[ reviews ]
49. Wind [Patagonia] [ • rec. 2005 ]Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
A new and/OAR release is definitely something to be excited about and this superb CD from Francisco López is easily up there with the best of the label. The work is formed from the sound of the wind recorded in the vast, barren landscape of Patagonia and it serves to illustrate, once again how much of an intriguing force nature can be. A deep, overwhelmingly powerful soundscape of incredible beauty which morphs and changes throughout the duration of the piece. This is raw, unaltered and pure and for fans of Chris Watson's work as well as Kiyoshi Mizutani's stunning 'Scenery' CD this is an absolutely essential album. Quite brilliant. www.smallfish.co.uk, October 2007.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
Francisco López describes Patagonia as a "relentless environment of sonic strength." This wind-beaten region located on the far southern reaches of South America has been called "the land of the living wind" - a place of surreal sights where birds can be seen to fly backwards and trees grow sideways. It's a region where aeolian activity - the wind's ability to transform the physical landscape - is maximized.
Years ago I recall watching a movie whose setting was in the vast prairie lands of the United States during the dust bowl era. Included was a scene of a mother driven to madness by a combination of isolation, hardship, and a relentless wind that howled through the cracks and crevices of her house depositing a perpetual layer of fine dust. This madness culminated when she took the lives of her children. Later, when the carnage was discovered by the father, both lost their lives to murder-suicide.
A sad, disturbing image, but a dramatic example of the tranforming power inherent in such an intangible phenomenon known as wind - a natural, sublime force being the observable manifestation of contrasts in temperature and pressure that has the power to transform not only topography but, also, the human psyche.
The CD is accompanied by a beautiful, sixteen page booklet containing images, introductory text by Francisco López, and an engaging, scholarly essay by Christoph Cox. All quoted material that follows in this review can be attributed to them.
Wind [Patagonia] is the third in series of pure environmental sound recordings whose aim is to give: "An appraisal of the richness and essential qualities of the original sonic material" (FL). The first two CDs in the series featured a collection of various sounds from two contrasting sound environments: the first being a Costa Rican rainforest and the second, various buildings in New York City. Wind [Patagonia] is different in the sense that it a focuses on just one fundamental, transcendent sound source - "the sonic power of air gusts and currents" (CC). What all three CDs have in common, though, is that they "provide aural openings into the perpetual flow of broad-band sound that consitutes the sonic life of nature" (CC).
Wind [Patagonia] can be appreciated on two levels. On the one hand, it's an unadulterated (but not unbiased) audio record of a specific weather phenomena occurring in a particular locality. On the other hand, it can be listened to as "pure sound matter" (CC). In this case, an abstract recording of wideband noise that lets the listener interpret the sounds, shading the recording with his/her own experiences and preconceptions - independent of the actual sounds that were recorded and where they were recorded. So the strong gusts and swells of wind that are evident in the forefront of the initial few minutes might also be interpreted as powerful, swirling bursts of wideband noise while gentle, steady streams of air currents become segments of calm drones.
In the liner notes, Christoph Cox argues that in listening to this recording of Patagonian winds "we are no longer in the tidy world of human music, but have entered the sublime domain of natural sound." The pleasurable tones and structure of man-made music aren't present here. The winds of Patagonia are an instance of raw, naturally occuring noise which crosses over into the realm of those things that we humans regard as immense or awe-inspiring or magnificent such as violent storms, the depths of the oceans, and mountains. Things that we not only find beautiful but also that bring about a bit of apprehension and fearful respect. www.earlabs.org, October 2007.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
Listening to the third and final instalment of Francisco López's Trilogy Of The Americas series during a blustery English winter weekend may seem edundant. But like Olafur Eliasson's Tate-famed art installation The Weather Project, an immense, beamed representation of the sky, López's work compels the listener to meditate more deeply on the everyday natural phenomena that we take for granted. These field recordings of the air gusts and currents that patrolled the Argentinian Patagonia during the Austral winters of 2000 and 2003 are simple in their presentation; unadorned and elegant.
