Tracklist:
1 - Mia Zabelka + Asférico - The Broken Glass v1 [09:46 min]
2 - Asférico + Mia Zabelka - The Broken Glass v2 [12:20 min]
3 - Asférico + Mia Zabelka - Sonidos del Subconsciente II [39:34 min]
credits
released July 7, 2017
The Broken Glass is a work conceived and produced between Austria and Spain and represents the eleventh reference of the catalogue of Störung Label. In this collaboration, field recordings and synthesis processed by Asférico create cyclical and hypnotic structures, which Mia Zabelka furnishes with her violin and voice.
The LP consists of two versions of the piece, the first more minimalist and conceptual and the second more rhythmical and synthesizer based.
Through a display of distorted and isolated sounds, we are driven in the first version into a deep listening, as if sounds where placed under a microscope or we were contemplating them through a telescope. This approach lets us perceive the bare physicality of sounds in a way which enables us to grasp subtleties and aspects of sound which we are not used to.
The second version continues where the first version left us, but in this piece, we are eventually flooded by hypnotic loops, white noise and synthesis and the experience has a different flavor. Now what we have acquired through the first version, the... more
credits
released July 7, 2017
"Bijzonder zakje gemengde noten, dat Mia Zabelka en Alex Gámez (alias Asférico) ons voorschotelen op ‘The Broken Glass’. Op vinyl leveren ze twee stukken die alles bij elkaar net boven de twintig minuten uitkomen, sterk verschillende versies van het titelnummer. Op cd krijgen je er een derde stuk bij, dat bijna twee keer zo lang duurt. Nu schijnt vinyl in opmars te zijn ten koste van de cd, maar in dit geval is het raadzaam om toch maar voor het kleine schijfje te kiezen. Versie 1 en 2 van ‘The Broken Glass’ staan muzikaal ver uit elkaar. Nummertje een, waar Zabelka blijkbaar de grootste hand in heeft gehad, klinkt aanvankelijk als een open improvisatie. Na wat geschuifel over een elektronisch vloerkleed neemt zij het voortouw met haar elektrische viool. Ze strijkt en plukt tegen een achtergrond van galm en vervorming die Gámez rond haar spel optrekt, en laat de snaren beurtelings snijden en gonzen. Soms krijg je een déjà vu van de godverlaten half-melodieën die Blaine Reininger speelde in de hoogtijdagen van Tuxedomoon. Haar klanken stijgen uiteindelijk zilverig op boven licht bevende akkoorden, sterven weg, waarna die akkoorden opnieuw verschijnen, omringd door wegebbende rimpels. Een ronkende grondtoon komt langzaam op, met links en rechts naast zich herhalende patronen. Gámez pakt je op en zet je neer in de hypnotische disco waar ooit Giorgio Moroder een patent op had. Dansen en deinen is hier het motto. Is dit tweeluik eenmaal opengeklapt, dan betreed je hun visie op het onderbewuste, ‘Sonidos Del Subconsciente II’, verklankt door moeilijk te duiden omgevingsopnamen van ruisende en kletterende machinerieën waar de viool van Zabelka omheen zweeft. Langzamerhand verdwijnt ze in het demonische malen en stampen, opgeslokt door ontmenselijkte bedrijvigheid. Goed voor huiveringwekkende geestdrift."
EXCLAIM!/ Kevin Press
"The fact that the bell tone heard intermittently throughout "The Broken Glass v1," the opening piece on Mia Zabelka & Asférico's fine new album, will make you anxious about unanswered texts piling up on your iPhone is more of a commentary on our mobile-obsessed lives than it is on the work itself.
That said, there are more than a few moments on The Broken Glass that will make you anxious — none of which have anything to do with your digital correspondence. This forceful, often mesmerizing three-track LP is the product of Austrian boundary-pushing violinist Zabelka and Spanish DJ/producer Asférico (Alex Gámez).
Zabelka carries the aforementioned first piece with a firm grip. Her playing is detailed and unnerving — no wonder the great American avant-gardist Pauline Oliveros called her the "mighty mistress of the contemporary violin." The most accessible of the three works is "The Broken Glass v2." Asférico contributes an EDM-like synth line that qualifies this as a brave addition to any DJ crate.
The disc's major work, though, is "Sonidos del Subconsciente II." The first thing that must be said is that it features the slowest build since John Cage's famed "4'33"." Talk about anxiety-inducing. The piece is sparse, dark and more than a little evocative."
Mia Zabelka is a musician and composer known for her experimental use of the violin and electronic music. She has performed
at various festivals and venues around the world. Zabelka is known for her innovative and boundary-pushing approach to music, incorporating elements of noise, drone and improvisation into her work. She has played with a variety of artists, including John Zorn and Zeitkratzer....more
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