work well if you need something uplifting on a summer’s afternoon. Al voltant d’un para/.lel isn’t depressing music in any way but the clean, simple guitar notes played without any effects present the listener with a distinct, contemplative mood. Its a very simple construction, and if my description above sounds good to you then you will probably like this CD, there is very little to get in the way. It is probably a disc I will come back to quite often on the right occasions.

Go win yourself a copy! Or if that doesn’t work go buy a copy. -Richard Pinnell ( http://www.thewatchfulear.com)

Difficile de ne pas se laisser aller au mode contemplatif à l'écoute de ce Al Voltant d'un Paral.lel, troisième album solo du guitariste catalan Ferran Fages, dont on connaissait par ailleurs surtout le travail collaboratif avec Alfredo Costa Monteiro dans le cadre de Cremaster, avec le musicien français Pascal Battus (le duo Fagus) ou avec différents chorégraphes et musiciens tels Rhys Chatham, Phil Niblock ou Derek Bailey. Chantre d'une certaine parcimonie acoustique, Ferran Fages est un guitariste qui joue de façon très personnelle des nombreux intervalles et autres inspirations tonales qui rythment sa musique. Pas d'interventions sonores hirsutes à la Bailey, ou de halos mélodiques traînants à la Fahey dans son jeu, mais une tension instrumentale souple, qui lie harmonies cristallines et intonations fréquentielles plus grésillantes, émanant en ligne abstraite d'un champ de pratiques musicales dépassant chez Ferran Fages le cadre simple de son instrument pour explorer les ressorts de courbes autarciques semblant sortir tout droit de liaisons électroniques confinées. Sur "Desfer la pausa", la trame musicale se complaît dans cette union sacrée entre la note lisse et la vibration provoquée. Elle se poursuit dans le dialogue instantané et improvisé de "Possible defesta" où les ponts entre les accords se réduisent pour asseoir un sentiment mélancolique qui s'installe définitivement sur l'envoûtante pièce finale "últim gir" et ses étranges relents répétitifs. Comme le dit German Lazaro au sujet de ce disque, enregistré live à Barcelone en janvier 2007, il s'agit moins ici de minimalisme que de vastitude, d'impression désertique qui s'installe dans la durée. Sans être à proprement parler mélodique, bien au contraire, la musique de Ferran Fages ne renonce pas à une certaine douceur, à une proximité qui la rend compréhensive de tous. C'est bien là un de ses principaux atours. -Laurent Català (Octopus)

Spanish improviser Ferran Fages recorded Al Voltant d’un Paral.lel (ETUDE RECORDS ETUDE017) in 2007 in Barcelona; apparently doing it live, but no trace of an appreciative audience remains on this subdued record of electric guitar solos. Not a minimal record; the sound is rich and full, various plucking, strumming and arpeggio methods are showcased, and there are probably more amplified notes per square inch than Taku Sugimoto allows himself in an entire year’s worth of touring. It just proceeds at an a very leisurely pace, and you have to admire Fages’ restraint in never once cutting loose with a speed-metal riff. I have this vision of Fages - who is apparently ‘active in poetry’ - sunk deep inside a comfortable soft armchair, contemplating a passing butterfly with a lime rickey at his shoulder, as he delivers himself of these languid musical statements. -Ed Pinsent (The Sound Projector)

Las dos primeras notas de este disco son definitorias de todo el contenido posterior. Entre ellas, el silencio, el tiempo. Este disco tiene un tema y ese tema es el tiempo. Cómo plegarlo. Cómo introducirlo en medio de los temas y una vez ahí desligar las notas y desmembrar armónicos. A nadie debe extrañar si escuchando este disco se encuentra de golpe con algo que le recuerda vagamente a un rock duro o hasta a Neil Young. La música de este disco tiene su génesis en esa sencillez. Hay después un trabajo de ralentización, o de repetida ampliación de los motivos, hasta que aparecen unos sonidos aparentemente desperdigados, un granulado fotográfico que dificulta la aprehensión del objeto tal y como se veía en la escala real. Pero la gracia de este disco está también en haberse quedado en una zona de nadie, ni muy de un lado para reconocer los modelos, ni muy del otro para su total disolución. Otro gran trabajo de Fages tras el anterior Cançons per a un lent retard. -German Lazaro (Cuadernos de Jazz)

Barcelona-based experimental musician and poet Ferran Fages' previous album Cançons per a un lent retard was a tour the force on acoustic guitar that demanded quite a bit from the listener, or at least myself.

On what could be considered a follow-up, as it's another album as a guitarist while on most of his releases he played electronics and acoustic turntable, he takes a different approach. This time it's an electric guitar for instance, which of course brings a different sound. No effects, just clean guitar, but that's still a different sound. Chords are given a lot of time to ring long, so the resonating harmonics can play in the long pauses. Only towards the end you hear a cough to finally hear an applause after the last piece to make you realise this is a live recording. Some of the pieces are new interpretations/approaches of pieces found on A cavall entre dos cavalls, an album I haven't heard so I can't comment much on that. It's clear though even without that knowledge, that there's a basis, a composition there without being some catchy 'head' on which the player falls back. It's clear though that this is not pure improv.