Delicate whispers mix with ferocious eddying blasts, inhuman intensity juxtaposed with sublime beauty; these delightful expositions of "the invisible force that endlessly sweeps the surface of the globe", when taken in conjunction with the accompanying photographs and Christoph Cox's liner notes, constitute both an absorbing documentary and a stunning aesthetic object. Plan B Magazine (UK), January 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
This is the last CD that I listened to in 2007, right in the middle of the final December evening - so much for firecrackers and champagne - and the opener of the subsequent morning. While I'm writing, as it often happens, the windows are open and an icy winter breeze in a glowing sunny afternoon is being heard, the effect on the fallen leaves that of an irregular rustle interrupting the first day of January's somnolent reprise of activities. From here, this is seen as the completion of one among the innumerable cycles of which our existence is full. In this same frame, Francisco López's recordings of winds from the Argentine regions of Patagonia (Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego) finalizes the triptych started in 1998 with "La Selva" and continued with "Buildings [New York]" in 2001. As he explains in the liners, the author was (is) interested in "an extreme phenomenological immersion led by anti-rationality and anti-purposefulness" in a "world devoid of human presence". López, a trained entomologist and accomplished deep listener of this planet's many voices, is also among the very few who have an actual chance to experiment with the above described conditions, his recordings documenting situations where nature and self-consciousness become parts of a whole set of drastic states of mere being that only the fittest can endure. In a strictly "musical" sense, three basic kinds of wind are captured in this album: furiously ripping discharges that seem to destroy the microphone's capsule, distantly roaring whooshes whose voice is akin to hearing a faraway jet, progressively calmer settings that close the show reducing the level of perception down to a typical "López silence". It's the depth of the implications that transforms a potentially normal document of natural sounds into a galvanizing, reinvigorating event. The Spanish soundscaper needs no additional words to highlight an already recognized mastery in this game. Touching Extremes (Italy), January 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
A dramaturgical and utterly personal presence: A 57-minute piece composed of nothing but wind-related field recordings. There is no such thing as "pure sound" of course. At least not in the sense that it could ever be entirely without reference. And yet, on "Wind [Patagonia]", Francisco López returns to a place, where these references loose their meaning and dissolve as the music unfolds. This ideal goes hand in hand with a listening process, "which doesn't deny what is outside the sounds", according to López, "but explores and affirms all what is inside them." The result of this quest has turned out mindshattering, but how can one talk or write about an album which just wants to be heard and nothing else?
No substitute for listening
And/Oar have thankfully ignored the possible dilemmas between form and philosophy and placed the existentialy pitchblack CD inside a luxurious supergloss Digipack, accompanied by a 16-page booklet whose colour photography pays tribute to the sparse planes and raw romance of Patagonia. Inspired by the music, Christoph Cox delivers an intoxicating, smart and informative essay in the booklet, which gives hope for the reinvigoration of the long-lost art of linernotes. Cox places "Wind [Patagonia]" in the context of the trilogy which opened with "La Selva" and continued on the 2001-effort "Buildings [New York]", he draws elegant parallels with Burke and Kant and observes the particular importance of the microphone (a "sine qua non" of field recordings as he puts it) in this instance, because wind can only be heard when it touches objects or surface areas.
Neither Cox' article, nor the artwork, however excuisite as they may be, can substitue or supplement the listening experience. The same, I fear, goes for a descriptive approach to introducing this record. López has combined various site-specific, wind-related field recordings into a single, 57-minute piece. Other than choosing the right places and the equipment to record them with, the entire material has remained unprocessed with only sequencing, seaguing and the length of each segment falling into the responsability of the composer. These parameters are, however, enough to unfold an overwhelming presence.
As erruptive as a classical symphony
López' recordings range from gail storms to howling and hollering winds, from scaringly erruptive thrusts to meditative states of rest, from the harsh and loud opening to the gradually dying-down whisper of the finale. It is the dramaturgical and utterly personal presence which he establishes over the course of the piece, combined with the immediacy of his field tracks, which shake the listener up like a classical symphony.
The symphony is not a bad metaphor in this respect, because it, too, has the potential to transcendend the plentiful concrete associations evoked by the orchestra. "Wind [Patagonia]" conjures up images of Haiku-like precision and intensity, rising from the inside of these sounds in moments of absolute clarity. Asking where they came from would only lead to their destruction.
All of this is nothing but a faint representation of what really happens here. At times, the album really comes close to attaining the status of pure sound, and when it does, the listener suddenly finds himself alone with nothing to fall back to but himself. A lot of questions are raised in this context, but their discussion is barely a public one. "My recommendation", Francisco López says, "is - having knowledge of the existence of referential levels - to keep them closed." He's right. It's better that way. www.tokafi.com, March 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
This wind-beaten region located on the far southern reaches of South America known as Patagonia has been called "the land of the living wind", a place of surreal images where birds can be seen to fly backwards and trees grow sideways.
