Feliz 2014 - Merry 2014

My best wishes for a wonderful a New Year!

F.

Feliz Navidad - Merry Xmas

A list of my favorite music, books and things for FLAU label (Japan)

FLAU

Favourites 2013

-Albums

Andrew Chalk & Tom James Scott – Wild Flowers (LP, Skire) White Poppy – Drifter Golds (Tape, Constellation Tatsu) Brandon Hurtado – Hotel (Tape, Carpi Records) Ki Choquette – Landscape Suicide (Tape, Carpi Records) ILLUHA – Interstices (CD, 12k) Vikki Jackman, Andrew Chalk & Jean Noël Rebilly – A Paper -Doll’s Whisper Of Spring (LP, Faraway Press) RION - ホタル (CD, Hibernate) Mary Lattimore – The Withdrawing Room (LP, Desire Path Recordings) Opitope - A Colony Of Kuala Mute Geeks (CD, White Paddy Mountain)

-Books

Nicolas D. Bedini – “Sueño con lavadoras y otros poemas” (Bajo La Luna, 2013) Natsume Sōseki – “Sueño de la libélula” (Satori, 2013) Martin Heidegger – “Observaciones relativas al arte –la plástica -el espacio. El arte y el espacio” (Cuadernos de la cátedra Jorge Oteiza, 2003) Miyazawa Kenji – “El tren nocturno de la Vía Láctea” (Satori, 2012) Graham Reynolds – “Thomas Bewick –A resume of his life and work” (Art and Technics, 1949)

-Tea

El Gato Negro (Green tea, orange and ginger).

-A place

The beautiful gardens and houses in Rawson neighborhood, Buenos Aires.

-A name (for a cat)

Pijomei

-Instruments

Mattel tinkle-tonk (1953) Neunaber Wet Stereo Reverb Sony TC-D5M Tape-Recorder (Japan) Microbrute mono-synth Old crystal cups Bells

-A wonderful thing

Mixing Melodía's 2nd. album with my friend Tomoyoshi Date.

-A beautiful object

A kaleidoscope with frogs

2013

2013 ha sido un año de hermosa música. Muchas gracias por escuchar y crear! 

2013 has been a year of beautiful music. Thank you very much for listening and creating! 

Best wishes for the New Year,

Federico Durand

A beautiful review by Cyclic Defrost (Australia)

"El idioma de las luciérnagas" by Cyclic Defrost

Presumably sometime on the tour, with Tomoyoshi Date in Europe 2012 to promote the collaborative project Melodia’s album Saudades, numerous field recordings were made, some in Zurich. There are recordings from Muñiz and La Serranita in Argentina which form a good part of this album. That’s speculative, but writing about abstract music is hardly a game of facts. You can say it is composed of music box, acoustic guitar, Tübingen-bells, toy piano, tape-loops and that Durand manipulates the walkman, minidisc, DS and Electroharmonix 2880 stereo multi-track looper. But that’s just the kit list. Mastering has been performed by James Plotkin, an American guitarist known more for his work with death metal, grindcore and post metal but whose has a wide body of interesting collaborations.

EL idioma de las luciérnagas (The language of fireflys) is what one might describe as an example of environmental sound art. It amps up the field recordings, specifically the ones containing crickets, bells, birds, water, winds and then goes to town on various procession instruments and their looping possibilities building up a wall of tones. It is simple and effective as a strategy and depends greatly on Durands well-tuned ear that pushes the tones brightness to the brim with a deftness that has them absorbed into the organic surroundings. As if they were naturally there. Such plays with chimes and toy piano are an organic artifice but demonstrate that Durand has an affinity or draws a good deal of inspiration from nature as have his previous albums and the collaboration with Tomoyoshi Date. There are moment in the album where the tones are drawn out into drones and layered and manipulated before others overlay and produce different resonant possibilities. A guitar track Mumi offers a hesitant and scitterish use of the looping technique and becomes quickly intertwined with bells, creaking and static sounds. A favourite is the title track El idioma de las luciérnagas rendered with a unremittingly melancholy music box that draws out its tones and adds water and cricket field recordings. It is sort of a wonderfully beautiful sadness. Which sums up the conveyed emotion of some of the album which is mostly forms of environmentally constructed sound scapes.