The almost suffocating mood of Cançons per a un lent retard is not repeated here. That makes Al voltant d'un paral.lel much more accessable, without becoming necessarily 'lightweight', and that's not just the length of only 38 minutes. -Martijn Busink (http://www.musiquemachine.com)

FERRAN FAGES, der mit Cremaster und Fagus bekannt gewordene Gitarrist aus Barcelona, spielt auf Al voltant d‘un paral.lel (ETUDE017) so poetisch und träumerisch für sich allein, dass man sich der Intimität seiner Selbstbefragung nur auf Zehenspitzen zu nähern traut. Jeder der bedächtig aneinander gereihten Töne ist schwebend und wie unter Vorbehalt gesetzt und doch auch schon Teil einer Klangdichtung, die genau auf diesen Ton gewartet hat. John Bissets Smithy (2:13, 2004) wäre dazu ein akustisches Gegenstück. Fages zupft elektrifiziert, aber eben Note für Note, mit aushallendem Klang, ohne Effekte. Morton Feldman kann einem in den Sinn kommen, es gibt da ein ähnliches Lauschen, vor allem wenn Fages die Töne wiederholt wie beim Gewummer von ‚Possible desfeta‘. Die Pausen, die ‚Gedanken‘ zwischen den Noten, erinnern ein wenig an Taku Sugimoto, ohne dass Fages nach dessen Reduktion strebt. Aber sein Spiel ist ähnlich entschlackt, pure Poesie. Geist und Form sind noch vereint als pure Schönheit, die sich noch nicht dienstbar gemacht hat, weder für Folk, noch für Rock oder sonstwas.-Rigobert Dittmann (Bad Alchemy)

Barcelona based musician and poet Ferran Fages often wields the pen, guitar, acoustic turntable, electronics, no-input mixing board and other devices in collaborations with collective IBA and the well received Cremaster project with Alfredo Costa Monteiro. al voltant d’un para/.lel sees a solo Ferran concentrate solely on guitar compositions and is recorded from a live performance.

Tonal decay and resonant qualities of the guitar are focal points here with composition and instrument in an interplay for formative space and control. Such a tendency sees a strikingly sparse sense of what could be called rhythmic orientation towards a concentration on the full resonance of chords with associated intertwined and extended flourishes overlayed until decay. Then next resonant possibility or theme plays out.

Listening here often the question of the influence of effect devices raises its head, as if devices of sound manipulation have influenced the compositional structure of the acoustic. Akin to discussions between peacocks and chainsaws (David Attenbrough) or Electronics and Didgeridoos (Aphex Twin) as a notion of the mirror or imitation. Here guitar appears to take on the inclinations of other devices which could be considered as strategies, methods or merely reflections of the devices residual presence.

Other ways of conceiving it could be as stripped down minimal guitar, yet this approach is stymied by the resonant warmth and emotional depth displayed, as opposed to a seemingly dry approach to formal aspects of structure. It is not just the silence of the crowd that inspires reverence in the listener here, their applause eventually breaking of this stance closing the album, but the ability to inspire such hushed and reverential mode in an audience is a quality that Ferran Fages work elicits.-Innerversitysound (Cyclic Defrost)

Recorded live in Barcelona in early 2007, “al voltant d’ un paralel” is a light, fragile exploration of guitar by one of the great current experimenters on the instrument. Ferran Fages brings an acoustic feel to his electric guitar. Lots of reverb and sustained silences permeate the five tracks, giving it an improvised feel; then sound echoes off the acoustics of the venue, creating a nice harmony with the space.

Tracks like “Primer Gir” and “Desfer La Pausa utilize drone and folk structures, which are then extended often into a kind of free drone that would make a psychedelic fan lean in for a lesson. Since all the tunes explore many of the same motifs, all the tracks work this way, and can stand as single units or as sections of a larger idea. The eleven minute closer, “Ultim Gir,” doesn’t so much wrap up that idea as expose it to a little more breathing room. Throughout, Fages guitar is both focal point and holding pattern for the pieces; an anchor that stabilizes but does not ground.

“al voltant d’ un paralel” is a meditative guitar exercise that retains its intimacy within its live setting. Ferran Fages is a guitarist who is willing to take chances, even daring to remain silent. 8/10 -- Mike Wood (Foxy Digitalis)

On the Canadian label Etude, the third collection of odes to solipsism by the ever-profound man from Barcelona is at the same time intelligible and ominous in an almost scary way. Fages, for starters, is not afraid of being observed: he plays with so-called interior fortitude, not anxious to cover mistakes or technical limitations and – exactly for that – capable of locating sweet spots on the fretboard where adjacent overtones and jangling buzzes generate uneasy resonances that don’t need authorizations to affirm a convention-damaging importance. These figurations aren’t to be found in any book, if you see what I mean, and their significance becomes deeper for that. Furthermore, Fages all but avoids pedestrian progressions and formulas (yes, even improvisers have secret tricks) and lets his fingers dictate the instantaneous path to follow, sometimes failing to discover “beauty” – something that should never be a necessity, especially in music – while finding a better compatibility with the essence of solo guitar playing, which ideally should resemble an intimate prayer. A record that doesn’t cease to transmit a sense of “calm distress”, confirming the artist’s will of non-adapting his personal research to the sugary indulgences of styles or genres. -Massimo Ricci (http://temporaryfault.blogspot.com)