Wind [Patagonia] is the third in series of pure environmental sound recordings. The CD is accompanied by a beautiful, sixteen page booklet containing images, introductory text by Francisco López (FL), and an extended essay by Christoph Cox (CC). It's purpose is to give: "An appraisal of the richness and essential qualities of the original sonic material" (FL). The first two CDs in the series featured a collection of various sounds from two contrasting environments. The first being a Costa Rican rain forest and the second, various buildings in New York City. Wind [Patagonia] is different in the sense that it a focuses on just one fundamental, transcendent sound source - "the sonic power of air gusts and currents" (CC) - wind.
Wind [Patagonia] can be appreciated on two levels. On the one hand, it's an unadulterated (but not unbiased) audio record of a specific weather phenomena occurring in a particular locality. On the other hand, in an abstract sense, it's instance of wideband noise that can be uniquely interpreted by each listener, shaded with his/her own experiences and preconceptions - independent of the actual sounds that were recorded and where they were recorded. So, in the concrete sense, one listener might hear strong gusts of wind in the forefront of the initial few minutes while another listener, assuming the abstract vantage point, might hear powerful bursts of wideband noise. The strong gusts and swells of wind that are evident in the forefront of the initial few minutes might also be interpreted as powerful, swirling bursts of wideband noise while gentle, steady streams of air currents become segments of calm drones.
In the liner notes, Christoph Cox argues that in listening to this recording of Patagonian winds "we are no longer in the tidy world of human music, but have entered the sublime domain of natural sound." The pleasurable tones and structure of man-made music aren't present here. The winds of Patagonia are an instance of raw, naturally occurring noise which crosses over into the realm of those things that we humans regard as immense or awe-inspiring or magnificent such as violent storms, the depths of the oceans, and mountains. Things that we not only find beautiful but also that bring about a bit of apprehension and fearful respect. Earlabs, February 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
One of the most interesting releases from 2007 was by the peripatetic sound artist Francisco López, entitled Wind [Patagonia]. It is the third in an occasional series of extended works constructed from relatively unprocessed field recordings from various locations in the western hemisphere. The label description refers to the three releases as the "trilogy of the Americas," but it is not only the sound origins that create a commonality between the works. Each one has a similar cover design and contains an extensive essay on how the work was created, along with the same cautionary warning in all three releases, providing the listener with information about "the background philosophy behind the work and about its specific spatial-temporal 'reality,'" but urging him or her not to access them. All this is very much in keeping with López's long term vision of 'absolute' music. In various essays and interviews, he has situated himself with reference to the work of musique concrète theorist Pierre Schaeffer, who used sound objects without reference to their origins in the 'real' world. López often blindfolds the audience at his concerts to de-emphasize the sounds' relationship to the performer.
López has been at the forefront of sound art for nearly twenty-five years. He originally trained as a biologist, spending considerable time in the Costa Rican rain forest La Selva where the first of the three recordings was made. La Selva is an amazing recording, bringing the rain forest to life through close-miking magic. At several points, the listener can hear insects landing on the microphone and taking off again, along with all of the other richness present in the ecosystem. The second recording was urban: Buildings [New York] captured the sounds of the city's infrastructure, including the World Trade Center. Both albums portrayed a detailed sonic environment, demonstrating the rhythmic and textural possibilities for a musical interpretation.
Although Wind [Patagonia] shares several aspects with the earlier releases, it seems to require a perceptual shift that is unique. It isn't simply that López has moved his focus from the closed spaces of the rain forest and sub-basements to the South American plains. One can hear various creaks and squeaks, but the overwhelming sound source on the album is, unsurprisingly, wind. Movement of air through empty space. The sound of something invisible, something that's not really there. A Google search for wind noise produces results that tell how to minimize and eliminate it. López turns the act of listening on its head by calling attention to the invisible, the ignored, the unseen. Even with this obscured sound palette, López has created a work as varied, as detailed and as rich as the other releases in the series. The great sweeps of white noise from the wind are complemented by tiny sounds from the rest of the environment, rewarding the listener who has successfully transferred the background to the foreground.