Innerversitysound

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Thank you very much Innerversitysound & Cyclic Defrost for this wonderful review! F.

"El idioma de las luciérnagas" in the Top 20 Drone Records Of 2013 by Anti-Gravity Bunny (USA)

Estoy muy feliz porque mi disco "El idioma de las luciérnagas" aparece entre los 20 discos del 2013 destacados por la increíble página ANTI-GRAVITY BUNNY (USA).

Muchas gracias!

Hello! I am very happy because my new album "El idioma de las luciérnagas" is in the Top 20 Drone Records made by wonderful ANTI-GRAVITY BUNNY.

Thank you very much!

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8. EL IDIOMA DE LAS LUCIERNAGAS (Desire Path Recordings)

“…a record of subtle complex sounds, finding wonder in the smallest audio spaces and turning a regular peaceful morning into a world of bright white bliss.”

TOTALLY upping his game from the last record I heard him on, the collab with Nicholas Szczepanik as Every Hidden Color, this one takes the field recording thing to heart, with crickets gently chirping under chimes, which I assume are being played intentionally, but come off as though you’ve stumbled upon one of life’s beautiful accidents. Everything is played with such grace that it seems natural & effortless, something I haven’t heard from very many artists.

"El idioma de las luciérnagas" reviewed by Seek Sick Sound (France)

LE LANGAGE DE LUCIOLES

Des carillons emmitouflés de crissements de criquets et de bruissements de feuilles d’arbres s’agitent paisiblement pendant que la nature gagne un repos bien mérité. Le pouls ralentit tandis que le souffle s’adoucit parmi les réverbérations éclairées perdues dans l’immensité de la nuit. Le temps, lui, perd de sa signification, et s’échappe de cette nouvelle réalité peuplée d’insectes luminescents.
Le langage des lucioles, traduction littérale d’El Idioma De Las Luciérnagas, dernière œuvre en date de Federico Durand, se niche directement dans ces cavités inexplorées de l’imaginaire, neurasthéniques tout en restant hypnotiques. Publié sur le très sélectif Desire Path Recordings avec environ une sortie tous les six mois, ce dernier long format est disponible en vinyle et en digital depuis septembre et fait suite au féérique El Libro De Los Árboles Mágicos paru l’année dernière sur Home Normal ou encore au nostalgique Saudade, issu de sa collaboration avec Tomoyoshi Date et chroniqué ici plus tôt dans l’année.

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Please, read this wonderful review HERE.

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Merci beaucoup Seek Sick Sound and Raphael Lenoir! F.

Beat Magazine (Germany)

Buenas tardes amigos! Comparto la reseña-haiku de "El idioma de las luciérnagas" aparecida en la revista "Beat Magazine" (Alemania), escrita por Tobias Fischer.

This beautiful, little-haiku-like review of "El idioma de las luciérnagas" was made by talented Tobias Fischer!

Dankeschön!

F.

A beautiful review of "El idioma de las luciérnagas" by Music Won't Save You (Italy)

FEDERICO DURAND "El Idioma de las luciérnagas" 

DESIRE PATH RECORDINGS (USA)

By Music Won't Save You

C’è un filo di continuità tra la passeggiata di Federico Durand nel bosco incantato di “El libro de los árboles mágicos” e le sette nuove istantanee raccolte in “El idioma de las luciérnagas”. Con la danza inafferrabile delle scintille si concludeva appunto il lavoro precedente e al loro fluttuare fugace e irregolare è concettualmente dedicata l’ultima creazione dell’artista argentino, ancora frutto di modulate intersezioni tra field recordings e minute particelle elettroacustiche.

Benché gli elementi che formano “El idioma de las luciérnagas” non differiscono in maniera significativa rispetto a quanto in precedenza realizzato da Durand, dalla sua magica scatola sonora fuoriesce questa volta un universo di loop, note acustiche ed esili filtraggi elettronici organico e coeso come non mai. Ne risultano brevi sinfonie naturalistiche costellate da suoni evanescenti e magici come scintille, dotate di fascino imperscrutabile come lucciole in una sera primaverile, pervase da un romanticismo che nei rugiadosi frammenti di pianoforte e nella brillante eco dei campanellini trova perfetto complemento a soffi ambientali spontanei e leggeri come un respiro.

