Article
2012 Artists' Picks

Albums
36
The Alvaret Ensemble
The Boats
Dadub
Day
Enduser / The Teknoist
Alejandro Franov
Christoph Funabashi
The Inventors Of Aircraft
Kostis Kilymis
krill.minima
Lau Nau
Madera Wind Quintet
Todd Matthews
Lubomyr Melnyk
okamononoriaki
The Outside Agency
Oyaarss
peterMann
Pleq + Philippe Lamy
Roach & Metcalf
SaffronKeira
Martin Schulte
Jay Shepheard
Tape Loop Orchestra
Techdiff
TM404
Yard

Compilations / Mixes
Darkroom Dubs Vol.3
Petre Inspirescu
Pop Ambient 2013
v-p v-f is v-n

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Alis
Arkaik
Babi
Bee Mask
Bungle
drcarlsonalbion
Fescal
Fluorescent Heights
William Ryan Fritch
Greyghost
Junction 12
Lind and Loraine
Alessan Main
Martinez
Mikal
Show Me The Future
10 Yrs hhv.de 45 Vol. 10
Wolf Cub

Alejandro Franov: Champaqui
Panai

Gongs and synthesizers introduce Alejandro Franov's Champaqui, the first of many moments that help distinguish his recording from others in the field recordings-based genre. A prominent figure in Argentina's experimental music scene, the Buenos Aires-based composer and multi-instrumentalist uses the sacred mountain Champaqui, which is located in Córdoba, the western province of Argentina, and at a height of 2790 m. is the highest peak in the province, as a conceptual springboard for a project that fuses field recordings captured at the location with synthesizers, gong, and flute.

The Córdoba setting is evoked repeatedly in the sounds Franov threads into the material. “La Poblacion,”  the shimmering, organ-styled drone that opens the album, is dotted with abundant bird chatter, while “Colanchanga” is dominated by a gentle wheeze of wooden flutes that also evokes the South American locale. Listening to “Ascochinga,” the listener can easy visualize Franov playing the wooden flute within the setting when the sound is accompanied by a wealth of field recording details of the natural environment (e.g., insects, rustlings). “Los Terrones” perhaps hints at the threat industrial technology poses to the natural environment in the grit-covered pulse that dominates much of the track. A notable exception to the rule is the longest setting, “Sierra De La Ventana,” a dreamlike drone of meditative character whose tones drift peacefully through a blanket of mist. In fact, the piece, being more minimal in design and heavily synth-based, suggests the distant reaches of space more than it does any earthbound setting.

February 2013