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Akira Rabelais, "...Benediction, Draw."
Orthlorng Musork
This is Rabelais' third release using Argeiphontes Lyre, software ofthe artist's own design which runs instrumental sound through agauntlet of time domain filters, resulting in unique digital music thatretains much of the physicality and tender imbalance of its soundsource whilst enacting subtle, though deeply resonant transformations.His previous record, the excellent Eisoptrophobia, featured processed piano works by Bartók and Satie, and ...benediction, drawcontinues with a similar exploration of the latter's idea of "furnituremusic," this time with Rabelais' own guitar compositions run throughthe forgiving machine. The resulting 71-min. piece, essentially dividedinto eight sections, is most certainly the kind of inconspicuous,sublimated work that Satie's doctrine would promote. The originalguitar lines are completely obscured, disintegrating (ormultiplying...who knows?) into creeping waves of tonal flutter, theshivering patter of half-plucked strings, and faint, drone-likebackdrops that sound like the result of fairly extreme time-lapsemanipulation. The relative sameness and level field of each track make ...benediction, drawhard to penetrate at first, and the meandering movement of the piececould be off-putting for the unprepared. However, deeper listeningreveals the remarkably intricate construction of the work, which,rather than retreating to the background, instead completely transformsthe listening environment. Rabelais understands that Satie's ideas donot predict music that is just another piece of room-filler, but musicwhose structure and passage feel determined by the acoustic quality ofthe sounds themselves, music that becomes, to some degree, a room ofits own. Rabelais' guitar emerges from the Lyre sounding like a25-piece ensemble of brushed guitars, chimes, and hammered bells,passing slowly through a cycle that seems immediately incidental, yetpainfully timed and integrated so that no such group could havepossibly arranged it. Digital manipulation is evident, but the sound ofthe instrument, which Rabelais' claims to have recorded withoutmulti-tracking (!), is beautifully maintained. A look at the notesinside tells me that ...benediction, draw is dedicated to theartist's "father, who [he] never knew, and mother who abandoned [him];"also, the track titles read sequentially, making two florid sentencesthat describe the journey of a "dispossessed child under the invisibletutelage of an angel." Turns out the record is a reminiscence onRabelais' childhood, growing up estranged on the desolate sweep that isSouth Texas, which explains the cover photo of a boy, presumably theartist, in full Gary Cooper regalia. It's easy to imagine ...benediction, drawas furniture music for the wind-damaged Texan plains; each shimmeringwave full of weightless solemnity, highly expressive but also elusivein character. Comparisons to late-period Morton Feldman, particularly For Philip Guston, would not be out of place; a similar tenebrous beauty stretches through ...benediction, draw'sdrift, making any lapse of attention impossible. With this record,Rabelais has created one of the most singular processed guitar worksI've heard in a long time, and it will be a pleasure hear whichinstrument he approaches next.
This is Rabelais' third release using Argeiphontes Lyre, software ofthe artist's own design which runs instrumental sound through agauntlet of time domain filters, resulting in unique digital music thatretains much of the physicality and tender imbalance of its soundsource whilst enacting subtle, though deeply resonant transformations.His previous record, the excellent Eisoptrophobia, featured processed piano works by Bartók and Satie, and ...benediction, drawcontinues with a similar exploration of the latter's idea of "furnituremusic," this time with Rabelais' own guitar compositions run throughthe forgiving machine. The resulting 71-min. piece, essentially dividedinto eight sections, is most certainly the kind of inconspicuous,sublimated work that Satie's doctrine would promote. The originalguitar lines are completely obscured, disintegrating (ormultiplying...who knows?) into creeping waves of tonal flutter, theshivering patter of half-plucked strings, and faint, drone-likebackdrops that sound like the result of fairly extreme time-lapsemanipulation. The relative sameness and level field of each track make ...benediction, drawhard to penetrate at first, and the meandering movement of the piececould be off-putting for the unprepared. However, deeper listeningreveals the remarkably intricate construction of the work, which,rather than retreating to the background, instead completely transformsthe listening environment. Rabelais understands that Satie's ideas donot predict music that is just another piece of room-filler, but musicwhose structure and passage feel determined by the acoustic quality ofthe sounds themselves, music that becomes, to some degree, a room ofits own. Rabelais' guitar emerges from the Lyre sounding like a25-piece ensemble of brushed guitars, chimes, and hammered bells,passing slowly through a cycle that seems immediately incidental, yetpainfully timed and integrated so that no such group could havepossibly arranged it. Digital manipulation is evident, but the sound ofthe instrument, which Rabelais' claims to have recorded withoutmulti-tracking (!), is beautifully maintained. A look at the notesinside tells me that ...benediction, draw is dedicated to theartist's "father, who [he] never knew, and mother who abandoned [him];"also, the track titles read sequentially, making two florid sentencesthat describe the journey of a "dispossessed child under the invisibletutelage of an angel." Turns out the record is a reminiscence onRabelais' childhood, growing up estranged on the desolate sweep that isSouth Texas, which explains the cover photo of a boy, presumably theartist, in full Gary Cooper regalia. It's easy to imagine ...benediction, drawas furniture music for the wind-damaged Texan plains; each shimmeringwave full of weightless solemnity, highly expressive but also elusivein character. Comparisons to late-period Morton Feldman, particularly For Philip Guston, would not be out of place; a similar tenebrous beauty stretches through ...benediction, draw'sdrift, making any lapse of attention impossible. With this record,Rabelais has created one of the most singular processed guitar worksI've heard in a long time, and it will be a pleasure hear whichinstrument he approaches next.