È la natura che vive e si trasforma quella impressa da Durand nei solchi del solo vinile nel quale è pubblicato il disco, con una delicatezza che non necessita di ricorrere a iterazioni droniche né a progressioni ambientali. “El idioma de las luciérnagas” è piuttosto una fedele rappresentazione della pacifica e irripetibile meraviglia di un singolo istante di luce, in completa simbiosi tra gli elemento.

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Grazie mille Music Won't Save You per la bella recesione! F.

Primavera

"El idioma de las luciérnagas" reviewed by Anty-Gravity Bunny (USA)

"El idioma de las luciernagas" by Anti-Gravity Bunny (USA)

I first heard about Argentina’s finest Federico Durand through his superb collaboration with Nicholas Szczepanik under the guise of EVERY HIDDEN COLOR. This debut LP of Durand’s (translated to The Language Of The Fireflies) takes that pristine sound from LUZ and amplifies it to a level of pure magic. This is a record of subtle complex sounds, finding wonder in the smallest audio spaces and turning a regular peaceful morning into a world of bright white bliss. Intimate field recordings of wildlife chatter and drifting chimes are in perfect company amidst minimal tonal shimmer, delicate softness, humble piano twinkling, and emotional dreams. This is a damn near perfect drone record, kicking introverted euphoria into uncharted territory. As is all things with Desire Path, El Idioma is limited, so don’t sleep on this.

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Thank you very much Anti-Gravity Bunny for this heartfelt review!

F.

Mumi

Mumi, the cat.

A beautiful review by Textura (Canada)

Federico Durand: El idioma de las luciérnagas 

Desire Path Recordings

If ever a recording was made to be listened to at a particular time of day, it's Federico Durand's El idioma de las luciérnagas. And what time of day? Twilight, the peaceful time after sunset and before dark—or, as it's also called, gloaming, the word sometimes used in speaking of Richard Strauss's “Im Abendrot” (At sunset). Durand's choice of title, then, for his fourth album (and first on vinyl) is certainly apt as it translates as “The Language of Fireflies”—music less meant to be listened to in those hours when day turns to night than absorbed during the stillness that settles in during that time.

Don't be fooled by the seeming simplicity of the music: Durand's material is potent, as listeners familiar with his past releases on Spekk, Home Normal, and Own Records have discovered. For this thirty-seven-minute outing, he used music box, acoustic guitar, Tübingen-bells, tape-loops, and toy piano (among other things) to create the seven pieces and incorporated field recordings made in Muñiz, La Serranita, and Zürich. Durand even goes so far as to supply crickets, accentuating further not only the ideal time to listen to the recording but the location, too: outdoors, preferably a nature setting far away from and untainted by urban noise.

In fact, the atmospheres the field recordings contribute to the album are so central a component that at times it feels more like the musical elements are augmenting them rather than the other way around. In that regard, the cricket chirp that rhythmically persists throughout “Los niños izan las estrellas con hilos de plata” and “El idioma de las luciérnagas” is equal in importance to the respective settings' chiming bell tones and music box tinkles, while chattering birds and piano plinks assert themselves to similarly equal degrees during “Huemul.” While the peaceful and placid mood remains in place in all seven pieces, Durand wisely introduces variety by changing the focal points within the arrangements from piece to piece. In “Mumi,” for example, it's acoustic guitar whereas it's piano or music box elsewhere.

El idioma de las luciérnagas truly is music that encourages you to close your eyes and be transported by the music. Listening to the blurred tones softly whistling through the haze of “El espejo de mil años” evokes the calm of a late-July evening, while “Una ciudad al pie de las montañas” conjures the image of someone lying in a hammock on a summer day surrounded by birds and soothed by the sounds of soft music drifting into earshot from somewhere nearby.

October 2013

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Thank you very much Textura for this wonderful review! 

F.

"El idioma de las luciérnagas" reviewed by A Closer Listen

A Closer Listen

Pale blue skies start to turn a shade darker, reflecting the failing light against the prism of pale blue eyes. Pearl-coloured gemstones cool underneath the coasting clouds. A touch of dusky grey filters in, settling beside the river of chiming intervals that swim between beautiful pools of clear light.

