[ reviews ]
45. untitled (2005) [ • rec. 2004 ] Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
On the new Untitled (2005) CD the Spanish composer Francisco López presents four recently composed pieces which span a broad dynamic as well as stylistic range. Together these constitute a fascinating and intense research exploration into the deep essence of sound. From sizzling jungle atmospheres to rumbling subterranean drones and microscopic details, this is a Francisco López tour de force. In addition to three pieces based on environmental recordings, Untitled (2005) features also an instrumental composition Untitled #111 (For Jani Christou) performed by the noted German Zeitkratzer ensemble. Unsuprisingly, either way the sound is 100% Francisco López. On this release Mr. López might be unsually forthcoming about the sound sources he uses (as specified on the sleeve) but the dedication for the creation of absolute music remains the same. Press release www.anoema.com (Finland), May 2006.
Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
Spanish sound artist Francisco López is best-known for his use of extended periods of silence and near silence in his carefully crafted compositions; yet his work is anything but minimal. For while it occasionally skirts along the edge of audibility and even plunges into the abyss of sonic nothingness every so often, his pieces teem and churn with activity, often boiling over into a riotous, earsplitting din. His latest release, untitled (2005) finds López creating an eminently satisfying and engrossing mix of racket and calm. Following his usual m.o., López, who is a biologist by trade, uses sounds sourced from the environment (insects, birds, rain and the like) on the majority of the pieces here, creating dense ecosystems of sound that churn and buzz, reaching occasional, exhileratingly cacophonous peaks and equally breathtakingly precipitous drops. Less typical for López is the third piece on the disc, "untitled #111 (for jani christou)", which he composed for the Zeitkratzer Ensemble, and which uses traditional acoustic instruments, such as saxophone, trumpet, cello, tuba, violin, bass, and percussion. In spite of its atypical instrumentation, the overall aesthetic and effect of the piece is pure López, with its dynamic exploration of sound's warp and woof. The other pieces on the disc contain surprises as well. In general, López uses his battalion of sound sources on untitled (2005) in an unusually transparent manner: sounds are not abstracted, with rain, wind, birds, and - most unnervingly - Quebecois mosquitoes sounding very much themselves. It's an intense, dramatic disc and one of my favorite releases from López in the past few years. www.rarefrequency.com, August 2006.
Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
The majority of the releases by Francisco López are 'one piece' releases, one specific work, that can last anywhere between say twenty to seventy minutes. But every now and then he releases a CD that is called 'Untitled' (obviously, since that's what the majority of his pieces are called) and then a year, rather than a number. Usually these CDs have more than one piece, but they were usually all created in that year. Or in this case, 'also performed' in this year, since one of the pieces is a piece López wrote, but it's performed by the Zeitkratzer Ensemble. This is the only recording from 2001, rather than 2005. And of course it's an unusual piece. Whereas the other three pieces featured on this CD deal with environmental sounds, like so many of the López releases, this is an orchestral piece, played on violin, cello, trumpet, saxophone, accordion, piano and percussion (among others), but still has the Lópezian touch: starting out soft and then rising to an almighty crescendo. These instruments play alike the sounds López would use. It's funny to see that the three other pieces, don't have a similar built up: they are more or less straight forward pieces, staying on a similar level, but are (perhaps) heavily layered pieces of insect like sounds, which buzz and sing around. Perhaps it's a very clever edit? Which ever is the case: this is a worthwhile addition to the expanded catalogue of senor López. Vital Weekly (The Netherlands), August 2006.
Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
As I have just written below, this is the second "Untitled (Year)" release coming out this year, this time on Finnish label Anoema. The four tracks range from 8 to 25 minutes, and are well, uhm... splendid. The opening "Untitled # 177" is based on Bangkok field recordings that I can't really recognize, but the abstract violence of the piece reminded me of the collaboration with John Duncan or the (in)organic reasearch of "Building [New York]". It's a stunning dark piece, but the best is yet to come. Track 2 and 4 are lengthy wild environment-based pieces (with recordings from the Amazon forest and Québec respectively) that instantly plunge you back in the mesmerizing soundscapes of "La Selva" or "Addy en el país de la fruta y los chunches". As layered and complex as only López can be, with an amazing amount of sonic details even in the most minimal passages. Last but not least, there's the "Untitled # 111 [for Jani Cristou]", commissioned and performed by the German ensemble Zeitkratzer. If you're familiar with their works (with interpretations of pieces by Duncan, Ikeda, Merzbow, etc.), you'll know that their strings and wind instruments don't sound like a normal ensemble at all - indeed, while having a power and a sound texture of its own, the piece in unmistakably 100% López. Guaranteed to be in my personal 2006 top-list, for what it's worth.www.chaindlk.com (Italy), October 2006.
Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
Untitled (2005) brings together four more excellent pieces. "Untitled #177" was created with sounds recorded "in Bangkok by building transmissions". It's ferociously stomach-gripping, choking our calmness by alternating surrounding peril and more distant, sparsely contoured timbral shades that recall John Duncan. "Untitled #178", recorded in Amazonia "during the dry season of 2005", begins surprisingly enough with violent rain and thunder immediately pierced by extreme high frequencies. Cut to a nocturnal environment, crickets and birds making us feel like unwanted guests in a perfect biosystem. López's electronics provide a haunting background until everything fades to black (or does it?) before a conclusive, splendid entomological choir. "Untitled #111 (for Jani Christou)" is a live recording of the piece's premiere at Berlin Podewil by Zeitkratzer: it's an impressive roar of masterfully controlled drones, disciplined percussion, pregnant friction and barely repressed energy that makes the composition sound like Hermann Nitsch on steroids. Great stuff. "Untitled #183" features yet another helping of environmental recording, this time from Quebec. Insects are prominent, with a few "megabuzz" soloists approaching the mics, but the overall sensation is once more of a penetrating spiritual wholeness: pouring rain is a symbolic purification from the illusory significance and useless words that only the stupidity of men, the self-proclaimed "most evolved beings", could define as "truth". Then, like all the things they fail to understand (which is more or less everything), they destroy. www.paristransatlantic.com (France), 2007
On the new Untitled (2005) CD the Spanish composer Francisco López presents four recently composed pieces which span a broad dynamic as well as stylistic range. Together these constitute a fascinating and intense research exploration into the deep essence of sound. From sizzling jungle atmospheres to rumbling subterranean drones and microscopic details, this is a Francisco López tour de force. In addition to three pieces based on environmental recordings, Untitled (2005) features also an instrumental composition Untitled #111 (For Jani Christou) performed by the noted German Zeitkratzer ensemble. Unsuprisingly, either way the sound is 100% Francisco López. On this release Mr. López might be unsually forthcoming about the sound sources he uses (as specified on the sleeve) but the dedication for the creation of absolute music remains the same. Press release www.anoema.com (Finland), May 2006.
Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
Spanish sound artist Francisco López is best-known for his use of extended periods of silence and near silence in his carefully crafted compositions; yet his work is anything but minimal. For while it occasionally skirts along the edge of audibility and even plunges into the abyss of sonic nothingness every so often, his pieces teem and churn with activity, often boiling over into a riotous, earsplitting din. His latest release, untitled (2005) finds López creating an eminently satisfying and engrossing mix of racket and calm. Following his usual m.o., López, who is a biologist by trade, uses sounds sourced from the environment (insects, birds, rain and the like) on the majority of the pieces here, creating dense ecosystems of sound that churn and buzz, reaching occasional, exhileratingly cacophonous peaks and equally breathtakingly precipitous drops. Less typical for López is the third piece on the disc, "untitled #111 (for jani christou)", which he composed for the Zeitkratzer Ensemble, and which uses traditional acoustic instruments, such as saxophone, trumpet, cello, tuba, violin, bass, and percussion. In spite of its atypical instrumentation, the overall aesthetic and effect of the piece is pure López, with its dynamic exploration of sound's warp and woof. The other pieces on the disc contain surprises as well. In general, López uses his battalion of sound sources on untitled (2005) in an unusually transparent manner: sounds are not abstracted, with rain, wind, birds, and - most unnervingly - Quebecois mosquitoes sounding very much themselves. It's an intense, dramatic disc and one of my favorite releases from López in the past few years. www.rarefrequency.com, August 2006.
Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
The majority of the releases by Francisco López are 'one piece' releases, one specific work, that can last anywhere between say twenty to seventy minutes. But every now and then he releases a CD that is called 'Untitled' (obviously, since that's what the majority of his pieces are called) and then a year, rather than a number. Usually these CDs have more than one piece, but they were usually all created in that year. Or in this case, 'also performed' in this year, since one of the pieces is a piece López wrote, but it's performed by the Zeitkratzer Ensemble. This is the only recording from 2001, rather than 2005. And of course it's an unusual piece. Whereas the other three pieces featured on this CD deal with environmental sounds, like so many of the López releases, this is an orchestral piece, played on violin, cello, trumpet, saxophone, accordion, piano and percussion (among others), but still has the Lópezian touch: starting out soft and then rising to an almighty crescendo. These instruments play alike the sounds López would use. It's funny to see that the three other pieces, don't have a similar built up: they are more or less straight forward pieces, staying on a similar level, but are (perhaps) heavily layered pieces of insect like sounds, which buzz and sing around. Perhaps it's a very clever edit? Which ever is the case: this is a worthwhile addition to the expanded catalogue of senor López. Vital Weekly (The Netherlands), August 2006.
Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
As I have just written below, this is the second "Untitled (Year)" release coming out this year, this time on Finnish label Anoema. The four tracks range from 8 to 25 minutes, and are well, uhm... splendid. The opening "Untitled # 177" is based on Bangkok field recordings that I can't really recognize, but the abstract violence of the piece reminded me of the collaboration with John Duncan or the (in)organic reasearch of "Building [New York]". It's a stunning dark piece, but the best is yet to come. Track 2 and 4 are lengthy wild environment-based pieces (with recordings from the Amazon forest and Québec respectively) that instantly plunge you back in the mesmerizing soundscapes of "La Selva" or "Addy en el país de la fruta y los chunches". As layered and complex as only López can be, with an amazing amount of sonic details even in the most minimal passages. Last but not least, there's the "Untitled # 111 [for Jani Cristou]", commissioned and performed by the German ensemble Zeitkratzer. If you're familiar with their works (with interpretations of pieces by Duncan, Ikeda, Merzbow, etc.), you'll know that their strings and wind instruments don't sound like a normal ensemble at all - indeed, while having a power and a sound texture of its own, the piece in unmistakably 100% López. Guaranteed to be in my personal 2006 top-list, for what it's worth.www.chaindlk.com (Italy), October 2006.
Francisco López - "untitled (2005)" (CD Anoema, Finland 2006)
Untitled (2005) brings together four more excellent pieces. "Untitled #177" was created with sounds recorded "in Bangkok by building transmissions". It's ferociously stomach-gripping, choking our calmness by alternating surrounding peril and more distant, sparsely contoured timbral shades that recall John Duncan. "Untitled #178", recorded in Amazonia "during the dry season of 2005", begins surprisingly enough with violent rain and thunder immediately pierced by extreme high frequencies. Cut to a nocturnal environment, crickets and birds making us feel like unwanted guests in a perfect biosystem. López's electronics provide a haunting background until everything fades to black (or does it?) before a conclusive, splendid entomological choir. "Untitled #111 (for Jani Christou)" is a live recording of the piece's premiere at Berlin Podewil by Zeitkratzer: it's an impressive roar of masterfully controlled drones, disciplined percussion, pregnant friction and barely repressed energy that makes the composition sound like Hermann Nitsch on steroids. Great stuff. "Untitled #183" features yet another helping of environmental recording, this time from Quebec. Insects are prominent, with a few "megabuzz" soloists approaching the mics, but the overall sensation is once more of a penetrating spiritual wholeness: pouring rain is a symbolic purification from the illusory significance and useless words that only the stupidity of men, the self-proclaimed "most evolved beings", could define as "truth". Then, like all the things they fail to understand (which is more or less everything), they destroy. www.paristransatlantic.com (France), 2007