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.