There is a hushed clarity to the series of chiming notes, each one casting a unique aura of entering light. It also demonstrates that tranquility is possible with several intervals on the go, and that peace is not restricted to a single drone or the traditional school of slow-developing ambience.

El Idioma De Las Luciérnagas (The Language of Fireflies) is an incredibly still listen. Only the quiet rustle of crickets in the brush and the singing chorus of birdsong make a distinct sound, and not even the breeze that kisses the rotating wind chimes has the capacity to ruffle loose feathers.

The dusky tones settle beside still, serene waters. An indigo swish of light is joined by another as the fireflies come out to play. A note is a spark of light that lingers in the air like a photographic after-image. The dash of light never remains in any one place for long.

As dusk approaches the bank, so too do moonlit tones. The cool, placid sound of the piano is affectionate, mirroring the earlier chimes with notes that easily sink into one another, creating beautiful arpeggios in the process. Premature in their arrival, the new interval then becomes the primary note as the previous note vanishes into the black light. The relationship between each interval and its subsequent effect on the music is lovingly pursued.

Now comes the nocturnal period, just after the quiet shimmer of dusk. The light of the day has departed, and the shushed echo of the insect calling is all that is left; an authentic kind of reverb. Among the placid ponds and thick reeds, the acoustic breeze stirs the air with a beautiful melody. The creaking of a wooden chair adds the all-important authenticity to the recording, while the deep bass notes ring out from the sound-hole in perfect harmony.

United with the dance of fireflies is the scent of the guitar’s wood and the shape of a Coca Cola bottle resembling her smooth body. The touch of a harmonic or two is a soft, light bell on the cusp of the dark. It’s the quiet introduction of the man-made, physical instrument, originally constructed out of nature, now at one with nature. It comes in peace.

“Los Cristales Soñadores” is a chiming loop of glowing mystery that becomes gloriously lost in the endless beauty of it all. It isn’t just the language of fireflies. It is the language of love. Argentinian Federico Durand narrates a sublime fairy-tale, one that we are all looking out for; where the fireflies lived happily ever after. 

James Catchpole

Thank you very much A Closer Listen and James Catchpole for the heartfelt review! F.

New album! Federico Durand - El idioma de las luciérnagas

I am happy to prensent you my new album "El idioma de las luciérnagas". This album is dedicated to the fireflies and it's mysterious language of light. It was made with simple melodies recorded with piano, acoustic guitar, tape-loops, DS, 2880, music-boxes and field-recordings made in Muñiz, La Serranita and Zurich.

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The wonderful albun embroidery was made by Argentinean artist Mek Frinchaboy. 

The beautiful and full of space design was made art-director Chris Koelle.

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Federico Durand : "El idioma de las luciérnagas" 
Label : Desire Path Recording (USA) 
Embroidery: Mek Frinchaboy
Master : James Plotkin 
Design : Chris Koelle
Label Manager : Michael Vitrano
Release date : September 10th, 2013 (WORLDWIDE) 
Format : Vinyl, LP 
Cat : PATHWAY007

Pre-orders HERE.

You can purchase the digital version in my Bandcamp page.




Muchas gracias! F.

Melodía @ Les Inrocks (France) #921-923 | Juillet-Août 2013

Amigos, comparto esta hermosa reseña del álbum debut de Melodía (Tomoyoshi Date & Federico Durand) aparecida en Les Inrocks (Francia) #921-923 | Juillet-Août 2013. 

Japanese Tour ~ 花見 ~ 2014

A dream come true: In late March I will travel to Japan to play music with Melodía (Tomoyoshi Date & F. D.) and solo concerts with friends and musicians I admire. I expect to meet you in Japan! A lot of happiness!

Un sueño hecho realidad: A fines de marzo viajaré a Japón para una serie de conciertos junto a Melodía (Tomoyoshi Date & F. D.) y algunos recitales solistas junto a músicos y amigos. Mucha felicidad!

La Serranita, Córdoba

Melodía @ Pastel Records, Japan

El álbum debut de Melodía (Tomoyoshi Date & Federico Durand) en la hermosa tienda de discos Pastel Records de Japón!

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If you are in Japan, you can buy Melodía's LP in this beautiful store. Please, click HERE.

