"A través del espejo" reviewed by Obskure Mag (France)

"A través del espejo" (12k) ~ Obskure #28

Text by Oliver Bernard

 A través del Espejo est le premier album de l’Argentin à paraître chez 12k.

Durand est un compositeur d’ambient délicat, ce disque le prouve une nouvelle fois. Les dix titres qui le constituent possèdent un charme candide irrésistible. Armé d’instruments et d’outils divers, l’artiste propose une musique élégante, parfois expérimentale, portée notamment par des manipulations de bandes. Ainsi, on ne peut s’empêcher de penser à la série The Disintegration Loops de William Basinski sur « Linternas junto a la Laguna (Lanterns beside the Lake) », « Cancion de la Via Lactea (Miky Way Song) » et « Recuerdos en Super 8 (Memories on Super 8) ». Le musicien concocte des mélodies simples, lumineuses, utilisant avec beaucoup de talent le procédé de la boucle. Cet aspect répétitif est particulièrement prégnant sur « Mirador en la Montana (Viewpoint in the Mountain) », « Linternas junto a la Laguna (Lanterns beside the Lake) » et « Cancion de la Via Lactea (Miky Way Song) ». La douceur générale est renforcée par la présence de boîtes à musique, d’une lyre Auris ou encore d’un carillon Koshi ; de même, on perçoit de temps à autre quelques drones limpides, ajoutant encore plus de quiétude à l’ensemble (« Cancion de la Via Lactea (Miky Way Song) », « A través del Espejo (Through the Mirror) »).
Notons qu’Andrew Chalk joue du synthétiseur sur « Mirador en la Montana (Viewpoint in the Mountain) » et que Durand se sert de l’enregistrement d’une femme préparant le coucher de ses enfants (« Hora de dormir (Time to sleep) »), un moment tendre à l’image de ce magnifique opus.

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Merci beaucoup Obskure & Oliver Bernard! F.

A very beautiful review of "Jardín de invierno" by HearFeel (UK)

Dear friends, I want to share with you this beautiful review of my new álbum "Jardín de invierno" (Spekk, 2016). There is a place where sensitive listening and writing meet each other and dialogue. Thank you very much Chris Doherty and HearFeel (UK).

"Its softly patterned repetitions hum and flicker with the slow likeness of scenes glimpsed through leaves, light finding passage through a canopy in brief bursts, this echo of energy and life still present in the evergreens of a system at its nadir."

You can read this review HERE.

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Muchas gracias! F.

"A través del espejo" (12k) reviewed by Neural, Italia

Amigos, buen día! Comparto esta reseña -en inglés- de mi disco "A través del espejo" (12k) que salió en la revista italiana Neural. 

"Federico Durand is an Argentinian composer who is well known for a series of refined and delicate releases on labels such as Spekk, Own, and Desire Path. The seminal idea of A Través Del Espejo dates to 2014 when Durand participated in a Japanese tour with other 12K artists, sharing music and ideas throughout the tour and developing an intimate approach to sounds. Once the artist had developed broken melodies using cassette recorders as an instrument, with loop-machines (such as the Roland Space Echo or Electro Harmonix 2880) he began to meticulously accumulate sequences and treatments. The soundscapes, like singular images iterated through two mirrors placed face-to-face – acquire a particularly dreamy and meditative appeal and turn in a loop that flows into infinity. Field recordings peek between the grooves too: a woman speaks with a child, natural sounds, auditory catches of daily life in a village, abstract narratives that leave us slipping into a parallel world. Durand is very attentive to detail, both to spontaneous audio emergences, and to the natural sounds made by machines, crackles and other sounds that appear here as an unexpected gift. The lullabies are very hypnotic, and these resonate with alchemical vibrations, patiently calibrated by the author, who skillfully organizes every minimal element, every harmony, every millimetric overlapping of tonal events. The result combines the quietest moments and inspired harmonies, nostalgic atmospheres and poetic rêveries: memories that floats in the ether, engraved in an accomplished minimalista."

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Muchas gracias Neural!

F.

A wonderful review by Anhedonic Headphone!

"Durand does best as an ambient/instrumental performer, Winter Garden finds him creating mostly short, evocative vignettes of sound that do their best to create an atmosphere of fragile, bittersweet comfort and reassurance."

You can read the full review HERE.

Muchas gracias Anhedonic Headphones por la escucha atenta y las buenas palabras!

F.

"Jardín de invierno" in Lykkelig store in Japan

My new album is available in this beautiful store & online…

Muchas gracias! F.

"Jardín de invierno" reviewed by Music Won't Save You (Italia)

Amigos, comparto esta bella reseña de "Jardín de invierno" ~*

"Con “Jardín de invierno”, Federico Durand raggiunge dunque un vero e proprio apice del suo impressionismo elettro-acustico, invertendo i piani descrittivi di un suono non più solo tratto dalla natura o della stessa emulativo, bensì creato rispecchiandone l’essenza, quella di una delicatezza elevata al massimo grado, che rappresenta l’inverno in maniera tanto vivida da suscitare una spontanea ricerca di calore umano."

Muchas gracias Music Won't Save You por la escucha atenta y las palabras sensibles! F.

"Jardín de invierno" @ Tower Records, Shibuya (Tokyo)

Tokyo, Tower Records Shibuya.

Muchas, muchas gracias Tower Records, Nao, P*dis & Nature Bliss staff! 

F.