[ reviews ]
54. technocalyps [ • rec. 2007 ]
Francisco López - "technocalyps" (CD Alien8Recordings, Canada 2008)
Continuing his 'exploration of the universe of broad-band noise from the real world,' Francisco López delivers his latest tour de force, the original soundtrack to the film TechnoCalyps by Frank Theys. TechnoCalyps is a documentary in three parts on 'Transhumanism,' which deals with the subject of human beings no longer being the driving force of civilization. Director Frank Theys raises the question of whether we are prepared to accept the prospect that humanity is not the end of evolution. Francisco López' soundtrack compliments the film wonderfully. Anybody familiar with the sound art of the composer will understand why this is a sensible pairing. Francisco's ability to utilize everyday sounds that most people barely even notice, and transform them into sound art is quite astonishing. The original soundtrack opens with an intro that is based on repetitious industrial sounds that bring to mind heavy machinery heard from a distance. It is much more difficult to discern López's source material on this release than on many of his previous works. While the recording features his trademark ebb and flow of quiet passages leading through crescendo to louder climaxes, the industrial nature of TechnoCalyps, makes it more difficult to absorb than many of his recordings centered on environmental recordings. The sound experience found on this latest recording can be compared somewhat to López's highly-regarded Buildings (New York) which features recordings of the actual sounds of the buildings themselves. www.theomegaorder.com (January 2009)
Francisco López - "technocalyps" (CD Alien8Recordings, Canada 2008)
Sound artist and experimental composer Francisco López doesn't immediately spring to mind when you think of motion picture soundtracking. His tendency to use dramatic shifts between near-silence and sandblasting noise aren't terribly well suited to taking a supporting role, yet here we find López scoring a documentary film by Frank Theys, taking as its subject the idea of 'transhumanism', which apparently relates to the idea that human beings are no longer the evolutionary full-stop we might once have believed ourselves to be, pontificating on the notion that civilisation is stealthily adapting into a race of cyborgs. López's music is conceptually resonant with such ideas, taking real world recordings and morphing them into some unrecognisable post-industrial noise scape. It'd be interesting to see how sound and image pair up on this project, but as a stand-alone recording Technocalyps features moments of outright beauty and brilliance. Recommended. www.boomkat.com (January 2009)
Francisco López - "technocalyps" (CD Alien8Recordings, Canada 2008)
For more than two decades Spanish sound artist Francisco López has exploited the connections between field recordings and "acousmatic listening" - the latter term was originally founded by the father of "Musique concrete", Pierre Schaeffer, with inspirations back to the the Greek filosopher Pythagoras and his "blind" teaching sessions. The idea behind "acousmatic listening" is that the listener must experience the sound independent from its source. One of the first recordings from Francisco López to experience the connections between field recordings and "acousmatic listening" was "La Selva" from 1997 - an album that was entirely based on field recordings from a rain forest reservoir in Costa Rica. Since then Francisco López has created a large number of albums released as "Untitled" in an effort to call the attention to the sounds themselves rather than to their sources. The strength of López is the ability to utilize natural sounds that most people barely notice and transform these sounds into sonic art, making the Spanish entomologist one of the most interesting comtemporary sound artists. Present album from Francisco López takes its starting point in the same conceptual idea of amplifying almost inaudible concrete sounds into abstract compositions. The album carrying the title "TechnoCalyps" is the orginal soundtrack Frank They's documentary, dealing with the controversial subject: "Human beings no longer being the driving force of civilization". As you might expect, hence the thematic approach of the documentary, the expression on the album is dark, strange and sinister thus adding a perfect atmosphere to the documentary. The works on the album are complex, with swarms of noise-drones creating abstract expressions that floats between pleasantly calm to quite harsh. Despite the fact that we are dealing with concrete sounds the music is most often abstract and otherworldly. And this is exactly what makes the album such an alluring experience. This is sound art in its most beautiful form! www.earlabs.org (January 2009)
Francisco López - "technocalyps" (CD Alien8Recordings, Canada 2008)
The aggressively experimental electronic artist Francisco López has made a career from deftly manipulating found sounds, such as radio static and ambient noise, into abstract but emotionally resonant sonic collages. The roaring TECHNOCALYPS ... Full Descriptionis López's soundtrack to the film of the same name, and features recordings of machinery and other industrial sounds skillfully arranged into compositions that resemble the surprisingly tuneful buzzing and groaning of some great metallic orchestra. www.cduniverse.com (January 2009)
