Der, zumeist im geologischen Zusammenhang verwendete, und einen Gleichgewichtszustand beschreibende Begriff der»Isostasie«ist der Titel von Natasha Barrets drittem Album, auf dem die Komponistin und Sound-Ökologin verschiedene lokale Naturphänomene, wie die Mitternachtssonne oder »Roten Schnee« mittels elektroakustischer Klangforschungen abstrakt umreißt. Die zehn glasklaren, kalten Impressionen aus ihrer Wahlheimat Norwegen, durchwegs spannend und mit einer ausgeprägten Liebe zum Detail gestaltet, fegen wie ein eisiger Nordwind aus den Boxen und kristallisieren zu glitzernden Klangskulpuren voll gespenstischer Schönheit.

Noch ein wenig abstrakter kommt das Album des belgischen Komponisten Stephan Dunkelman daher. Seine nicht nur für Konzerte, sondern auch für Ausstellungen und Tanzaufführungen komponierten Stücke spielen gekonnt mit Musik im Raum/Zeit-Kontext, sowie laut/leise-Kontrasten. Die zu Beginn etwas diffus anmutenden Soundscapes geraten mit zunehmender Spieldauer zu einem durchaus hörenswerten Ganzen, in dem sich die verschiedenen Geräusche tatsächlich wie»Rhizome«(dieser ursprünglich aus der Botanik stammende Begriff wurde von Deleuze und Guattari als Metapher für Hypertextualität verwendet) von den Spitzen weg in verschiedenste Richtungen fortpflanzen.

Der Titel von Arturo Parras Album wiederum weist ganz konkret auf seine Entstehungsweise hin: fünf »acousmatische« Stücke für Tape, von Parra an ebenso viele verschiedene Komponisten in Auftrag gegeben, werden auf»Parr(A)cousmatique«von dem kolumbianischen Gitarristen mit seinem expressiven Spiel auf der akustischen Gitarre konterkariert. Ein atmosphärisch unglaublich dicht geratenes Album, in dem sich ruhige, einfühlsame Passagen mit explosiven Fingerpickings und stakkatoartigen Rhythmusattacken abwechseln. Das in Parras Spiel omnipräsente lebensfreudige Flamencofeeling paart sich hier auf ganz wunderbare, ungewöhnliche Weise mit der Musique Concrète der Tape-Kompositionen. Eine absolute Empfehlung. Alle drei Veröffentlichungen beinhalten in den äußerst ansprechend gestalteten Pappkarton-Schubern umfangreiches Informationsmaterial, darunter Biographien, Details zum Release sowie Kommentare der Künstler zu den einzelnen Stücken in englischer und französischer Sprache.

Another guitar based album from empreintes DIGITALes, not only that but the guitar is dramatically obvious! This is quite an surprising and unusual album — Parra is a classically trained guitarist who has become interested in “performance, creation and composition of contemporary pieces,” and electroacoustic music. He commissioned five well known composers to create tape pieces for him (largely from his own playing, I think) and then has played a live guitar solo over the top. The result is astonishing in its beautiful combination of the chopped microscopic drama of the tape with the skilled guitar playing; unusual in both its conception and its label — this is one of the more melodic works released through empreintes DIGITALes. A fiery skittery opening to La basilique fantome with Stéphane Roy a cloud of tiny fragments, the guitar is slick and smooth in comparison playing a strong rhythmic melody; another crescendo before an extended guitar solo over a density of notes that sounds like an organ; another climax before some rapid picking and improv playing over a little noisey tape before returning to the opening melody. Throughout there are occasional vocalisations. Another big electroacoustic in-yer-face opening after which Mauricio Bejarano’s D’or et de lumière becomes a more settled array of clicky creaks echoed stretched and hisses (including some notes) with spanish guitar. A lovely solo over soft cracking and clicking emphasises that these composers have considered the pieces not only as stand alone, but also taken in to account the requirements of a duet. A restrained climax includes some short string picking. A more obvious tape backing to Sol y sombra… L’espace des spectres from Francis Dhomont swirls and slides skitters and scintillates with a rapid strumming guitar; a melodic solo over scraping electro-environment, and there is a confusion between tape and guitar as they seem to trade improv licks to a rapid guitar and string scrape conclusion. A slow burning development opens Soledad droning and thudding with rapid soft scrape guitar, then rapid extended sounds from Gilles Gobeil that builds to a couple of very noisy climaxes with dramatic guitar, with whispering and breathing that creates a dramatic contrast to the opening. L’envers du temps with Robert Normandeau lays creaking taps spiralling smallnesses as a cloud against rapid guitar, both easing, then developing again in parallel with strange whizzing and guitar to a chittering scrape end. The premiere performance appears to have featured both the acousmatic pieces and the duets, and this would have made an interesting double release with the taped pieces alone on a separate disk. However, as it stands it is a remarkable performance by all concerned and represents a powerful introduction to acousmatic (and all the synonyms) music. A complex album and wonderful, while maintaining the genre’s intensity.

La confezione di questo CD è splendida: digipack con inlay card stampata su cartoncino, veste grafica super-lusso che ricorda molto le confezioni della Ambiances Magnétiques o delle uscite distribuite dalla DAME. No, non è un caso, infatti la empreintes DIGITALes è canadese e con buona probabilità Arturo Parra fa parte dello stesso roster sperimental-classico-contemporaneo (qualcuno dice sperimentzione “erudita”?) al quale appartengono anche molti musicisti delle altre due etichette canadesi. Parr(A)cousmatique è concepito come un lavoro per chitarra e nastro magnetico, la cui composizione e realizzazione si è sviluppata nell’arco di alcuni anni. Il risultato è davero sorprendente, la chitarra di Parra varia tecnica e gusto nel corso delle diverse composizioni, passando dalle sonorità latine di Sol y sombra… L’espace des spectres e La basilique fantôme alle atmosfere avanguardistiche di Soledad. Il risltato finale potrebbe ricordare vagamente un CD di studi chitarristici contemporanei, sporcato da dei fondi di musica “concreta” (il disco è distribuito da ReR, Staalplaat e Metamkine mica per nulla). Nonostante i dieci minuti abbondanti che rappresentano la durata media delle composizioni potrebbero far pensare tutt’altro, Parr(A)cousmatique non annoia, fa invece venir voglia di avventurarsi in ulteriori ascolti, la capacità di Parra di sacrificare il suo “mostruoso” (i virtuosismi su questo disco pur essendo contenuti, si sprecano) bagaglio tecnico a favore della qualità di ogni singola traccia ed il gusto con cui sono state composte alcune delle basi (soprattutto quelle di Francis Dhomont e Stephane Roy) sono molto elevate. Se avete voglia di “tradizionale-non troppo tradizionale”, Parra potrebbe essere il vostro uomo.