Muchas gracias Pastel Records! F.

Melodía - A review @ Nillson, Germany

Nillson

Darauf haben wir lange warten müssen: Beim ersten Release von Own Records seit etwa einem halben Jahr vereinen sich zwei uns aus dem Kosmos der Luxemburger bekannte Musiker und kreieren ein gefühlsintensives Meisterwerk.

Es handelt sich dabei um Tomoyoshi Date und Federico Durand, die mit ihren Soloalben beide sehr spezielle Gefühlswelten mit innigen Klängen unterlegten. Bei Dates "Otoha" ging es um das stille Warten des Vaters auf die Ankunft seiner neugeborenen Tochter, bei Durands "El Extasis De Las Flores Pequenas" um Kindheitserinnerungen im Haus der Großeltern. Beide Alben lebten von ihrer Stille, von ihren kleinen Klangkaskaden und den vielen winzigen Details; die Stücke stellten eher atmosphärische Soundscapes dar als nachvollziehbar harmonische Konstrukte und wurden dadurch für jeden, dessen Sache das war und der sich da hineinversetzen konnte, zu unbezahlbaren Kleinodien. Auf einer Tournee lernten beide sich kennen; ein gemeinsames Album ist mehr als nur die logische Folge. Da haben sich zwei gefunden, die über ein bis zur Verschmelzung ähnliches Verständnis von Musik und Klangwelten verfügen, und die es wie vorher lange niemand mehr verstehen, das Unterbewusstsein, Erinnerungen, Momentaufnahmen, Traumlandschaften, Eindrücke und Augenblicke von Lethargie, Leichtigkeit und purer Schönheit in Ton zu fassen. Die portugiesischsprachigen Menschen haben ein Wort für diesen Zustand zwischen Glück und Melancholie, der sich wie ein sanfter Schleier über dieses Album legt: Sie nennen es "Saudade"; eine jede Übersetzung in eine andere Sprache wird dem Gefühl nicht gerecht. Es ist kurios, dass Tomoyoshi Date und Federico Durand ihr gemeinsames Projekt Melodia nennen, denn auf Melodien verzichten sie wieder fast vollständig auf den fünf zusammen geschriebenen Stücken. Themen werden angedeutet und verlieren sich wieder; Strukturen scheinen erkennbar und verwehen doch. Es ist ein Sammelsurium aus synthetischen Soundtupfern, hier und da minimalst elektrischen Bits, Field Recordings und instrumentalem Allerlei, und der Frickler kann sich lange damit beschäftigen, die einzelnen Komponenten zu identifizieren und aufzulisten - die Musik von Melodia funktioniert allerdings wie schon die Solowerke der beiden Künstler vor allem auf der emotionalen Ebene. Dabei entbehrt diese Musik jeden New-Age-Kitsches; es sind stimmungsvolle Töne, die vor allem über den Hörer individuell Sinn ergeben. Ein Klappern, ein Knistern, Stimmengewirr, das Rauschen von Blättern - es ist, als schwebe man in einer großen Seifenblase unsichtbar durch sein tägliches Leben und fände endlich einmal die Möglichkeit, zuzuhören. "Saudades" ist ein Geschenk, eine heilsame und meditative Reise ins Selbst.

Text: Kristof Beuthner

Muchas gracias Kristof Beuthner & Nillson!

Little and shiny review @ Indie Rock Mag (France)

Indie Rock Mag

Sortie le : 14 février 2013

Tous deux passés par les rangs du label luxembourgeois Own Records, l’Argentin Federico Durand et le Japonais Tomoyoshi Date s’y retrouvent après une tournée commune pour ce premier album de leur duo Melodía mastérisé par Stephan Mathieu. Au programme, rêveries cristallines empreintes d’une nostalgie diffuse et field recordings tirés de leur contexte quotidien pour toucher à une forme d’abstraction poétique.

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Merci beaucoup,

Federico

Melodía - Review @ A Closer Listen

Melodía - Saudades

A Closer Listen

The Portuguese word saudade refers to an intense, continuing love for people who are no longer with us, whether they have left, died or disappeared.  Lovers, friends, and victims of crime are all included in the extended definition.  Brazil – the birthplace of Japan’s Tomoyashi Date – honors a day of saudade on January 30.  This observance recognizes the wounds that never heal.  It differs from other such observances (such as All Saints’ Day) in that the mourning is often extended to those who may still be alive.

