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Francisco Lopez + Novi_sad, "Titans"
While the title is in reference to the source material (field recordings in Ancient Olympia, Greece), it also serves as an appropriate name for these two monumental artists coming together. Linked only by the use of the same raw materials, both Lopez and Thanasis Kaproulias create very different, yet powerful worlds of sound.
Lopez's contribution, "Untitled #249," begins extremely quiet, remaining mostly silent until the most distant spectral drones slowly come into focus.In the earlier moments, there’s more of a ghostly warmth than the clinical digital sound I associate with Lopez's work.It eventually transitions into sharp, digital realms and harsher textures, though above an almost rhythmic clattering.
The dissonance peaks around the middle of the 30 minute work, with metallic scraping noises amidst a disorienting haze.Once it goes as loud as it can get, it slowly fades away, retreating and ending in a sparse, open field of sound, with the tiniest fragments of what was just heard remaining.
Novi_sad's half of the album, "Ellipsis," relies less on subtlety and more on variation.While it begins with slow motion, hollow noises and distant, almost thunder-like crashes that reverberate into infinity, it soon expands outward and allows the underlying field recordings to be heard.Transitioning from rushing water into a swarm of insects (though heavily processed), it builds layer by layer in intensity.
However, as the noisier elements are piling up, an almost melodic undercurrent surfaces: possibly a bit of folk music that found its way onto the tape, which is mangled into a beautiful drone, continuing to echo within caves of rushing water.The piece ends in the exact opposite way of Lopez's:it sounds like all of the previous layers of noise are stacked atop each other to create an intense cacophony that only ceases when the disc does.
Even though the only thing linking these two pieces are the source material, with each artist processing the field recordings in drastically different ways, the two pieces feel like they belong with each other.While their approaches to utilizing the source material may differ, the undeniable strength of both the young composer and the prolific veteran is prominent.
samples:
- Francisco Lopez - Untitled #249 (Excerpt 1)
- Francisco Lopez - Untitled #249 (Excerpt 2)
- Novi_sad - Ellipsis
 
