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Luciernaga, "Sic Transit Gloria"
There is a distinct sense of nostalgia running through this newest Luciernaga release. Fitting, since the entire work was inspired by Joao Da Silva's hometown of Santiago, Chile, and is even released by a hometown as a limited edition cassette. His work has always had a sense of personal intimacy amidst the sonic abstraction, and this is no different. Sic Transit Gloria is an emotionally rich, and extremely diverse piece of complex ambient music.
The entirety of this cassette is sourced only from guitar and autoharp, although it is at times difficult to believe given the diverse array of sounds Da Silva creates here.It is only really in the opening piece, "11:00 AM 9/11/73" where the instrumentation sounds most apparent, save for a few other scattered moments. Here he generates an expansive web of droning strings, most closely resembling bowed autoharp strings. While there is a significant amount of layering, the piece overall sticks to only the essentials, which is more than enough to sustain the subtle beauty he creates."Mi Memoria Obstinada" is of similarly sparse construction.Expanding tones of an unclear nature stretch out, carefully intertwined together and wavering slightly enough to create a noticeable change and development in the sound.As a whole, Da Silva does an exemplary job of creating a piece of an extremely delicate nature, yet one that is surprisingly strong and powerful in its understated complexity.
There is significant variation throughout these pieces, however, and "Respiramos" features a different side of Luciernaga's sound, with humming electronics and what sounds like distorted guitar loops paired with clean, untreated guitar playing that blends brilliantly, but is disappointingly brief."Te Desvaneces" has Da Silva going in a different direction, here with electronic-like high frequency loops and reversed guitar parts both running through effects.The insistent radar beacon like loops feature heavily as light puffs of guitar sound are pushed through, with the whole piece becoming looser and more improvised sounding in its conclusion.
The final two compositions, however, are the strongest and most diverse on this tape. "Aire Negro" is largely made up of unidentifiable sounds in a complex mix.Rhythmic bits of scraping and banging-like sounds are weaved in and out with clouds of guitar passing over.Even with this complex, at times dizzying array of sounds being utilized, the dynamics are kept soft, so it never becomes overwhelming.The 15 minute closer "La Tragedia Que Es Chile" ends this release on a somewhat harsh note.With an opening that sounds like synthesizer through a battery of distortion pedals, there is a noise tinge covering the whole piece.The harshness is kept in check, but there is a lot of forcefulness in this piece, blending ugly electronics processing and shimmering melodies together, building to an almost piercing, feedback-laden conclusion.
Sic Transit Gloria is yet another strong addition to the always impressive Luciernaga discography.At this point, it just further solidifies my opinion that Joao Da Silva's horribly underrecognized as the brilliant sound artist he is.His ability to create such a diverse array of sounds from only limited sources is unparalleled, and his skill at knowing just how much processing and post-production to utilize without a composition dissolving into a monochromatic dull roar is impeccable.Hopefully his notoriety will soon grow proportional to his skill, and then I can pull the "oh I was into his stuff years ago" card that so many of us music nerds are fond of doing.Sarcasm aside, this is a powerful and beautiful piece of music that demonstrates his continued brilliance.
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