"La siesta del ciprés" review by Arpeggi -Italia

Per quanto -coi tempi che corrono- sia sempre più difficoltoso riuscire ad emergere tra l’ingente quantitativo di uscite che affollano il mercato con famelica ricorrenza, “La Siesta del Ciprès” dell’argentino Federico Durand -sotto licenza Spekk Records- appare alle nostre orecchie come uno dei più onesti e toccanti manifesti in termini di ambient music da qualche mese a questa parte.
Per apprezzarne in pieno i meriti é sufficiente ritirarsi all’abbandono di fronte al senso di equilibrio che predomina la struttura del disco.
Melodie appena sbuffate che pescano ispirazione e delicatezza dalle fasi del sonno -così forti di controllo maniacale del processing- a smuovere con discreta eloquenza i sensi dell’ascoltatore. La sensazione è un pò quella di voler prendersi cura di una bellezza, gestita senza fare troppi clamori.
Una musica che da facile diventa difficile (“La Siesta Del Ciprés”) quando costringe la lentezza alle estreme conseguenze (“El Mundo Secreto Della Montana”), facendosi carico di sprigionare microsuoni dal mondo dei sogni à la Colleen (“Mi Pequeno Mundo De Papel”) o delicati autismi in sincrono Celer (“Luna”).
D’altronde, quando la sindrome da arte generativa è dietro l’angolo (“Los Alerces Del Patio”) Brian Eno si limita ad essere uno soltanto tra le tante referenze possibili, colto in fragrante tra piccole solitudini a sistema binario (“Pudu Tu Nombre Es Tobias”) o una forma di gentilezza meditativa capace di riscattare svolazzi impressionistici a mezz’aria (“Nos Alejamos De La Casa Sobre La Nieve”).
Tenetelo d’occhio.

Roberto Pizzichetta

Thank you very much Arpeggi, F. D.

Soundscaping review (Norway)

La Siesta Del Ciprés

SPEKK’s latest release still has me gasping for breath and collecting myself after listening through frequently since my purchase earlier this summer. The album, by as of yet unknown artist to me, Federico Durand, is an adventurous, dreamy journey into the secret sleep of cypress trees – and at masterpiece at that in its centering around a much-favoured concept here at Soundscaping, music and the experience of listening to music falling asleep. Some may recall our reviews of Slaapwel and over time have come to understand yours truly has a special appreciation for such music and its meditative effects.

Federico Durand is an Argentinian musician who cites an interest in the resulting sensations of listening to music while falling asleep, and that state where you exist in between wake and sleep, as captured by the Spanish word ‘duermevela’. In this state, a world of melodies, insights and memories opens to us, and coined by Durand himself, one such world is the secret world of the sleep of the cypresses.

The listener is treated to extremely soothing soundscapes of rustling in majestic treetops, a cacophony of resident cacadas and the generally, magical and fantastic feeling of something wonderful surrounding century-aged trees. The world of the cypress has witnessed ages of events untold, and in entering their world as portrayed by Durand, we partake as listener in these recollections of life in passing. From start to finish, this album feels really connected and well-narrated, neither demanding nor too passive. Instead its meandering tones allows the listener to enter their own meditative slumber and marvel at the rich and organic textures of Durand’s sonic pallette. One must feel a bit sorry for Durand and the apparently slow recording process, due to work on an over 10 year old PC, yet when listening to the result it must definitely be a reward after all that slow work pieceing together analog and digital sounds including cassette tape sources out of the musician’s fascination with the rustique. This is simply aural seduction, sleep-inducing and SPEKK at their best – breath-taking!

-Thank you very much Soundscaping for the warm listening!
F. D.

"La siesta del ciprés" en La Torre

Bella despedida de "La siesta del cipres" en la tambien bella casa de te La Torre de Ana y Gustavo -Agua de Oro (recordare el laberinto de pinos entre esplendidas casas elevadas sobre las colinas).

Gracias a todos los amigos de Cordoba y los amigos de Buenos Aire que viajaron hasta alli.

"La siesta del ciprés" review by Textura

Federico Durand: La siesta del ciprés
SPEKK

Federico Durand oriented his La siesta del ciprés album around the experience of listening to music while falling asleep, and cites the Spanish word ‘duermevela' to describe that foggy, in-between state where one is not quite awake nor asleep. Anyone who's experienced that—and who hasn't?—will know already that it induces a heightened receptivity and sensitivity that's conducive to dreamlike transport and that allows one to enter into a state of reverie with no effort whatsoever. Using a ten-year-old PC, Durand translates that experience into sonic form by fashioning limpid pools of sine tones, quiet tinkles, whistles, and washes that evoke tranquil dreamscapes where innocence and wonder reign in equal measure (one track is even titled “Luna”). Though the resources are modest (in addition to analog and digital production methods, cassette tapes form part of the source material used to generate the pieces) and the melodies simple, the results are beautiful, with the album's eight settings sounding like music designed to accompany some magisterial and magical fairy tale. Breathing as softly as a sleeping infant, the lullaby-like closer “Pudu, tu nombre es Tobias?” is without a doubt the prettiest piece of music that's been heard in these parts for a long time. The liner notes credit Durand with “small melodies” but there's nothing small about the entrancing music captured on the thirty-six-minute release.

July 2010

Thank you very much Textura for the hertfelt listening and words.

At ame to kyuitso

"La siesta del cipres" in this very delicated store.

My gratitude to Hideki Umezawa for the warmth and beautiful pictures: www.myspace.com/pawn

Lugar: Tokyo

Presentacion bajo la lluvia de "La siesta del cipres" en Muñiz

Escuchamos bajo la piadosa lluvia otoñal el disco "La siesta del cipres" y luego asistimos al concierto bajo los paraguas. Lectura, bellisima lectura del poeta Nicolas Dominguez Bedini.

Gracias Sebastian (Putch) por el registro fotografico. Un agradecimiento muy especial a la familia Dominguez-Bedini por la sensibilidad. A Colo Colo. Y a todos los amigos que llegaron, e hicieron una experiencia poetica del frio, el agua y la tarde.

Ultimos dias del otoño de 2010.

Concert and album listening under the rain.
Lugar: Quinta Saavedra y Las tardes de San Jose 3

12k

"La siesta del cipres" en el hermoso sello 12k

Ameto - Linda Tienda

Thanks Wei

Shibuya Tower Records

Pictures by my friend Hideki Umezawa

La siesta del ciprés

Federico Durand : "La siesta del ciprés"
label: Spekk
artwork: mondii
drawing and paper-craft: Satoshi Ogawa
release date : April 2010 (WORLDWIDE)
cat : KK023 / format : CD

"Music for a nap" produced by Federico Durand from Argentina. His debut album sounds like if watching a dreamy fairytale processing various instruments into sine wave-like tones. Simply beautiful and touching.

At the time I was creating "La siesta del ciprés" I was very interested, and still am, in the sensations produced by listening to music while falling asleep. In Spanish, the word "duermevela" names that instant when we are awake and not asleep; a territory of fog and extreme lucidity. Listening to music in "duermevela" makes us enter the world of melodies, of insights and memories; the world of La siesta del ciprés. For La siesta del ciprés I worked for a long time with an old PC, which was over ten years old. Accordingly, the recording process was very slow and arduous, but rewarding with time. The album became a search of simplicity as craft. Sounds of cassette tapes reinforce, as an allegory, my imagination of beauty and love to rusticity.

[Text by Federico Durand]

P*dis

今後、世界中のレーベルからリリース予定のアルゼンチン音響の要注目人物によるデビューアルバム！「杉の木の昼寝」と題された本作は、昼寝のための音楽集 をコンセプトに制作した、必要最小限でもって、最高にメロディアスな名作です。10年前の古いコンピューターと楽器を使い、「シンプルであること」「簡素 なものへの愛情」をたっぷりに描いた楽曲群はどこまでも素朴で心地よく、まるで童話を読んでいるかのようです。....