“No és que volgués explicar res, és un exercici molt pur, no hi ha pas cap idea darrera”, això deia l'Albert Serra parlant d'un dels seus films. Sembla que no vingui al cas, però no és veritat. Deixo reproduir els disc, una investigació sobre les possibilitats zero de la guitarra. Les pulsacions fragmentades em remeten a una espècie de blues abstracte, a mig camí entre l'atonalitat i l'intent melòdic, on cada vers va entrellaçat suaument amb un silenci abrupte, o amb la repetició. Un exercici formal molt interessant, també com a receptor, que lligaria més que bé amb les imatges del director de cinema. Música del desert en sentit estricte. Mantra total. // Marc Masó (http://nativa-diari.blogspot.com)

Ecouter un nouvel album de Ferran Fages, c'est prendre des nouvelles de ce jeune homme qui nous avait tant émus lors de "Cançon per a un lent retard", son précédent enregistrement improvisé/composé durant le lent déclin de son père, décédé peu après. Longtemps, les profondes résonances de sa guitare acoustique, qui ne s'éteignaient, le plus souvent, qu'après l'ultime vibration de la dernière corde, ont occupé notre mémoire comme le plus élégiaque des hommages rendus à un être aimé, aussi pur et simple que la douleur elle-même l'est parfois. Aujourd'hui, le Barcelonais ami des Costa Monteiro, Redondo, Krakowiak et autres expérimentateurs opérant au sein du label Etude Record, a choisi une guitare électrique et, sans objet avoué ni raison particulière, nous livre ce nouvel opus dont l'esthétique n'a cependant pas dévié d'un iota. Et, si le son, d'une clarté lumineuse, évoque aussitôt le "Clearing" que Fred Frith grava en 2003 pour Tzadick (dist. Orkhêstra), la comparaison s'arrête ici car le jeu de l'Espagnol n'a rien à entendre avec celui de l'Anglais et son style, d'une singularité peu commune, se suffit largement à lui-même sans qu'on n'ait besoin d'aucune référence pour l'apprécier.

Ferran Fagès cultive la beauté avec la patience d'un jardinier taillant ses boutures, d'un peintre japonais traçant la ligne de l'estampe à venir. Chaque note semble le fruit d'une réflexion attentive, un choix délibéré que le libre-arbitre pourtant spontané de l'artiste assume avec une sorte de délectation tardive. Les phrases aérées ne disent que l'essentiel d'une pensée concentrée sur ses seuls éléments signifiants et prennent le temps de s'attarder en chemin, d'écouter jusqu'à l'extinction l'espace d'une dissonance, un accord ouvert à sa possible extension ou le silence qui s'ensuit, chargé de mémoire et vibrant d'émotion. Et c'est une corde grave dont l'écho exténué baigne encore le riff décharné qui la prolonge, une réverbération naturelle dont les oscillations lointaines hantent l'oreille longtemps après que le son a disparu, l'obstination hallucinée de deux notes se répétant, creusant leur matière propre jusqu'à y trouver un éventuel chemin de traverse. C'est le temps nécessaire à la désorientation, de l'artiste comme de l'auditeur qui, pour une fois, semblent si proches qu'ils pourraient presque se toucher.

La proximité de Ferran Fagès participe largement de cette fameuse émotion dont on ne peut, raisonnablement, avoir la pudeur de se défendre. D'ailleurs, ses épanchements sont eux-mêmes d'une telle discrétion qu'on ne saurait faire preuve d'indécence à les partager. Aux vibratos et autres effets immédiats, le guitariste a préféré la patience de la sincérité. Et c'est en toute simplicité qu'il déchire pour nous les habits fragiles de la dissimulation et nous conte, au travers de ces dix courtes pièces improvisées en temps réel, une histoire lucide et authentique dont chaque note serait un mot et chaque silence un retrait à la ligne. "Al voltant d'un para/.IeI" évoque le sourire limpide d'un jeune homme rencontré un soir autour d'un verre et d'une cigarette et dont le souvenir, depuis, ne nous quitte plus guère. - Joël Pagier

There are unmistakable echoes of flamenco on al voltant d’un para/.lel. Recorded live in Barcelona in early 2007, the album reworks pieces first heard on Fages’s a cavall entre dos cavalls, released on Creative Sources five years ago. The two long tracks, ‘primer ger’ and ‘ultim ger’, are sandwiched by three shorter pieces of ascending length that act as a kind of extended caesura between the major statements. Imagine a classic performance by Ramon Montoya, slowed down and processed through a water chamber, and one gets close to the submarine intensity of Fages’s work, every sound made louder and more physically present by the medium, the air around the guitar thickened with overtones. And yet it’s also very simple music, direct and uncluttered by any totalising philosophy.-Brian Morton (The Wire)

Escuchar cualquier disco del barcelonés Ferran Fages significa entrar en un universo totalmente particular. Y es que en primera instancia, para aquellos que no sepan nada de este guitarrista, habría que avisarles que, cuando toca, pasan más bien pocas cosas. Pero ojo, no en el sentido de vacuidad, sino más bien por su renuncia voluntaria a un discurso formal aparentemente corriente con el que -bien mediante elipsis, bien mediante reduccionismos o ausencias- lanzar pequeñas frases de espectro jazzístico y acotado lenguaje que instan a paladear el sonido. Un lugar donde los silencios se erigen en pequeños nudos recubiertos de una pátina melodramática y contemplativa avanzando en solitario hacia un entorno experimental impregnado de una personal independencia. Un ente musical autónomo -bizarrro para la mayoría, seductor para unos pocos-, reducto de esa vanguardia que, desde hace años y sin aspavientos, intenta cultivar sus ideas en pro de lo desconocido. Un objetivo que, a tenor de cómo está el panorama actual, debería ser valorado cada vez más. Francesc Feliu (Mondo Sonoro)

“Al Voltant D'un Paral.lel”, del chitarrista e manipolatore elettroacustico Ferran Fages, è opera di struggente dilatazione.
Versioni, (registrate dal vivo nel 2007), con approccio differente, di brani creati prima dell'album, “A Cavall Entre Dos Cavalls” del 2004 (su Creative Sources). Cinque stanze interiori, che si accendono di crepuscolare riverbero. Polvere, che si lascia intrappolare pigramente da un fascio di luce, rimane in sospensione; scompare. Folk, psichedelia dolente, blues spettrale, minimalismo. A cavallo, fra la composizione visuale/circolare di Morton Feldman, i silenzi di Taku Sugimoto, l'abbandono del Neil Young di “Dead Man”, l'evanescente soffio di Loren Connors. Dentro, in fondo alla materia, una tremolante luce John Fahey, che non riesce a dissipare l'oscurità in arrivo. Primer Gir, Desprès De La Primera Pausa, Desfer La Pausa, Possible Desfeta; Ùltim Gir. Brani, che nell'insistenza, fra note basse, arpeggi, armonici, sottili risonanze/dissonanze metalliche, si muovono come bianche lenzuola stese al vento ad asciugare.
In silenzio; tutt'uno con l'assordante silenzio. Ne puoi sentire il fruscio. Nulla intorno si muove.
Un assolo doom metal, che raggiunto il proprio livello di fusione, perde la voce, e rimane ad ondeggiare dolcemente, prima della fase discendente. L'occhio non coglie l'esplosione, ma ne intercetta la coda luminosa, che lenta si spegne. Da Barcellona, un disco da stringere gelosamente al petto. -Marco Carcasi (Kathodik)

