OIARZUN (3″CDR by Taalem)
Perhaps it was indeed some time ago since we last saw new releases by Taalem, who excuse themselves for the recent ‘long pause’. In their series of mini ambient albums it’s time for two that can be classified as musique concrete meeting ambient. The first is by Jeremie Mathes, who previous work was released on Mystery Sea and Basses Frequences, and who uses recordings here from an abandoned farmhouse and inside ‘le semaphore de callelongue’, which is in the national park of the calanques. There are water sounds, which run through more of this work (pun intended), sonic debris, crackling of leaves and all of that some highly dark and mysterious sounds that lurk underneath. Slow approaching violence, perhaps. It’s all quite dark and highly atmospheric. Just like pretty much all of his work so far, which is of a consistent highly quality.(Fdw) vital weekly
Jérémie Mathes continues in the same vein on oiarzun, which was recorded in two locations: an abandoned farmhouse and a national park. ”higidura (motion)” doesn’t seem active at first, but the idea of motion is often misconstrued. Everything on earth is moving, whether we notice it or not; Mathes captures the sound of movement through a focused aural lens. By using a slightly darker brush than Lamy, he relays a mystery of crackle and crunch: is something sinister stumbling through the brush? Is the farmhouse really abandoned? Could an animal really make a sound like that? Of course there’s no danger involved: it’s just Mathes, capturing crickets and creaks, the rattling rake, the rusty hinge. In “vortice”, the wind rises, the rain falls, the animals scurry for their nests and the whole earth is washed clean. In the end, even the soft waves retreat.(Richard Allen) acloserlisten