Continuing his 'exploration of the universe of broad-band noise from the real world,' Francisco López delivers his latest tour de force, the original soundtrack to the film TechnoCalyps by Frank Theys. TechnoCalyps is a documentary in three parts on 'Transhumanism,' which deals with the subject of human beings no longer being the driving force of civilization. Director Frank Theys raises the question of whether we are prepared to accept the prospect that humanity is not the end of evolution. Francisco López' soundtrack compliments the film wonderfully. Anybody familiar with the sound art of the composer will understand why this is a sensible pairing. Francisco's ability to utilize everyday sounds that most people barely even notice, and transform them into sound art is quite astonishing. The original soundtrack opens with an intro that is based on repetitious industrial sounds that bring to mind heavy machinery heard from a distance. It is much more difficult to discern López's source material on this release than on many of his previous works. While the recording features his trademark ebb and flow of quiet passages leading through crescendo to louder climaxes, the industrial nature of TechnoCalyps, makes it more difficult to absorb than many of his recordings centered on environmental recordings. The sound experience found on this latest recording can be compared somewhat to López's highly-regarded Buildings (New York) which features recordings of the actual sounds of the buildings themselves. www.theomegaorder.com (January 2009)
Francisco López - "technocalyps" (CD Alien8Recordings, Canada 2008)
Sound artist and experimental composer Francisco López doesn't immediately spring to mind when you think of motion picture soundtracking. His tendency to use dramatic shifts between near-silence and sandblasting noise aren't terribly well suited to taking a supporting role, yet here we find López scoring a documentary film by Frank Theys, taking as its subject the idea of 'transhumanism', which apparently relates to the idea that human beings are no longer the evolutionary full-stop we might once have believed ourselves to be, pontificating on the notion that civilisation is stealthily adapting into a race of cyborgs. López's music is conceptually resonant with such ideas, taking real world recordings and morphing them into some unrecognisable post-industrial noise scape. It'd be interesting to see how sound and image pair up on this project, but as a stand-alone recording Technocalyps features moments of outright beauty and brilliance. Recommended. www.boomkat.com (January 2009)
Francisco López - "technocalyps" (CD Alien8Recordings, Canada 2008)
For more than two decades Spanish sound artist Francisco López has exploited the connections between field recordings and "acousmatic listening" - the latter term was originally founded by the father of "Musique concrete", Pierre Schaeffer, with inspirations back to the the Greek filosopher Pythagoras and his "blind" teaching sessions. The idea behind "acousmatic listening" is that the listener must experience the sound independent from its source. One of the first recordings from Francisco López to experience the connections between field recordings and "acousmatic listening" was "La Selva" from 1997 - an album that was entirely based on field recordings from a rain forest reservoir in Costa Rica. Since then Francisco López has created a large number of albums released as "Untitled" in an effort to call the attention to the sounds themselves rather than to their sources. The strength of López is the ability to utilize natural sounds that most people barely notice and transform these sounds into sonic art, making the Spanish entomologist one of the most interesting comtemporary sound artists. Present album from Francisco López takes its starting point in the same conceptual idea of amplifying almost inaudible concrete sounds into abstract compositions. The album carrying the title "TechnoCalyps" is the orginal soundtrack Frank They's documentary, dealing with the controversial subject: "Human beings no longer being the driving force of civilization". As you might expect, hence the thematic approach of the documentary, the expression on the album is dark, strange and sinister thus adding a perfect atmosphere to the documentary. The works on the album are complex, with swarms of noise-drones creating abstract expressions that floats between pleasantly calm to quite harsh. Despite the fact that we are dealing with concrete sounds the music is most often abstract and otherworldly. And this is exactly what makes the album such an alluring experience. This is sound art in its most beautiful form! www.earlabs.org (January 2009)
Francisco López - "technocalyps" (CD Alien8Recordings, Canada 2008)
The aggressively experimental electronic artist Francisco López has made a career from deftly manipulating found sounds, such as radio static and ambient noise, into abstract but emotionally resonant sonic collages. The roaring TECHNOCALYPS ... Full Descriptionis López's soundtrack to the film of the same name, and features recordings of machinery and other industrial sounds skillfully arranged into compositions that resemble the surprisingly tuneful buzzing and groaning of some great metallic orchestra. www.cduniverse.com (January 2009)