LAURENT PERNICE - PRESQUE NATURE - MUSIQUE IMMOBILES 26-30


All music on Presque Nature ('almost natural') is based on field recordings that Laurent Pernice recorded on his travels over a period of ten years. There are sounds from the 'most remote parts of Vanuatu, off the coast of La Ciotat, the underwater depths of the Mediterranean, areas in the Camarque that are off-limits to the public, sunrises in the Hardelot forest or in the Viguerat marshes'.
But this is not a 'field recording collection': the natural sounds are used to atmospherically enhance the musical compositions. In other words: the natural sounds are the 'soloists', accompanied by Laurent Pernice playing synths, piano, gopichandi (a Bengali folk instrument), zither, cymbals, bells, jingo (a Korean gong), and gong.
Pernice calls his composition technique Musiques Immobiles ('motionless music'). The process refers to the technique also known from John Cage and Brian Eno: music that is not 'composed', "but happens by chance, serendipity: all you have to do is set up a strategy for chance events to occur and let things happen on their own".
Presque Nature - Musqique Immobiles 26-30 is the fourth in a series that started back in 1994. According to Pernice it is a little more composed this time, but he "largely left it up to the randomness of nature". "For me [Pernice], this music is as immobile as nature itself. That is to say, they are not immobile at all,but based on a time scale infinitely longer than the frenetic pace imposed on us by our productivist societies."
The 26-30 refer to the number of pieces in this Musique Immobiles series. To those on the CD-version of this Taâlem release, to be exact. Two additional tracks are included in the digital download (which I assume also comes with the CD version if you order it on Bandcamp), so that one is in fact 26-32.


presque nature (musiques immobiles 26-30) [alm 146] by laurent pernice








PIETRO ZOLLO - THE FUTURE IS NOW


In a way, The Future Is Now celebrates the work of science fiction writers: authors 'who project their thoughts into the future,[...] artists who looked beyond their time'. "In writing this album, I followed the feeling that now, in the present we are living in, some visions of the futures that were imagined have become tangible. Part of what was imagined as the future is happening now."
Like the science fiction genre itself, Italian composer/producer Pietro Zollo covers many different styles in the ten tracks on the (71-minute) album. The album opens with a solo piano piece, which is different from the following tracks that embed the piano themes in layered synth soundscapes. Overall, the pieces have a quiet, atmospheric, and mostly melancholic atmosphere. The future is not too scary here.


"[Zollo's] empathy for artists who looked beyond their time translates into simple melodic phrases that repeat and intertwine to represent possible combinations of tomorrow. Distorted futuristic visions become background noise, the faint hope of a better future mingles in dissonance with the fear of a frightening future". 


The Future Is Now is a digital-only release on Projekt Records


The Future is Now by Pietro Zollo








LE CODE - SOMETHING IN THE AIR


The man behind Le Code is Alexandre de Charrin from France. Not only an ambient music producer, but also the co-founder of the Mare Nostrum label - and the dub and deep techno label Apnea before that. His Bandcamp page shows quite a lot of titles, but this release on Chitra Records is my first encounter with his music.


Soft, atmospheric synth soundscapes with subtle piano textures and natural elements or found sound recordings: "his tracks typically emphasize smooth drones, minimal patterns and a strong emotional undercurrent, sometimes leaning toward nostalgia or gentle melancholy".


Non-intrusive tracks that you can play quietly in the background that create a warm and relaxed atmosphere - indeed, like 'something in the air'. "A sonic portrait of a city suspended in twilight, it traces the quiet pulse of urban dusk — moody and gently immersive. As the day exhales and the skyline softens, textures emerge — quiet synths, distant echoes, and the hush of passing lives."
The Bandcamp link only shows the digital download version, but Something In The Air is also available on CD or vinyl via the Chitra Records/Elasticstage print-on-demand service.


Something in the Air by Le Code

--- originally published on Ambientblog ---

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