Release Notes
- Acoustic Guitar: Ferran Fages
- Zither: Dimitra Lazaridou Chatzigoga
- Design: Carolin Vignola
- Recorded by: Cristian Palleja
- Mixed, mastered by: Ferran Conangla
Listen a fragment of Objects sense Objectes
EtudeRecords
ABOUT OBJECTS SENSE OBJECTES
By applying the title “objects sense objectes” I wanted to throw some light on the paradoxes of the function of objects (object, objecte) within the field of contemporary improvised music, as they appear and operate in this first release by the duo ap’strophe. The forms that emerge from these four musical ‘ exercises’ are essentially lacking, or rather moving away from what could be called objectual precision. Here we are dealing with forms that are constructed by ‘determinate’ objects, emerging from the organization of ‘determinate’ material, but, at the same time, eagerly transcending the logical determinations and the certain limits of a simple, empirical sonoric realization. The method in play is neither the suture of various schemas nor the putting together of several acoustic signs. One might describe its particularity (idio-morphy) as a procedure of overloading, as a gradation of signifiers (sense), or an approximation of an autonomous discourse –all the above being recurrent phenomena, proper to the nature and practice of improvised music of the last four decades (whose ontogenesis begins in the mid sixties, though noone was nor is listening…). All this is in consonance with the philosopher , who in his book on senses affirms: “A sound event does not take place, but occupies space, even if the source - its cause- often remains vague...”. This complex treatment of object and discourse allows us to consider the ambiguous nature, and why not, the essence of this entity, of this musical genre that was recently described by critics as “electroacoustic improvisation” (but, beware, the term improvisation shall not decide on the end, the telos of this music, it rather pretends to signify a modulation, a way of treatment, of realization of the musical material, with the simultaneous application of a restriction of contents). This is where ap’strophe are departing from and through the recording of 'objects sense objectes' they are raising the following questions: Is representation (material, form, content) the basic reality we must start from? What it is that we find through the articulation, the encounter of liberty with causality (identification through categories), in music and other fields? Can we create pure situations of psycho-physio-acoustic stimulation?
REVIEWS
(acoustic guitar), (zither). The beauty of the plucked and buzzing string. Sometimes, the music recalls Partch's kithara, both in timbre and in the open, airy freedom he brought to the instrument. There's a certain amount of electronics employed in terms of feedback and, I think, string agitators of one sort or another, generally with effectiveness as on the lengthy "6", a novella of bumps, plinks, dropped objects and hums that grow thin here and there but holds one's attention more than not. Fages always has a tonal core no matter how far afield he floats and seems to have found a like soul in Chatzigoga; there's a warmth present throughout. A smidgen of fringe-Fahey creeps into the especially lovely last track, "12", as guitar notes are bent, allowed to hang, buffeted by jangling zither strings. Good recording, relaxing like strange wind-chimes on the one hand but with a gentle knottiness that lurks beneath the surface.
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The press text for this release gives a pretty complicated text about the title, which deals with a philosophical explanation of 'improvisation', which I somehow fail to comprehend, but is a duo of on acoustic guitar and , of whom I never heard, on zither. They worked together on Fages' last guitar album 'Cancons Per A Un Lent Retard', in which they worked with detuning guitars, and it inspired them to go on and work on new material. That resulted in this album 'Objects Sense Objects', which has four pieces. The shortest is just under six minutes while the longest is thirty-one. That deems to me that this is all a bit long. It's almost an hour worth of improvised music 'scored' (?) for two acoustic instruments, and its an extensive exploration of the instruments used here. Things ramble, detune, pluck and hit. Due to the extensive character of the pieces I thought this was best enjoyed while sitting back and let the music come over the listener, and not by trying to fully concentrate on each specific sound event happening. That seems to be too much asked from the listener. If you want to do that, I'd say take this in smaller quantities. But taken as a bath of sound to immerse yourself in, I think this is a fairly good album of sound explorations and improvisations for two instruments. Maybe I should try and understand the text better to see if I missed a point.
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