	Ferran Fages "Al voltant d´un paral.lel " Date: December 2008 Ref: Etude017 mp3: Fragment from desprès de la primera pausa Price: 15$ usa/can; 12€ eur/world
About Al voltant d´un paral.lel
Ferran Fages:electric guitar.Recorded live by Pablo Rega, january 19th 2007 at Almazen, Barcelona.Some tracks are versions or new approaches of pieces released before in the album "a cavall entre dos cavalls" Cover design by Alfredo Costa Monteiro. “Al voltant d´un paral.lel ” brings to light a tension, which matches that of the previous two guitar albums of Ferran Fages. It’s probably because a parallel could also be thought of as the lanes of a horse race, as a permanent conflict, or as a trait of one’s character that never disappears. The resistance which stands between the theme and something that pushes it not to be. Sibylline strategies. Repetitions which block it. Foldings, which, instead of doubling the sounds, they hide some of them behind others. Expansions that disseminate the notes till the notion of the theme gets lost. And the delay… This delay, this slowness, which, full of rancour, is opposed to the idea of the song. Nevertheless, several themes, or to be more precise, segments of them, could serve, properly compressed, as the base of a doom metal theme, of a strange folk song, or of a neo-psychedelic passage deprived of any electroacoustic adornment. This album makes one think the interior of a room. The reverberations give us its size, the latitudes of uneasiness. In the meantime, these harmonic sparks are kept by the ceiling, before they fall to the ground, taking the form of ashes. A consumed acoustic flight. Still more tension. Within his music he’s always taking notes, drafts and breathes. Nothing ever comes to an end. It’s as if Muybridge or Marey, with their cronofotographic devices, were sliding through the guitarist’s criterion without him being aware. There is no minimalism here, but desert/vastness. -German Lazaro, barcelona 2008
Reviews Al voltant d´un paral.lel
Cremaster sure seems ages ago. It could be said that his duo projects with Alfredo Costa Monteiro comprised the formative years for Ferran Fages, yet Cremaster’s music (2001 — 2003, roughly) remains so… tip-of-the-spear. While Fages and Monteiro were utilizing in their music electronic equipment and instrumentation that was on its way to orthodoxy in experimental circles — gear and approaches of the same vein as, say, Keith Rowe and Toshimaru Nakamura — their concept was utterly fresh. Tell the uninitiated that your man plays a mean no-input mixing board, and the response might be, politely, “WTF?” Yet when the aficionado learns that this board is played unadulterated, sans effects, no peripheral materials, it’s daring. And it really is. This continues to be the essence of Fages’ approach to music; a rawness to the practice of creation, with the aim of listenability as the end product. Fast forward to 2009 and one finds that Fages has released his third solo guitar record in about as many years [the second of those reviewed here]. Recorded live in 2007 at the Almazen artists’ space in Barcelona, al voltant d’un paral‘lel is a waypoint in a continued search for chance integration within the envelope of a conventional instrument, and he plays it rather well. Fages’ tone isn’t the easiest to pin down. Were Jandek’s playing more technically inclined, stripped of its ashen Americana, and fashioned of slightly less dissonant tunings, he might be in this ballpark. Fages’ solo guitar work has traditionally focused on intervals and tonal relationships in lieu of meter and melody, although here he offers a bit of the contrary. It’s a gorgeous, full sound, wrought from heavier-gauged strings and a sniff of sustain, and the music adheres to similar, earlier doctrine, not least in the effects department. I won’t begin to attempt to translate the Spanish titles. (They’re pretty enough to look at, anyway.) Fages employs the cleanest of tones across five tracks, which range in duration from a couple of minutes to in excess of thirteen. He focuses exclusively on the melancholy. There is a sad, desolate feel to the record, as if offers of relief are consciously avoided for fear of further, unanticipated discomfort. In the longer tracks, explorative patterns of sequential notes morph into bastardized chords, and the chords become finite, chance laboratories for the examination of tonal relationships. Fages also finds slow, canted grooves within (apparently) pre-arranged sequences consisting of orthodox strumming and cadence, gentle bends, and sparkly harmonics. Nuances abound, to the credit of the room’s lush acoustics for this performance, and a very disciplined audience. The disc as a whole doesn’t offer much variety in mood, but those who view their visual art in 15-minute tethered chunks so that no details are missed will find much to hear. While Fages soars in his more well-known, migratory collaborative efforts of the laminal vein, these guitar outings are hugely refreshing as parallel detours. -Alan Jones (Bagatellen) One general aesthetic notion that unfailingly fascinates me is what I think of as the "pendulum effect", that is, when a form or individual artists swings between one (ostensible) pole and another, picking up information from each and applying it across town, so to speak. So, an abstract painter might return to a kind of realism, but it will be informed from lessons learned in abstraction and, inevitably, emerge differently than it would have otherwise, generally reinvigorated. Fages, for a while now at least on his solo projects, has "returned" (I imagine he never left) to a kind of traditional approach, the guitar played as a guitar in a fairly tonal, very seductive manner, melodic after a fashion, intuitive. Quantifying exactly how it's different from what would have transpired had he not been involved in freer formats is, to be sure, a fool's errand, but one has the strong sense that it's the case. The pieces here are quite overtly beautiful, somewhat self-similar, Fages spending much time in the lower registers, brooding, allowing tones to hang, contemplating them with a certain melancholy. Take Bailey at his most tonal then up that tonality by 50% and you're in the ballpark. Lovely disc, well worthwhile. -Brian Olewnick (http://olewnick.blogspot.com/) As it happens I’ve played this one a couple of times over the last two days myself, and as my train listening today was spent with demo recordings that I can’t really discuss yet its the Fages I’ll talk about here now. First of all what is it about experimental music CDs and odd spellings of the word parallel? One of Fennesz’ early releases was called Hotel Paral.