López is a prolific sound artist, with nearly fifty releases on CD alone. With his focus on sound objects, it's not always possible to identify his sound sources, but he casts a much wider net than field recordings. Nevertheless, these three albums are among his best and most accessible. Wind [Patagonia] is released on and/OAR, a small label specializing in field recordings, and is available directly from the label as well as from the usual gang of distribution suspects. Classical-drone blog, January 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
During a particularly blustery English winter weekend, listening to the third and final instalment of Francisco López's "Trilogy of the Americas" series may seem a tad redundant. But like Olafur Eliasson's installation "The Weather Project", with its representations of the sun and sky, López's work compels the listener to meditate more deeply on the everyday natural phenomena that we either take for granted or occasionally even resent. These field recordings of the air gusts and currents that patrolled the Argentinian Patagonia during the Austral winters of 2000 and 2003 are simple in their presentation; unadorned and elegant. Delicate whispers mix with ferocious eddying blasts, inhuman intensity juxtaposed with sublime beauty; these delightful expositions of "the invisible force that endlessly sweeps the surface of the globe", when taken in conjunction with the accompanying photographs and Christoph Cox's fine liner notes, constitute both an absorbing documentary and a stunning aesthetic object. Plan B, January 2008
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
Many of the works by Señor López are sparsely packaged: his name, untitled number so and so and a label name. The vast majority of his work doesn't go beyond that low level of information. For reasons I am not entirely sure of (or rather not at all), some works are packed with text: 'La Selva', 'Buildings [New York]' and this new one 'Wind [Patagonia]' too (the link might be they are all recorded in America). So we learn that this piece of fifty-six minutes is a 'non-processed, not mixed environmental sound matter from a certain 'reality'' and in this case the reality is the wind the empty spaces of Patagonia, in the southern part of Argentina. During the 'austral winters' of 2000 and 2003, López recorded a whole bunch of wind. The empty space, usually referred as a quiet one in the world of musical reviews (certainly by Vital Weekly) is of course a misconception. Silence as such doesn't exist and the wind can be harsh player. The wind blows here heavily in the microphone - various types are used - and the membrane shakes along. It's not a straight forward, almost one hour piece of wind blowing. In his piece he uses various segments of wind sound, both the 'quiet' and the 'loud' and thus depicts a beautifully cruel world. As a biker I learned to dislike the wind, as much as I like it; it depends on which way you are going. This new work fits along very, very well along the two previous mentioned releases and for those who care to know: this isn't the all out silent López, as it's audible through the end, although the sound is in a long fade out. A great conclusion to a great trilogy. Vital Weekly, November 2007
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
Do the winds of Argentina sound any different than the winds of Tukwila? Probably not. Although there is a lot of wind here to hear. Close to an hour in fact. And it's a strong wind. So part of the power of this CD lies in it's evocation of nature's power. It's palpable. Turn it up and it's terrifying. But beyond that, what's most beautiful here is when you can hear the wind as music. It takes an open mind and it's admittedly challenging, but if you can hear the rhythms of the shifting winds as you would those of a jazz drummer and hear the sound of the wind as you would the tones of a microtonal composer, you're on your way. It's one of John Cage's basic lessons and it's a good one. Master it and you'll hear music everywhere. Wall of Sound, October 2007
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
The completion of Francisco López' tryptich of american environmental recordings moulded into compositions of formal strictness and reduction. The first of the three - La Selva - featured sound recordings of the costa rican jungle, the second - buildings - consisted of noises of airconditioning and ventilating systems as well as other machinery found in buildings around New York. Both works are constructed after the same principle: every sound atmosphere stands for a couple of minutes and is then followed by the next atmosphere, any other compositional construction is neglected. In this way López focusses the attention of the listener on the inner qualities of the sounds, without distracting tricks from the side of the composer. He believes in the "possibility of a profound, pure, blind listening of sounds, freed of the procedural, contextual or intentional levels of reference". The live perfomances of López are actually listening experiences of transcendental magnitude: he asks the audience to carry blindfolds and exposes the listeners to extremely processed field recordings at highest volume followed by abrupt level changes and super slow crescendi. This is then the conceptual change in his third piece - wind - that is basically the longest conceivable decrescendo: not a series of related sound atmospheres but a congruent montage of windshaked places found in Patagonia that progessivly diminuate in sound intensity. Listening to the piece is a very interesting physical experience: while the strong wind sounds of the beginning leave a kind of unrestful feeling, the eerie howling of the empty landscapes gradually gets more calming and peaceful, a sense of the pitiless being of nature evokes, of a place where the human is an alien in a dreamless surrounding. An essential recording of epic asceticism. http://silentlistening.wordpress.com/ (Germany), Spring 2008
A new and/OAR release is definitely something to be excited about and this superb CD from Francisco López is easily up there with the best of the label. The work is formed from the sound of the wind recorded in the vast, barren landscape of Patagonia and it serves to illustrate, once again how much of an intriguing force nature can be. A deep, overwhelmingly powerful soundscape of incredible beauty which morphs and changes throughout the duration of the piece. This is raw, unaltered and pure and for fans of Chris Watson's work as well as Kiyoshi Mizutani's stunning 'Scenery' CD this is an absolutely essential album. Quite brilliant. www.smallfish.co.uk, October 2007.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
Francisco López describes Patagonia as a "relentless environment of sonic strength." This wind-beaten region located on the far southern reaches of South America has been called "the land of the living wind" - a place of surreal sights where birds can be seen to fly backwards and trees grow sideways. It's a region where aeolian activity - the wind's ability to transform the physical landscape - is maximized.
