Warung Elusion
Label: trente oiseaux
Catalog#: TOC 022
Format: CD
Country: Germany
Released: 2001
Tracklisting:
1. I (15:41)
2. II (21:58)
3. III (20:15)
Press:
Matt Shoemaker - Warung Elusion
Trente Oiseaux
Warung
Elusion is Matt Shoemaker's second release for
Trente
Oiseaux, after
Groundless released a couple of years back. It features three long pieces of
evolving, shifting soundscapes, moving from long, open and quiet sections
full of suspense to surprising crescendos of rustling, clamouring sounds.
Using what seems to be a subtle combination of electronic and acoustic sound
sources (found sounds, field recordings), Shoemaker builds engaging and
challenging pieces, full of surprises and suspense, mysterious sounds and
light electronic tones. We hear clocks ticking, metal resonating, rain falling
against the window, voices muffled in obscurity, a continuously expanding sound-space. Each piece seems to build on the foundation of the previous one, the atmospheres becoming more "charged" by the moment. It's an outstanding work, one that has captured my growing interest each time I sit down to listen to it, in headphones (with which you can discern even the faintest of sounds)
or with loudspeakers, where the ambience of the room soaks up a lot of the
nearly inaudible subtleties. Either way, it comes highly recommended.
Groundless released a couple of years back. It features three long pieces of
evolving, shifting soundscapes, moving from long, open and quiet sections
full of suspense to surprising crescendos of rustling, clamouring sounds.
Using what seems to be a subtle combination of electronic and acoustic sound
sources (found sounds, field recordings), Shoemaker builds engaging and
challenging pieces, full of surprises and suspense, mysterious sounds and
light electronic tones. We hear clocks ticking, metal resonating, rain falling
against the window, voices muffled in obscurity, a continuously expanding sound-space. Each piece seems to build on the foundation of the previous one, the atmospheres becoming more "charged" by the moment. It's an outstanding work, one that has captured my growing interest each time I sit down to listen to it, in headphones (with which you can discern even the faintest of sounds)
or with loudspeakers, where the ambience of the room soaks up a lot of the
nearly inaudible subtleties. Either way, it comes highly recommended.
- Richard di Santo - Incursion
Shoemaker is
arguably the least well known artist on
Bernhard Gunter's
trente oiseaux. His latest piece of musique concrete dynamism should
increase the value
of his stock. Gunter aptly described his work in cinematic terms. Like
a documentary
film maker zooming from a wide field of vision down to a tightly framed
shot,
Shoemaker
brings aural details into close focus. Warung Elusion opens
with very
quiet fluctuations
of gray drones and washed out frequencies, which steadily expose their
origins as
forest
field recordings. Birds choruses flutter amid electric tones and
collaged sounds of rain
and wind innocuously
caressing the trees. These are counterpointed with more unsettling natural noises, like the harsh cracking of branches or hurried splashes through shallow water. While Shoemaker is not as extreme as, say, German film director Werner Herzog, whose Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo movies equated the rainforest with "organized murder" , he also wants to make it clear that not all in the great outdoors is cute and fuzzy.
caressing the trees. These are counterpointed with more unsettling natural noises, like the harsh cracking of branches or hurried splashes through shallow water. While Shoemaker is not as extreme as, say, German film director Werner Herzog, whose Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo movies equated the rainforest with "organized murder" , he also wants to make it clear that not all in the great outdoors is cute and fuzzy.
- Jim Haynes - Wire
Magazine
Warung
Elusion is Matt Shoemaker's second album
for the label
Trente
Oiseaux. The three pieces presented here (all within the 15-20 minutes
range) place him somewhere between academic electroacoustics (Fran?is
Bayle, Yves Daoust, Robert Normandeau, Jonty Harrison) and the more
'outsider' approach of lowercase, mainly through the use of delicate
field recordings, found objects, and a general avoidance of large sonic
gestures. Shoemaker works into details, which doesn't mean his art is static
or limited in scope. His sound and dynamic palettes are wide, each track has
its climax of activity and decibels. But they are used carefully, building
slowly in a foggy cinematic fashion. The second of these untitled pieces
stand out. The blend of 'pure' found sounds, treatments and pure electronics
reaches a captivating narrative level (although very subjective). One thinks
of Lionel Marchetti's 'Portrait d'un Glacier', because of the sonic
material (wind, water, footsteps) but also the manner in which they are
introduced and integrated to the piece. Track three is more conventional in
its development and focuses on a train/subway sound, recalling works by
Bernhard Gal among others, but the eery sounds overpinning it (somewhere
between a theremin and a bowed cymbal) cast a different light. By its choice
of material, the first track recalls 'domestic' works by Michael Prime or
Philippe Blanchard, yet again Shoemaker's compositional skills provide a
compelling arrangement structured around a few brutal contrasts.
A recommended listen.
Oiseaux. The three pieces presented here (all within the 15-20 minutes
range) place him somewhere between academic electroacoustics (Fran?is
Bayle, Yves Daoust, Robert Normandeau, Jonty Harrison) and the more
'outsider' approach of lowercase, mainly through the use of delicate
field recordings, found objects, and a general avoidance of large sonic
gestures. Shoemaker works into details, which doesn't mean his art is static
or limited in scope. His sound and dynamic palettes are wide, each track has
its climax of activity and decibels. But they are used carefully, building
slowly in a foggy cinematic fashion. The second of these untitled pieces
stand out. The blend of 'pure' found sounds, treatments and pure electronics
reaches a captivating narrative level (although very subjective). One thinks
of Lionel Marchetti's 'Portrait d'un Glacier', because of the sonic
material (wind, water, footsteps) but also the manner in which they are
introduced and integrated to the piece. Track three is more conventional in
its development and focuses on a train/subway sound, recalling works by
Bernhard Gal among others, but the eery sounds overpinning it (somewhere
between a theremin and a bowed cymbal) cast a different light. By its choice
of material, the first track recalls 'domestic' works by Michael Prime or
Philippe Blanchard, yet again Shoemaker's compositional skills provide a
compelling arrangement structured around a few brutal contrasts.
A recommended listen.
- Franois Couture - All
Music
- Grooves Magazine
Back...