Melodia is the duo of Date and Argentina’s Federico Durand, who met on tour and got along so well that they decided to make music together.  The resulting LP is beautiful in the manner of memory: shiny, twinkling, buffed to a sheen.  Stephan Mathieu deserves notice for his incredibly crisp mastering: so crisp that it drives away tears.  The music box bells are mixed more upfront than one might expect, making the album sound more immediate than subtle.  A mixture of organic sounds (footsteps, conversation, the clinking of dishes, children playing, lapping water and birdsong) invite the listener into a home of laughter, a warm place with open windows where shared mourning turns to happier remembrance.  We have all lost somebody.

The clear friendship shared by the performers is the hallmark of the album.  Few records sound this affectionate.  Each artist understands the role of music as empathy, and Saudades is an empathetic album.  The nostalgia conjured by these sounds is gentle and kind.  Even when the loss has been great and the regrets unbearable, there is hope in plaintive recollection.  If we are not able to get over our losses, we can at least feel them recede in the golden glow of shared concern. 

Text by Richard Allen

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Muchas gracias A Closer Listen & Richard Allen por la bella reseña, F.

Melodía - Review @ Seek Sick Sound (France)

Melodía - Saudades

Malgré les progrès de la science, le monde nous semble toujours aussi vaste et paradoxalement de moins en moins compréhensible. Aujourd’hui, oser penser que l’on connait ne serait-ce qu’un centième de ce que la Terre nous offre serait sans doute taxé de folie, alors pourquoi cette insatiable soif de connaissance ? Federico Durand et Tomoyashi Date ont eux bien compris que comprendre le monde est superbement vain, et qu’il suffit seulement de l’observer avec les yeux d’un enfant émerveillé afin d’apercevoir un bref instant une forme de suprême sérénité. Issu de Sao Paulo, ville surnommé aussi aussi Terra da Garoa (terre du crachin), Federico n’a eu de cesse que de transmettre ce message d’humilité à travers ses différents albums en solo comme El Éxtasis De Las Flores Pequeñas sorti en 2011 sur Own Records (label dont on parlera un peu plus loin) ou encore El libro De Los Arboles Magicos paru via Home Normal l’année dernière. Plonger dans l’univers de Fede c’est comme découvrir l’insouciance de notre plus jeune âge, pénétrer dans un conte de fée, et, à l’instar d’un Peter Pan, être piégé à tout jamais au pays des merveilles. Mais l’artiste sait aussi très bien s’entourer comme le prouve Luz, ce très bel album issu d’une collaboration avec Nicholas Szczepanik qui est dans la même veine ambient garni de fields recordings que l’on apprécie tant. Mais aujourd’hui, c’est avec un autre paysagiste répondant au nom de Tomoyoshi Date que va s’associer le brésilien.

Eureka ! Voilà comment un terme peut à lui seul définir cet album. Et pourtant le pari était loin d’être gagné, car sous son enveloppe candide, le cœur de cet album est absolument indéchiffrable. Les carillons sur “The spirit of rain arrives to the forest” agités par le vent semblent nous accueillir sous notre nouveau toit à ciel ouvert. Les longues notes de guitare et de piano éparpillés par la brise résonnent dans notre conduit auditif sans que nous ayons perçu leur origine énigmatique. Nous sommes alors gagnés par un sentiment aussi impénétrable que celui dont le sens a été approché précédemment, car la saudade n’est pas innée ; elle s’acquiert. Comment opposer une résistance à ce sentiment nouveau qui nous habite, comment résister à cette fragilité dans les arrangements ? Là encore il nous faut tout accepter car le jeu en vaut définitivement la chandelle, la saudade étant si agréable à éprouver (...).

Read all this beautiful review HERE.

Autheur: Raphael Lenoir

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Muchas gracias Seek Sick Sound & Raphael Lenoir for the heartfelt review!

F.

Melodía - OUT TODAY

NEW ALBUM

Melodía (Federico Durand & Tomoyoshi Date) - "Saudades" (Own Records, 2013).

Listen and buy Vinyl LP & Digital here: