"Jardín de invierno" entre los destacados de 1016 por A Closer Listen

Mi último CD "Jardín de invierno" (SPEKK, 2016) ha sido elegido entre los mejores discos del año por A Closer Listen: a home for instrumental and experimental music ~ Siendo un lector atento de esta publicación, es una gran alegría que mi música figure entre sus favoritos invernales. Hay una mención muy especial para el arte de tapa e interiores realizados por mi amiga Cecilia Afonso Estevez. Muchas gracias!

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Federico Durand ~ Jardín de invierno (Winter garden) (Spekk)
Graced by lovely symbolic art from Cecilia Afonso Esteves and subtly subdued music from Federico Durand, Jardín de invierno is the most complete package of the winter season.  Recorded in a “cold old house”, the album makes use of toy instruments and pinging tones, reminiscent of Lullatone, but with a slower pace and scuffier patina.  These miniatures sound like frost on the windows, falling snow, the twinkle of sun on icy branches.  The entire album is remarkably consistent, a series of tiny treasures that come across as gifts.  Through it all, a static breeze blows against the windows, begging listeners to get up and look, and eventually to go out and play.  Of all the winter music released in 2016, this album is the finest; for the complete experience, we recommend the physical edition.

Muchas gracias Richard Allen y ACL por la escucha sensible! F.

Wonderful review by A Closer Listen

Federico Durand - A través del espejo (12k)

Loops and lullabies cover the mattress of Federico Durand‘s A Través del Espejo (Through the Mirror).  The title refers to mirrors that face one another, creating endless reflections; the music provides an aural version of this effect.  If one were unaware of their genesis, one might mistake these loops for wind chimes, which repeat without seeming repetitive.  In fact, they include toys, bells, tape loops and found objects, which offer the soothing predictability of a baby’s plastic mobile while weaving a tapestry that is far more complex.

The early tracks follow this template, and for a while it seems as if Durand is content to let the loops turn and interact, creating unexpected harmonies.  The most memorable include the start-and-stop of “Linternas junto a la laguna (Lanterns beside the lake)” and the twinkling “Diorama”.  Warm and soothing, these tracks operate as sonic nightlights, offering safety and reassurance.  But just as one is getting used to the album’s tone, it changes.

The irony of the track listing is that the album works as a sleep aid until it reaches the track titled “Hora de dormir (Time to sleep)”.  But that’s okay, as this is also the set’s most endearing piece.  A mother says goodnight to her happy child, while someone in the background imitates a wolf.  When they start to sing, chamingly off-key, Daddy joins along (if only for a note).  The intimacy of this track is its strength; it’s a window into the artist’s home, an invitation to share a private joy.  If this doesn’t win one over, nothing will.  From this point on, the loops and lullabies return, carrying the listener down the river of Lethe and through the cave of Hypnos.  Goodnight, sleep tight, everything will be all right.  (Richard Allen)

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Thank you very much A Closer Listen & Richard Allen for this heartfelt 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.

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.