Years ago I recall watching a movie whose setting was in the vast prairie lands of the United States during the dust bowl era. Included was a scene of a mother driven to madness by a combination of isolation, hardship, and a relentless wind that howled through the cracks and crevices of her house depositing a perpetual layer of fine dust. This madness culminated when she took the lives of her children. Later, when the carnage was discovered by the father, both lost their lives to murder-suicide.
A sad, disturbing image, but a dramatic example of the tranforming power inherent in such an intangible phenomenon known as wind - a natural, sublime force being the observable manifestation of contrasts in temperature and pressure that has the power to transform not only topography but, also, the human psyche.
The CD is accompanied by a beautiful, sixteen page booklet containing images, introductory text by Francisco López, and an engaging, scholarly essay by Christoph Cox. All quoted material that follows in this review can be attributed to them.
Wind [Patagonia] is the third in series of pure environmental sound recordings whose aim is to give: "An appraisal of the richness and essential qualities of the original sonic material" (FL). The first two CDs in the series featured a collection of various sounds from two contrasting sound environments: the first being a Costa Rican rainforest and the second, various buildings in New York City. Wind [Patagonia] is different in the sense that it a focuses on just one fundamental, transcendent sound source - "the sonic power of air gusts and currents" (CC). What all three CDs have in common, though, is that they "provide aural openings into the perpetual flow of broad-band sound that consitutes the sonic life of nature" (CC).
Wind [Patagonia] can be appreciated on two levels. On the one hand, it's an unadulterated (but not unbiased) audio record of a specific weather phenomena occurring in a particular locality. On the other hand, it can be listened to as "pure sound matter" (CC). In this case, an abstract recording of wideband noise that lets the listener interpret the sounds, shading the recording with his/her own experiences and preconceptions - independent of the actual sounds that were recorded and where they were recorded. So the strong gusts and swells of wind that are evident in the forefront of the initial few minutes might also be interpreted as powerful, swirling bursts of wideband noise while gentle, steady streams of air currents become segments of calm drones.
In the liner notes, Christoph Cox argues that in listening to this recording of Patagonian winds "we are no longer in the tidy world of human music, but have entered the sublime domain of natural sound." The pleasurable tones and structure of man-made music aren't present here. The winds of Patagonia are an instance of raw, naturally occuring noise which crosses over into the realm of those things that we humans regard as immense or awe-inspiring or magnificent such as violent storms, the depths of the oceans, and mountains. Things that we not only find beautiful but also that bring about a bit of apprehension and fearful respect. www.earlabs.org, October 2007.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
Listening to the third and final instalment of Francisco López's Trilogy Of The Americas series during a blustery English winter weekend may seem edundant. But like Olafur Eliasson's Tate-famed art installation The Weather Project, an immense, beamed representation of the sky, López's work compels the listener to meditate more deeply on the everyday natural phenomena that we take for granted. These field recordings of the air gusts and currents that patrolled the Argentinian Patagonia during the Austral winters of 2000 and 2003 are simple in their presentation; unadorned and elegant.
