Tag: concrete

  • Voices #38

    voices #38
    ◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
    here we got:

    Modern Silent Cinema

    answering some questions. We have already observed his experimental / concrete / electroacoustic work here.

    [1. IDEA]

    ■ The A. O.: The track from “Surveillance Film” that we prefer is “Nexus”. Can you tell us how it came to light?

    ► Modern Silent Cinema: Surveillance Film is my fifth score for filmmaker Matt Barry, and with each new score I like to try something a bit different from what I did before. In terms of the amount of recorded music, this would be the longest project yet–requiring nearly an hour of music. And so, to counter that scope, I wanted to reduce the compositional palette and work with repeated motifs and sounds as a fun creative challenge.
    At the time, I had recently seen Claus Boesser-Ferrari play guitar at Downtown Music Gallery in NYC, I was really struck by his performance, which embraced the totality of the guitar, the wood, the shape, the depth, the strings, every aspect of the instrument had potential for sound and he explored all of it, and for me that inspired a new relationship with the guitar (I’ve been playing for over 30 years). Claus greatly influenced how I approached this score, playing the whole guitar, and not just melodies and chords on the strings. It also inspired me to consider how other objects could be used for sound (I used my water thermos for percussion on several tracks).
    So, for “Nexus,” I started with a Philip Glass type of minimalist rondo, which originally appears earlier in the film but played on a thumb piano. I repeat it on multiple instruments throughout the score–but here it is played on a piano (technically on a MIDI synth, since I don’t have access to a real piano at the moment). I also wanted to do more than just repeat the melody, I wanted this to be its own piece, so I used an acoustic guitar to create scrapes, percussive bangs, and other twangs to create a soundscape as a musical counterpoint. Electroacoustic dynamics is an overarching interest for me–that intersection of a real instrument with electronic manipulations, and I try to explore that throughout all the Modern Silent Cinema albums. For “Nexus,” I wanted to contrast the serene piano melody with these more abrasive noise elements. I also wanted to have a contrast between the intentional, structured melody and the improvisation of the guitar sounds.

    [2. CREATION]

    (more…)

  • Observation n.67

    observation n.67

    Modern Silent Cinema

    Surveillance Film (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

    ○ Dec 2025 | Label: Bad Channels Records

    ■ Genres: Experimental / Concrete / Electroacoustic
    ■ Rating: 8.6/10
    ■ Favorite track: “Nexus”

    ► That is unsettling in the most effective way. We find ourselves looking for an impossible dialogue between innate human fragility and the concrete crudeness of productive slavery. We move in an aural landscape where beauty and despair coexist, perfectly capturing the existential ambiguity of a world on edge.

  • Observation n.45

    Observation n.45

    Fletina

    Environments & Mechanisms

    ○ Jun 2025 | Label: Mahorka

    ■ Genres: Concrete / Experimental
    ■ Rating: 7.0/10
    ■ Favorite track: “Ground Floor / Elevator“

    ► This track reimagines the mechanical movement of an elevator as a vehicle for sonic exploration. Creaks, hums, chimes and shifting cables create a hypnotic rhythm, evoking a strangely meditative ascent through industrial space. The piece resists any musical notation, instead inviting to find music – whatever it may be – in the most hidden places.

  • Voices #13

    Voices #13
    ◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
    here we got:

    Ryan Hooper

    answering some questions. We have already observed his experimental / concrete / spoken word work here.

    [1. IDEA]

    ■ The A. O.: The track from “Studies Made on a Typewriter” that we prefer is “Drawing 4’33””. Can you tell us how it came to light?

    ► Ryan Hooper: Inspired by a piece of typewriter art by Anni Albers, Studies Made on the Typewriter explores the typewriter as both a physical object and a conceptual tool – one that interacts with texts in varied ways and acts as a marker of place. It becomes a conduit for capturing diaristic traces, like etchings across different environments.

    Drawing 4’33” draws directly from the ideas of Brian Eno and John Cage. Eno described ambient music as something that shapes the atmosphere of a room – like lighting or wallpaper – while Cage famously asserted that absolute silence doesn’t exist, inviting listeners to consider all sound as potential music. This piece plays with both concepts: an ambient cut-up blending Eno’s aesthetic with Cage’s conceptual challenge of 4’33”.

    this is not music for airports
    still silent
    partially unsighted
    wallpapering the skull
    feedback loops
    between recorder and microphone
    never heard or felt
    a performance of 4’33″ like this

    At the time of recording, I was listening to Indian Soundies by Moniek Darge & Graham Lambkin, and I think some of that influence seeped into the process. The track is structured in two halves: the first built around a processed field recording of local church bells – a specific, locational sound that situates the listener. The second half features the sound of someone drawing – a quiet, intimate gesture that hints at how experiences are stored and later expressed. In this case, the memory of place is reinterpreted through an invisible drawing.

    [2. CREATION]

    (more…)

  • Observation n.38

    Observation n.38

    Nicolussi

    Fairly Used

    ○ May 2025 | Label: Falt / epileptic media

    ■ Genres: Experimental / Avant-garde / Electronic / Concrete
    ■ Rating: 8.0/10
    ■ Favorite track: “Fairly Used III“

    ► This is a clear example of a combination of sounds that goes beyond their simple sum. In other words, sonic interactions *really* generate emergent properties in this case. This approach leads you to a visceral experience—haunting, immersive, and unnervingly intimate—pulling your head into a spectral world shaped by decay.

  • Observation n.35

    Observation n.35

    Ryan Hooper

    Studies Made on a Typewriter

    ○ To be released June 2025 | Label: Heavy Cloud

    ■ Genres: Experimental, Concrete, Spoken Word
    ■ Rating: 7.3/10
    ■ Favorite track: “Drawing 4’33”“

    ► Abstract concreteness? Yes, please. Although its elements come from the so-called “real world” in its materiality, concrete music is one of the most abstract art forms ever. Where notes often resonate emotionally, the noises of a typewriter leave the listener with the need to find a key to meaning. But: does a key always exist? Do we always have to go through a door?