stringstrang two and the gravity lens reviewed
[eph11] jan kees helms - stringstrang two
september 2011 review by stephen fruitman @ sonomu
“stringstrang” is an ongoing project by dutch multimedia artist jan kees helms, featuring guitars and field recordings, all pieces created in one take, no overdubs. the first recorded foray was released by suggestion records as part of its limited edition ”verato project”.
helms weaves a craftily complex drone on this loom. with such humble tools, the first three pieces still manage to display a tremendous amount of personality. the clarity and resonance of the opening ”floating in circles” is like alpine horns echoing off mountain faces and across valleys. ”stringstrangc” hums like the proverbial well-oiled machine, but helms has the canny ability of lulling you into a false sense of certainty about what you are hearing, while slowly modulating the sound until you realize you are now listening to something quite different than what you started with. the thirteen-minute track also serves well as the soundtrack to your own, inner horror movie. ”disturbed layers of earth” bounces thick twangs off the edges of a bottomless pit which fall helplessly and come to a pitiful, but beautiful end.
a certain ennui sets in for the two final tracks, “stringstrangd” and “heen en weer”, best appreciated as a quiet, unassuming denouement.
original webpage here
[eph12] pleq+lauki - the gravity lens - oct 2011 review @ textura
the ever-sociable dziadosz certainly likes to play with others, as here we find him collaborating again, this time with mikel lauki, a barcelona-based sound technician and composer who also operates under the pseudonyms f.ex. and lupus. the gravity lens consists of a single, twenty-one-minute setting that hews more to the deeply atmospheric and textural style one generally associates with dziadosz’s pleq project. that being said, the piece makes a strong emotional impact, in large part due to the string melodies that surface amidst the piano plucks and electronic textures. though it’s presented as a singular piece, it’s also episodic, with multiple sections appearing along the way. at the nine-minute mark, keening strings swell into a crystalline mass that’s quite lovely, until they’re swept away by an episode of field recordings train clatter, fizzing vapours, and sparse piano accents. heard next to the concise song-styled settings of my piano is broken, the gravity lens plays like an explorative exercise in meditative moodscaping characterized by the incessant ebb-and-flow of instrument fragments and noise textures. in keeping with lauki’s professed love for contemporary classic music, the gravity lens also exudes an overall classical feel that’s matched by an equally heavy emphasis on electronic soundsculpting.
original webpage here
[eph12] pleq+lauki - the gravity lens - oct 2011 review @ beach sloth
i’ve heard pleq in many different formats. this one, “the gravity lens” may be one of my personal favorites from him. usually pleq deals with classical in a rather playful manner, oftentimes through glitching, minor effects, and so forth. on “the gravity lens” pleq and lauki create an environment which teems with life and sounds like nothing else pleq’s done before.
twenty minutes float by in nebulous clouds of drone. different elements of drone can be explored, from classically based (pleq’s forte) to near-noise assault. some movements get a bit aggressive, surprisingly so, particularly around the halfway mark. i’ve never actually heard any pleq-related project get this intense, but I welcome it. perhaps it is lauki (his partner in crime) who is responsible for this harsher sound. even at the most intense level pleq’s classical construction lingers underneath, giving the section a particularly powerful feel.
classical elements do appear within the piece, over and over again. rather than being the focus point they are merely a structure for the piece as a whole. piano comes into view occasionally to offer some respite from the heavier sounds. i think the drones and classical structure work well together. don’t think stars of the lid think more along the lines of tim hecker’s gauzy sounds.
“the gravity lens” did everything a good drone record should do: it has structure, builds, and varying levels of intensity. pleq and lauki create quite an experience.
original webpage here
pleq/lauki, jan kees helms and nigel samways/ennio mazzon releases all covered in peter van cooten’s ambientblog this month.