\|el (one of only a few discs of his I like as it happens) Given that the title appears to be in French maybe there is some obscure Deleuze reference I’m missing. (If there is I don’t want to hear about it thanks! ;) ) Anyway my basic French understanding doesn’t stretch far enough to any kind of translation so it will have to remain a mystery. The music itself follows very much in the vein of Fages’ first two guitar solo discs, Cançons per a un lent retard from last year, and A cavall entre dos cavalls which was released back in 2004. This new release actually contains versions of some of Fages’ pieces from that first album alongside other newer works, and is immaculately recorded live at a gig in early 2007. Ferran Fages’ work with Alfredo Costa Monteiro in the group Cremaster could be really quite brutally rough, jagged and dirty. It was really good, vibrant music, but with a wild edge to it. It comes both as a shock but also as a sign of his considerable musicianship that Fages’ guitar albums offer a completely different side to him. The music on this disc is slow, considered and melancholic (achingly so). It falls somewhere between Derek Bailey, Taku Sugimoto circa Opposite and Loren Mazzacane Connor to my ears, meandering, partially melodic studies that hint at the angular awkward genius of Bailey’s Aida mixed with a hint of blues affectation. The fact that some of the pieces are described as versions of tracks from a previous album suggest some degree of notated composition is involved though I suspect it is relatively loose. The music is very beautiful. It was a joy to sit and listen to this album late on Saturday night with dimmed lights and a glass of single malt, just enjoying the music’s ability to warm the room as the whisky warmed my throat. There is a real sense of confidence to the album, as if each note is placed carefully and assuredly in all the right places, and yet it also sounds very human, almost like a spoken voice. Its an album for that kind of occasion though, and not one that would work well if you need something uplifting on a summer’s afternoon. Al voltant d’un para/.lel isn’t depressing music in any way but the clean, simple guitar notes played without any effects present the listener with a distinct, contemplative mood. Its a very simple construction, and if my description above sounds good to you then you will probably like this CD, there is very little to get in the way. It is probably a disc I will come back to quite often on the right occasions. Go win yourself a copy! Or if that doesn’t work go buy a copy. -Richard Pinnell ( http://www.thewatchfulear.com) Difficile de ne pas se laisser aller au mode contemplatif à l'écoute de ce Al Voltant d'un Paral.lel, troisième album solo du guitariste catalan Ferran Fages, dont on connaissait par ailleurs surtout le travail collaboratif avec Alfredo Costa Monteiro dans le cadre de Cremaster, avec le musicien français Pascal Battus (le duo Fagus) ou avec différents chorégraphes et musiciens tels Rhys Chatham, Phil Niblock ou Derek Bailey. Chantre d'une certaine parcimonie acoustique, Ferran Fages est un guitariste qui joue de façon très personnelle des nombreux intervalles et autres inspirations tonales qui rythment sa musique. Pas d'interventions sonores hirsutes à la Bailey, ou de halos mélodiques traînants à la Fahey dans son jeu, mais une tension instrumentale souple, qui lie harmonies cristallines et intonations fréquentielles plus grésillantes, émanant en ligne abstraite d'un champ de pratiques musicales dépassant chez Ferran Fages le cadre simple de son instrument pour explorer les ressorts de courbes autarciques semblant sortir tout droit de liaisons électroniques confinées. Sur "Desfer la pausa", la trame musicale se complaît dans cette union sacrée entre la note lisse et la vibration provoquée. Elle se poursuit dans le dialogue instantané et improvisé de "Possible defesta" où les ponts entre les accords se réduisent pour asseoir un sentiment mélancolique qui s'installe définitivement sur l'envoûtante pièce finale "últim gir" et ses étranges relents répétitifs. Comme le dit German Lazaro au sujet de ce disque, enregistré live à Barcelone en janvier 2007, il s'agit moins ici de minimalisme que de vastitude, d'impression désertique qui s'installe dans la durée. Sans être à proprement parler mélodique, bien au contraire, la musique de Ferran Fages ne renonce pas à une certaine douceur, à une proximité qui la rend compréhensive de tous. C'est bien là un de ses principaux atours. -Laurent Català (Octopus) Spanish improviser Ferran Fages recorded Al Voltant d’un Paral.lel (ETUDE RECORDS ETUDE017) in 2007 in Barcelona; apparently doing it live, but no trace of an appreciative audience remains on this subdued record of electric guitar solos. Not a minimal record; the sound is rich and full, various plucking, strumming and arpeggio methods are showcased, and there are probably more amplified notes per square inch than Taku Sugimoto allows himself in an entire year’s worth of touring. It just proceeds at an a very leisurely pace, and you have to admire Fages’ restraint in never once cutting loose with a speed-metal riff. I have this vision of Fages - who is apparently ‘active in poetry’ - sunk deep inside a comfortable soft armchair, contemplating a passing butterfly with a lime rickey at his shoulder, as he delivers himself of these languid musical statements. -Ed Pinsent (The Sound Projector) Las dos primeras notas de este disco son definitorias de todo el contenido posterior. Entre ellas, el silencio, el tiempo. Este disco tiene un tema y ese tema es el tiempo. Cómo plegarlo. Cómo introducirlo en medio de los temas y una vez ahí desligar las notas y desmembrar armónicos. A nadie debe extrañar si escuchando este disco se encuentra de golpe con algo que le recuerda vagamente a un rock duro o hasta a Neil Young. La música de este disco tiene su génesis en esa sencillez. Hay después un trabajo de ralentización, o de repetida ampliación de los motivos, hasta que aparecen unos sonidos aparentemente desperdigados, un granulado fotográfico que dificulta la aprehensión del objeto tal y como se veía en la escala real. Pero la gracia de este disco está también en haberse quedado en una zona de nadie, ni muy de un lado para reconocer los modelos, ni muy del otro para su total disolución. Otro gran trabajo de Fages tras el anterior Cançons per a un lent retard. -German Lazaro (Cuadernos de Jazz) Barcelona-based experimental musician and poet Ferran Fages' previous album Cançons per a un lent retard was a tour the force on acoustic guitar that demanded quite a bit from the listener, or at least myself. On what could be considered a follow-up, as it's another album as a guitarist while on most of his releases he played electronics and acoustic turntable, he takes a different approach. This time it's an electric guitar for instance, which of course brings a different sound. No effects, just clean guitar, but