Delicate whispers mix with ferocious eddying blasts, inhuman intensity juxtaposed with sublime beauty; these delightful expositions of "the invisible force that endlessly sweeps the surface of the globe", when taken in conjunction with the accompanying photographs and Christoph Cox's liner notes, constitute both an absorbing documentary and a stunning aesthetic object. Plan B Magazine (UK), January 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
This is the last CD that I listened to in 2007, right in the middle of the final December evening - so much for firecrackers and champagne - and the opener of the subsequent morning. While I'm writing, as it often happens, the windows are open and an icy winter breeze in a glowing sunny afternoon is being heard, the effect on the fallen leaves that of an irregular rustle interrupting the first day of January's somnolent reprise of activities. From here, this is seen as the completion of one among the innumerable cycles of which our existence is full. In this same frame, Francisco López's recordings of winds from the Argentine regions of Patagonia (Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego) finalizes the triptych started in 1998 with "La Selva" and continued with "Buildings [New York]" in 2001. As he explains in the liners, the author was (is) interested in "an extreme phenomenological immersion led by anti-rationality and anti-purposefulness" in a "world devoid of human presence". López, a trained entomologist and accomplished deep listener of this planet's many voices, is also among the very few who have an actual chance to experiment with the above described conditions, his recordings documenting situations where nature and self-consciousness become parts of a whole set of drastic states of mere being that only the fittest can endure. In a strictly "musical" sense, three basic kinds of wind are captured in this album: furiously ripping discharges that seem to destroy the microphone's capsule, distantly roaring whooshes whose voice is akin to hearing a faraway jet, progressively calmer settings that close the show reducing the level of perception down to a typical "López silence". It's the depth of the implications that transforms a potentially normal document of natural sounds into a galvanizing, reinvigorating event. The Spanish soundscaper needs no additional words to highlight an already recognized mastery in this game. Touching Extremes (Italy), January 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
A dramaturgical and utterly personal presence: A 57-minute piece composed of nothing but wind-related field recordings. There is no such thing as "pure sound" of course. At least not in the sense that it could ever be entirely without reference. And yet, on "Wind [Patagonia]", Francisco López returns to a place, where these references loose their meaning and dissolve as the music unfolds. This ideal goes hand in hand with a listening process, "which doesn't deny what is outside the sounds", according to López, "but explores and affirms all what is inside them." The result of this quest has turned out mindshattering, but how can one talk or write about an album which just wants to be heard and nothing else?
No substitute for listening
And/Oar have thankfully ignored the possible dilemmas between form and philosophy and placed the existentialy pitchblack CD inside a luxurious supergloss Digipack, accompanied by a 16-page booklet whose colour photography pays tribute to the sparse planes and raw romance of Patagonia. Inspired by the music, Christoph Cox delivers an intoxicating, smart and informative essay in the booklet, which gives hope for the reinvigoration of the long-lost art of linernotes. Cox places "Wind [Patagonia]" in the context of the trilogy which opened with "La Selva" and continued on the 2001-effort "Buildings [New York]", he draws elegant parallels with Burke and Kant and observes the particular importance of the microphone (a "sine qua non" of field recordings as he puts it) in this instance, because wind can only be heard when it touches objects or surface areas.
Neither Cox' article, nor the artwork, however excuisite as they may be, can substitue or supplement the listening experience. The same, I fear, goes for a descriptive approach to introducing this record. López has combined various site-specific, wind-related field recordings into a single, 57-minute piece. Other than choosing the right places and the equipment to record them with, the entire material has remained unprocessed with only sequencing, seaguing and the length of each segment falling into the responsability of the composer. These parameters are, however, enough to unfold an overwhelming presence.
As erruptive as a classical symphony
López' recordings range from gail storms to howling and hollering winds, from scaringly erruptive thrusts to meditative states of rest, from the harsh and loud opening to the gradually dying-down whisper of the finale. It is the dramaturgical and utterly personal presence which he establishes over the course of the piece, combined with the immediacy of his field tracks, which shake the listener up like a classical symphony.
The symphony is not a bad metaphor in this respect, because it, too, has the potential to transcendend the plentiful concrete associations evoked by the orchestra. "Wind [Patagonia]" conjures up images of Haiku-like precision and intensity, rising from the inside of these sounds in moments of absolute clarity. Asking where they came from would only lead to their destruction.
All of this is nothing but a faint representation of what really happens here. At times, the album really comes close to attaining the status of pure sound, and when it does, the listener suddenly finds himself alone with nothing to fall back to but himself. A lot of questions are raised in this context, but their discussion is barely a public one. "My recommendation", Francisco López says, "is - having knowledge of the existence of referential levels - to keep them closed." He's right. It's better that way. www.tokafi.com, March 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
This wind-beaten region located on the far southern reaches of South America known as Patagonia has been called "the land of the living wind", a place of surreal images where birds can be seen to fly backwards and trees grow sideways.
