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Francisco López, "Untitled (2005)"
This selection of works by López is disappointingly lacklustre. Compared to his normally vibrant work, the pieces here are drab and unexciting. Most of it feels like López is just rehashing various older ideas and not pushing any of the boundaries that usually make his work interesting.
 
Anoema
Untitled (2005) is uneventful. I find it hard to believe that any artist, let alone one as talented as López, could make lush field recordings from a Brazilian rainforest into something so banal but he manages. "Untitled #178" is just over 15 minutes of said tedium. Part of the problem is that the fidelity of the recording is quite poor, in addition to the trebly sounds of nature there is extra hiss that turns insect calls into slurs. The experience is like listening to a third generation tape on a crappy all in one stereo which is not exactly appealing.
The second half of the album is a little more exciting than the first. "Untitled #111 (For Jani Christou)" is a commissioned piece performed on an array of normal instruments (saxophone, tuba, cello, double bass, etc.) but with all instrument identity processed into oblivion. A metallic, reverb-laden drone is all that is left which gains momentum into noisy static. It isn’t particularly exciting but is a step in the right direction after the first two pieces.
The final piece, "Untitled #183," finds López nearly back on form. It is a collection of field recordings made in Quebec over two summers and it is a huge step up from the Amazon recordings discussed earlier. The sounds of bees and running water are fresh and animated. López has successfully captured the character of the environment. This piece makes Quebec seem about a hundred times more appealing than the Amazon. This isn’t to say that this piece is amazing; it reflects more on the mediocrity of "Untitled #178."
Since being turned on to López about two years ago I’ve been continually pleased with what I’ve heard. However Untitled (2005) is a blow to his reputation in my eyes. It is almost like a conveyer belt version of one of his better albums. I imagine this is a blip as opposed to a sudden change in the quality of his work and I hope that his future releases return to the level of composition that I know he is capable of.
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