that's still a different sound. Chords are given a lot of time to ring long, so the resonating harmonics can play in the long pauses. Only towards the end you hear a cough to finally hear an applause after the last piece to make you realise this is a live recording. Some of the pieces are new interpretations/approaches of pieces found on A cavall entre dos cavalls, an album I haven't heard so I can't comment much on that. It's clear though even without that knowledge, that there's a basis, a composition there without being some catchy 'head' on which the player falls back. It's clear though that this is not pure improv. The almost suffocating mood of Cançons per a un lent retard is not repeated here. That makes Al voltant d'un paral.lel much more accessable, without becoming necessarily 'lightweight', and that's not just the length of only 38 minutes. -Martijn Busink (http://www.musiquemachine.com) FERRAN FAGES, der mit Cremaster und Fagus bekannt gewordene Gitarrist aus Barcelona, spielt auf Al voltant d‘un paral.lel (ETUDE017) so poetisch und träumerisch für sich allein, dass man sich der Intimität seiner Selbstbefragung nur auf Zehenspitzen zu nähern traut. Jeder der bedächtig aneinander gereihten Töne ist schwebend und wie unter Vorbehalt gesetzt und doch auch schon Teil einer Klangdichtung, die genau auf diesen Ton gewartet hat. John Bissets Smithy (2:13, 2004) wäre dazu ein akustisches Gegenstück. Fages zupft elektrifiziert, aber eben Note für Note, mit aushallendem Klang, ohne Effekte. Morton Feldman kann einem in den Sinn kommen, es gibt da ein ähnliches Lauschen, vor allem wenn Fages die Töne wiederholt wie beim Gewummer von ‚Possible desfeta‘. Die Pausen, die ‚Gedanken‘ zwischen den Noten, erinnern ein wenig an Taku Sugimoto, ohne dass Fages nach dessen Reduktion strebt. Aber sein Spiel ist ähnlich entschlackt, pure Poesie. Geist und Form sind noch vereint als pure Schönheit, die sich noch nicht dienstbar gemacht hat, weder für Folk, noch für Rock oder sonstwas.-Rigobert Dittmann (Bad Alchemy) Barcelona based musician and poet Ferran Fages often wields the pen, guitar, acoustic turntable, electronics, no-input mixing board and other devices in collaborations with collective IBA and the well received Cremaster project with Alfredo Costa Monteiro. al voltant d’un para/.lel sees a solo Ferran concentrate solely on guitar compositions and is recorded from a live performance. Tonal decay and resonant qualities of the guitar are focal points here with composition and instrument in an interplay for formative space and control. Such a tendency sees a strikingly sparse sense of what could be called rhythmic orientation towards a concentration on the full resonance of chords with associated intertwined and extended flourishes overlayed until decay. Then next resonant possibility or theme plays out. Listening here often the question of the influence of effect devices raises its head, as if devices of sound manipulation have influenced the compositional structure of the acoustic. Akin to discussions between peacocks and chainsaws (David Attenbrough) or Electronics and Didgeridoos (Aphex Twin) as a notion of the mirror or imitation. Here guitar appears to take on the inclinations of other devices which could be considered as strategies, methods or merely reflections of the devices residual presence. Other ways of conceiving it could be as stripped down minimal guitar, yet this approach is stymied by the resonant warmth and emotional depth displayed, as opposed to a seemingly dry approach to formal aspects of structure. It is not just the silence of the crowd that inspires reverence in the listener here, their applause eventually breaking of this stance closing the album, but the ability to inspire such hushed and reverential mode in an audience is a quality that Ferran Fages work elicits.-Innerversitysound (Cyclic Defrost) Recorded live in Barcelona in early 2007, “al voltant d’ un paralel” is a light, fragile exploration of guitar by one of the great current experimenters on the instrument. Ferran Fages brings an acoustic feel to his electric guitar. Lots of reverb and sustained silences permeate the five tracks, giving it an improvised feel; then sound echoes off the acoustics of the venue, creating a nice harmony with the space. Tracks like “Primer Gir” and “Desfer La Pausa utilize drone and folk structures, which are then extended often into a kind of free drone that would make a psychedelic fan lean in for a lesson. Since all the tunes explore many of the same motifs, all the tracks work this way, and can stand as single units or as sections of a larger idea. The eleven minute closer, “Ultim Gir,” doesn’t so much wrap up that idea as expose it to a little more breathing room. Throughout, Fages guitar is both focal point and holding pattern for the pieces; an anchor that stabilizes but does not ground. “al voltant d’ un paralel” is a meditative guitar exercise that retains its intimacy within its live setting. Ferran Fages is a guitarist who is willing to take chances, even daring to remain silent. 8/10 -- Mike Wood (Foxy Digitalis) On the Canadian label Etude, the third collection of odes to solipsism by the ever-profound man from Barcelona is at the same time intelligible and ominous in an almost scary way. Fages, for starters, is not afraid of being observed: he plays with so-called interior fortitude, not anxious to cover mistakes or technical limitations and – exactly for that – capable of locating sweet spots on the fretboard where adjacent overtones and jangling buzzes generate uneasy resonances that don’t need authorizations to affirm a convention-damaging importance. These figurations aren’t to be found in any book, if you see what I mean, and their significance becomes deeper for that. Furthermore, Fages all but avoids pedestrian progressions and formulas (yes, even improvisers have secret tricks) and lets his fingers dictate the instantaneous path to follow, sometimes failing to discover “beauty” – something that should never be a necessity, especially in music – while finding a better compatibility with the essence of solo guitar playing, which ideally should resemble an intimate prayer. A record that doesn’t cease to transmit a sense of “calm distress”, confirming the artist’s will of non-adapting his personal research to the sugary indulgences of styles or genres. -Massimo Ricci (http://temporaryfault.blogspot.com) “No és que volgués explicar res, és un exercici molt pur, no hi ha pas cap idea darrera”, això deia l'Albert Serra parlant d'un dels seus films. Sembla que no vingui al cas, però no és veritat. Deixo reproduir els disc, una investigació sobre les possibilitats zero de la guitarra. Les pulsacions fragmentades em remeten a una espècie de blues abstracte, a mig camí entre l'atonalitat i l'intent