Wind [Patagonia] is the third in series of pure environmental sound recordings. The CD is accompanied by a beautiful, sixteen page booklet containing images, introductory text by Francisco López (FL), and an extended essay by Christoph Cox (CC). It's purpose is to give: "An appraisal of the richness and essential qualities of the original sonic material" (FL). The first two CDs in the series featured a collection of various sounds from two contrasting environments. The first being a Costa Rican rain forest and the second, various buildings in New York City. Wind [Patagonia] is different in the sense that it a focuses on just one fundamental, transcendent sound source - "the sonic power of air gusts and currents" (CC) - wind.
Wind [Patagonia] can be appreciated on two levels. On the one hand, it's an unadulterated (but not unbiased) audio record of a specific weather phenomena occurring in a particular locality. On the other hand, in an abstract sense, it's instance of wideband noise that can be uniquely interpreted by each listener, shaded with his/her own experiences and preconceptions - independent of the actual sounds that were recorded and where they were recorded. So, in the concrete sense, one listener might hear strong gusts of wind in the forefront of the initial few minutes while another listener, assuming the abstract vantage point, might hear powerful bursts of wideband noise. The strong gusts and swells of wind that are evident in the forefront of the initial few minutes might also be interpreted as powerful, swirling bursts of wideband noise while gentle, steady streams of air currents become segments of calm drones.
In the liner notes, Christoph Cox argues that in listening to this recording of Patagonian winds "we are no longer in the tidy world of human music, but have entered the sublime domain of natural sound." The pleasurable tones and structure of man-made music aren't present here. The winds of Patagonia are an instance of raw, naturally occurring noise which crosses over into the realm of those things that we humans regard as immense or awe-inspiring or magnificent such as violent storms, the depths of the oceans, and mountains. Things that we not only find beautiful but also that bring about a bit of apprehension and fearful respect. Earlabs, February 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
One of the most interesting releases from 2007 was by the peripatetic sound artist Francisco López, entitled Wind [Patagonia]. It is the third in an occasional series of extended works constructed from relatively unprocessed field recordings from various locations in the western hemisphere. The label description refers to the three releases as the "trilogy of the Americas," but it is not only the sound origins that create a commonality between the works. Each one has a similar cover design and contains an extensive essay on how the work was created, along with the same cautionary warning in all three releases, providing the listener with information about "the background philosophy behind the work and about its specific spatial-temporal 'reality,'" but urging him or her not to access them. All this is very much in keeping with López's long term vision of 'absolute' music. In various essays and interviews, he has situated himself with reference to the work of musique concrète theorist Pierre Schaeffer, who used sound objects without reference to their origins in the 'real' world. López often blindfolds the audience at his concerts to de-emphasize the sounds' relationship to the performer.
López has been at the forefront of sound art for nearly twenty-five years. He originally trained as a biologist, spending considerable time in the Costa Rican rain forest La Selva where the first of the three recordings was made. La Selva is an amazing recording, bringing the rain forest to life through close-miking magic. At several points, the listener can hear insects landing on the microphone and taking off again, along with all of the other richness present in the ecosystem. The second recording was urban: Buildings [New York] captured the sounds of the city's infrastructure, including the World Trade Center. Both albums portrayed a detailed sonic environment, demonstrating the rhythmic and textural possibilities for a musical interpretation.
Although Wind [Patagonia] shares several aspects with the earlier releases, it seems to require a perceptual shift that is unique. It isn't simply that López has moved his focus from the closed spaces of the rain forest and sub-basements to the South American plains. One can hear various creaks and squeaks, but the overwhelming sound source on the album is, unsurprisingly, wind. Movement of air through empty space. The sound of something invisible, something that's not really there. A Google search for wind noise produces results that tell how to minimize and eliminate it. López turns the act of listening on its head by calling attention to the invisible, the ignored, the unseen. Even with this obscured sound palette, López has created a work as varied, as detailed and as rich as the other releases in the series. The great sweeps of white noise from the wind are complemented by tiny sounds from the rest of the environment, rewarding the listener who has successfully transferred the background to the foreground.
López is a prolific sound artist, with nearly fifty releases on CD alone. With his focus on sound objects, it's not always possible to identify his sound sources, but he casts a much wider net than field recordings. Nevertheless, these three albums are among his best and most accessible. Wind [Patagonia] is released on and/OAR, a small label specializing in field recordings, and is available directly from the label as well as from the usual gang of distribution suspects. Classical-drone blog, January 2008.
