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Marcelo Radulovich/Marcos Fernandes - "The Whisper Chipper"
I first heard "The Whisper Chipper" on July 31 at Galoka's in La Jolla, and was quite taken by the live performance. However, the recording by Radulovich and Fernandes proved to be even more interesting due to its density and dynamic prowess. Using recordings of a wood chipper as source material, the first movement is introduced by a slowly evolving looped crescendo of minor seconds, and the piece continues to maintain a cohesive ambidexterity of rhythm and harmony as well as tension and release. It comes as a pleasant surprise to see a wood chipper take on a romantic quality by adding and decreasing the sound of wood chipping over harmonic drones and electronic sobs. Through all the frail webs created by the duo, they keep the improvisational element intact. The second movement is a conclusion to the subtle tension created in the first. It does contain a few surprises and eventually winds down to the original motive introduced by the guitar. The final vocal "feed" is a bit distracting, aswell as commendable, for its sense of timing and dramatic dexterity. The other compositions on this recording seem to be based around the same sonic formula with very few, if any,disappointments. Fernandes' percussion in "Shipbuilding" is an excellent addition to the electronic mix. The duo makes tasks like "Shipbuilding" and using "the Internet" seem quite poetic. Fernandes and Radulovich eventually sculpt a howling percussive clamor into intricate polyrhythms. They exhaust the exploration of range, dynamics, rhythm and harmony, and this may cause the listener to contemplate his or her next breath until the closing of each piece. "The Whisper Chipper" proves to be a very rewarding experience for those with enough enthusiasm and patience to plunge into Radulovich and Fernandes' aural lexicon of impressive musical soundscapes. - Curtis Glatter, San Diego New Music
- Dean Suzuki
- Gary Lopez, New creative music
The first 34 minutes, broken into 2 parts, comprise the title track. In the first a low throbbing drone regularly bursts into a clattering noise - I presume this is the chipper being put to work. Its position in the mix varies, and is more obvious in the middle section, perhaps reflecting a quieter phase for other instruments. Anyway, over, round and through this a variety parts are brought into play: plucking strings which are stretched and relaxed varying the note (it could even be a saw!), a guitar, long tones, extended keyboard chords, shimmering percussion and tortured synths. The density varies and elements come and go, but start to build at around 8 minutes with a wild burst of plucking, feedback guitar chimes in a few minutes later and then a couple of minutes before the end the noise drops out, leaving the instruments which fade out to a crackling-buzz. The second track seems less busy - and is longer - but the chipper is there in the ground. The mood that ended the first part is carried over, not precisely, but it is very buzzy, with guitarish high tones that phase into echoed pings, lots of wood being chipped, and developing spacey synths which grow out of a deep bass sound. A third of the way in things get quieter, with a gentler development of drone, strings, (samples? horns for instance) and percussion before starting to rebuild to dense layers of noise including high sirenlike tones, feedback and white noise, and which then pulls back again. In the last five minutes a ticking pulse takes over, followed by piano and background noises as a radio is tuned and voices sample in. This winds down the piece with little noises behind it. A harmonising tonepulse opens 'Shipbuilding' with banging sounds around it, perhaps some organ and something harsher - synth or radio noise deep below. It shimmers like a machine throbbing into action, a combination of electronic and mechanical components, a sort of gentle noise, atonal and almost random as parts fire up. The radio becomes more apparent, on the edge of speech, and cymbals crash. The grumbling continues, with percussive effects and some high whines, fades and then builds before being cut off. 'The internet' has a whispering maelstrom of tones building and swirling for the first few minutes: these are accompanied by a percussion which works towards a crescendo, bring the ground noise with it. It bottoms into a pitterpatter and whine which move into another growth phase - a distant howl joins, percussive rumbling - ebbing and flowing to another peak of drums and high tones (one of which is a minifan). During a quiet phase some samples enter - someone saying 'the internet', a horn phrase, other voices - and another noisey peak occurs as it pulses in an edgy noise of samples, high atmospherics, buzzing to a close. The underlying phrases from the mulcher and the fan are suggestive of the feel of this album - it verges between random noise and subtly manipulated sounds, with the weight definitely towards the second, swaying between periods of quiet beauty and aggression. It is edge music - both to the listener and the creator - which is intense in its demands, and it repays through its complex and constantly shifting sounds which seduce you into its noise heart. An intriguing piece, drawing on and reflecting the San Diego experimental/improv scene which we will have a look at next issue through Accretions' rummerflora 2 compilation. - Jeremy Keens, Ampersand Etcetera
- François Couture |
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