Tuesday 29 November 2016

MICHEL REDOLFI - Desert Tracks


Now here's something. An album. Electroacoustic music. Don't go away. This really is special and showcases what can be done with the right equipment, that being ears as finely tuned as Michel Redolfi's and the ability to organise sound the way he does. All you need is a pair of ears. Do you have a pair? One isn't as good, but might suffice.

Even a close listen won't tell you what you're hearing, exactly, but such is the joy of acousmatic sound. For instance, I think a voice interjects during the first track, Opening. You also hear what sounds like ball bearings trickling through your speakers along with a chain being rattled...and the voice become more distorted, alien, whilst the calm foundation continues. It's both relaxing and unsettling. 

One might expect a desert-themed album to be New Age-style peaceful, yet Redolfi's creation is more akin to a trip across the sands with Brion Gysin in The Process. The sonic landscape is hallucinatory, disorientating; a place of clanging bells, ominous rumbles and sudden interruptions. Too Much Sky can be awe-inspiring or intimidating (we feel so small) and as with nature, Redolfi's music evokes wonder along with a sense of disquiet. A classy reissue from Sub Rosa.   

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