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
During a particularly blustery English winter weekend, listening to the third and final instalment of Francisco López's "Trilogy of the Americas" series may seem a tad redundant. But like Olafur Eliasson's installation "The Weather Project", with its representations of the sun and sky, López's work compels the listener to meditate more deeply on the everyday natural phenomena that we either take for granted or occasionally even resent. These field recordings of the air gusts and currents that patrolled the Argentinian Patagonia during the Austral winters of 2000 and 2003 are simple in their presentation; unadorned and elegant. Delicate whispers mix with ferocious eddying blasts, inhuman intensity juxtaposed with sublime beauty; these delightful expositions of "the invisible force that endlessly sweeps the surface of the globe", when taken in conjunction with the accompanying photographs and Christoph Cox's fine liner notes, constitute both an absorbing documentary and a stunning aesthetic object. Plan B, January 2008
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
Many of the works by Señor López are sparsely packaged: his name, untitled number so and so and a label name. The vast majority of his work doesn't go beyond that low level of information. For reasons I am not entirely sure of (or rather not at all), some works are packed with text: 'La Selva', 'Buildings [New York]' and this new one 'Wind [Patagonia]' too (the link might be they are all recorded in America). So we learn that this piece of fifty-six minutes is a 'non-processed, not mixed environmental sound matter from a certain 'reality'' and in this case the reality is the wind the empty spaces of Patagonia, in the southern part of Argentina. During the 'austral winters' of 2000 and 2003, López recorded a whole bunch of wind. The empty space, usually referred as a quiet one in the world of musical reviews (certainly by Vital Weekly) is of course a misconception. Silence as such doesn't exist and the wind can be harsh player. The wind blows here heavily in the microphone - various types are used - and the membrane shakes along. It's not a straight forward, almost one hour piece of wind blowing. In his piece he uses various segments of wind sound, both the 'quiet' and the 'loud' and thus depicts a beautifully cruel world. As a biker I learned to dislike the wind, as much as I like it; it depends on which way you are going. This new work fits along very, very well along the two previous mentioned releases and for those who care to know: this isn't the all out silent López, as it's audible through the end, although the sound is in a long fade out. A great conclusion to a great trilogy. Vital Weekly, November 2007
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
Do the winds of Argentina sound any different than the winds of Tukwila? Probably not. Although there is a lot of wind here to hear. Close to an hour in fact. And it's a strong wind. So part of the power of this CD lies in it's evocation of nature's power. It's palpable. Turn it up and it's terrifying. But beyond that, what's most beautiful here is when you can hear the wind as music. It takes an open mind and it's admittedly challenging, but if you can hear the rhythms of the shifting winds as you would those of a jazz drummer and hear the sound of the wind as you would the tones of a microtonal composer, you're on your way. It's one of John Cage's basic lessons and it's a good one. Master it and you'll hear music everywhere. Wall of Sound, October 2007
Francisco López - "Wind [Patagonia]" (CD And/Oar, USA 2007)
The completion of Francisco López' tryptich of american environmental recordings moulded into compositions of formal strictness and reduction. The first of the three - La Selva - featured sound recordings of the costa rican jungle, the second - buildings - consisted of noises of airconditioning and ventilating systems as well as other machinery found in buildings around New York. Both works are constructed after the same principle: every sound atmosphere stands for a couple of minutes and is then followed by the next atmosphere, any other compositional construction is neglected. In this way López focusses the attention of the listener on the inner qualities of the sounds, without distracting tricks from the side of the composer. He believes in the "possibility of a profound, pure, blind listening of sounds, freed of the procedural, contextual or intentional levels of reference". The live perfomances of López are actually listening experiences of transcendental magnitude: he asks the audience to carry blindfolds and exposes the listeners to extremely processed field recordings at highest volume followed by abrupt level changes and super slow crescendi. This is then the conceptual change in his third piece - wind - that is basically the longest conceivable decrescendo: not a series of related sound atmospheres but a congruent montage of windshaked places found in Patagonia that progessivly diminuate in sound intensity. Listening to the piece is a very interesting physical experience: while the strong wind sounds of the beginning leave a kind of unrestful feeling, the eerie howling of the empty landscapes gradually gets more calming and peaceful, a sense of the pitiless being of nature evokes, of a place where the human is an alien in a dreamless surrounding. An essential recording of epic asceticism. http://silentlistening.wordpress.com/ (Germany), Spring 2008