melòdic, on cada vers va entrellaçat suaument amb un silenci abrupte, o amb la repetició. Un exercici formal molt interessant, també com a receptor, que lligaria més que bé amb les imatges del director de cinema. Música del desert en sentit estricte. Mantra total. // Marc Masó (http://nativa-diari.blogspot.com) Ecouter un nouvel album de Ferran Fages, c'est prendre des nouvelles de ce jeune homme qui nous avait tant émus lors de "Cançon per a un lent retard", son précédent enregistrement improvisé/composé durant le lent déclin de son père, décédé peu après. Longtemps, les profondes résonances de sa guitare acoustique, qui ne s'éteignaient, le plus souvent, qu'après l'ultime vibration de la dernière corde, ont occupé notre mémoire comme le plus élégiaque des hommages rendus à un être aimé, aussi pur et simple que la douleur elle-même l'est parfois. Aujourd'hui, le Barcelonais ami des Costa Monteiro, Redondo, Krakowiak et autres expérimentateurs opérant au sein du label Etude Record, a choisi une guitare électrique et, sans objet avoué ni raison particulière, nous livre ce nouvel opus dont l'esthétique n'a cependant pas dévié d'un iota. Et, si le son, d'une clarté lumineuse, évoque aussitôt le "Clearing" que Fred Frith grava en 2003 pour Tzadick (dist. Orkhêstra), la comparaison s'arrête ici car le jeu de l'Espagnol n'a rien à entendre avec celui de l'Anglais et son style, d'une singularité peu commune, se suffit largement à lui-même sans qu'on n'ait besoin d'aucune référence pour l'apprécier. Ferran Fagès cultive la beauté avec la patience d'un jardinier taillant ses boutures, d'un peintre japonais traçant la ligne de l'estampe à venir. Chaque note semble le fruit d'une réflexion attentive, un choix délibéré que le libre-arbitre pourtant spontané de l'artiste assume avec une sorte de délectation tardive. Les phrases aérées ne disent que l'essentiel d'une pensée concentrée sur ses seuls éléments signifiants et prennent le temps de s'attarder en chemin, d'écouter jusqu'à l'extinction l'espace d'une dissonance, un accord ouvert à sa possible extension ou le silence qui s'ensuit, chargé de mémoire et vibrant d'émotion. Et c'est une corde grave dont l'écho exténué baigne encore le riff décharné qui la prolonge, une réverbération naturelle dont les oscillations lointaines hantent l'oreille longtemps après que le son a disparu, l'obstination hallucinée de deux notes se répétant, creusant leur matière propre jusqu'à y trouver un éventuel chemin de traverse. C'est le temps nécessaire à la désorientation, de l'artiste comme de l'auditeur qui, pour une fois, semblent si proches qu'ils pourraient presque se toucher. La proximité de Ferran Fagès participe largement de cette fameuse émotion dont on ne peut, raisonnablement, avoir la pudeur de se défendre. D'ailleurs, ses épanchements sont eux-mêmes d'une telle discrétion qu'on ne saurait faire preuve d'indécence à les partager. Aux vibratos et autres effets immédiats, le guitariste a préféré la patience de la sincérité. Et c'est en toute simplicité qu'il déchire pour nous les habits fragiles de la dissimulation et nous conte, au travers de ces dix courtes pièces improvisées en temps réel, une histoire lucide et authentique dont chaque note serait un mot et chaque silence un retrait à la ligne. "Al voltant d'un para/.IeI" évoque le sourire limpide d'un jeune homme rencontré un soir autour d'un verre et d'une cigarette et dont le souvenir, depuis, ne nous quitte plus guère. - Joël Pagier There are unmistakable echoes of flamenco on al voltant d’un para/.lel. Recorded live in Barcelona in early 2007, the album reworks pieces first heard on Fages’s a cavall entre dos cavalls, released on Creative Sources five years ago. The two long tracks, ‘primer ger’ and ‘ultim ger’, are sandwiched by three shorter pieces of ascending length that act as a kind of extended caesura between the major statements. Imagine a classic performance by Ramon Montoya, slowed down and processed through a water chamber, and one gets close to the submarine intensity of Fages’s work, every sound made louder and more physically present by the medium, the air around the guitar thickened with overtones. And yet it’s also very simple music, direct and uncluttered by any totalising philosophy.-Brian Morton (The Wire) Escuchar cualquier disco del barcelonés Ferran Fages significa entrar en un universo totalmente particular. Y es que en primera instancia, para aquellos que no sepan nada de este guitarrista, habría que avisarles que, cuando toca, pasan más bien pocas cosas. Pero ojo, no en el sentido de vacuidad, sino más bien por su renuncia voluntaria a un discurso formal aparentemente corriente con el que -bien mediante elipsis, bien mediante reduccionismos o ausencias- lanzar pequeñas frases de espectro jazzístico y acotado lenguaje que instan a paladear el sonido. Un lugar donde los silencios se erigen en pequeños nudos recubiertos de una pátina melodramática y contemplativa avanzando en solitario hacia un entorno experimental impregnado de una personal independencia. Un ente musical autónomo -bizarrro para la mayoría, seductor para unos pocos-, reducto de esa vanguardia que, desde hace años y sin aspavientos, intenta cultivar sus ideas en pro de lo desconocido. Un objetivo que, a tenor de cómo está el panorama actual, debería ser valorado cada vez más. Francesc Feliu (Mondo Sonoro) “Al Voltant D'un Paral.lel”, del chitarrista e manipolatore elettroacustico Ferran Fages, è opera di struggente dilatazione. Versioni, (registrate dal vivo nel 2007), con approccio differente, di brani creati prima dell'album, “A Cavall Entre Dos Cavalls” del 2004 (su Creative Sources). Cinque stanze interiori, che si accendono di crepuscolare riverbero. Polvere, che si lascia intrappolare pigramente da un fascio di luce, rimane in sospensione; scompare. Folk, psichedelia dolente, blues spettrale, minimalismo. A cavallo, fra la composizione visuale/circolare di Morton Feldman, i silenzi di Taku Sugimoto, l'abbandono del Neil Young di “Dead Man”, l'evanescente soffio di Loren Connors. Dentro, in fondo alla materia, una tremolante luce John Fahey, che non riesce a dissipare l'oscurità in arrivo. Primer Gir, Desprès De La Primera Pausa, Desfer La Pausa, Possible Desfeta; Ùltim Gir. Brani, che nell'insistenza, fra note basse, arpeggi, armonici, sottili risonanze/dissonanze metalliche, si muovono come bianche lenzuola stese al vento ad asciugare. In silenzio; tutt'uno con l'assordante silenzio. Ne puoi sentire il fruscio. Nulla intorno si muove. Un assolo doom metal, che raggiunto il proprio livello di fusione, perde la voce, e rimane ad ondeggiare dolcemente, prima della fase discendente. L'occhio non coglie l'esplosione, ma ne intercetta la coda luminosa, che lenta si spegne. Da Barcellona, un disco da stringere gelosamente al petto. -Marco Carcasi (Kathodik)