Oct 29, 2017

Sundaze 1744

Hello, The F1 circus is in Mexico city this weekend that means high altitude racing, Max Verstappen was about to become the youngest driver ever on pole, but like what happened at Monza in the final qualifyinbg lap he was passed by a worldchampion then it was Hamilton, here it was Vettel 86 milli seconds faster, he's on pole today. I reckon Hamilton who's third thinks those two in front of me will take eachother out, jippy. Well we'll see



Today the final Vidna Obmana post An Opera For Four Fusion Works ...N'Joy

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Belgian producer Dirk Serries, aka Vidna Obmana, is a prolific composer of deep ambient and electro-acoustic music, utilizing slow, shifting electronic figures and sparse environmental recordings to construct long, minimalist, often extremely personal textural works. Taking his nom de plume from the Yugoslavian for "optical illusion" (a concept which carries much weight in his composing, as well), Serries has released material through a wide range of different labels, including Projekt, Amplexus, Extreme, Hic Sunt Leones, Syrenia, ND, and Multimood. Born and raised in Antwerp, Serries began recording experimental noise musics in the late '80s, working solo and in combination with artists such as PBK, exploring the more abrasive side of electronic composition. Beginning with the release in 1990 of Shadowing in Sorrow, however, (the first part of what would come to be known as Vidna's ambient Trilogy) Serries began moving toward an almost isolationist ambient aesthetic, exploring themes of calm, solitude, grief, and introspection in long, moving pieces which tended to chart similar ground as American space music artists such as Robert Rich, Michael Stearns, and Steve Roach (Serries has since collaborated with both Rich and Roach). The first two movements of the Trilogy -- Sorrow, as well as its follow-up Passage in Beauty -- were self-released by Serries in 1990 and 1991, with the third volume, Ending Mirag, appearing the following year on the American ND label. The album was praised as some of the finest post-classical experimental electronic music of its time, and the Stateside connection finally opened his music up to an American audience, leading also to his association with Sam Rosenthal's Projekt label (the entire Trilogy was finally reissued by Projekt sister label Relic as a boxed set in 1996, with several new Vidna releases also appearing in the interim).

Although his textural recordings form the core of his output to date, Serries' more recent solo and collaborative works (such as The Transcending Quest, Echoing Delight, and The Spiritual Bonding) have also found him pushing the minimalism of his earlier works into the Fourth World territories of artists such as Jorge Reyes, Michael Stearns, and Jon Hassell, setting lush, dreamy soundscapes in a larger, more engaging rhythmic framework (usually with contributions from percussionists Djen Ajakan Shean and Steve Roach). Still, as many compilations and retrospectives of his earlier or unreleased work have appeared in recent times so as to confuse somewhat the trajectory of his development, which at any rate seems to trade more or less equally between the freeform conceptual landscapes of his earlier Projekt, Relic, and ND works and the more structured interactivity of the Extreme and Amplexus releases. Collaborations have also increasingly occupied Serries' time, with full-length works with Steve Roach (Well of Souls, The Spiritual Bonding), Robert Rich (The Spiritual Bonding), Asmus Tietchens (a self-titled collaboration for Syrenia), Sam Rosenthal (Terrace Of Memories), and Djen Ajakan Shean (Parallel Flaming) appearing all within the space of only a few years. Both Landscape in Obscurity and The Shape of Solitude followed in 1999, and in the spring of 2000 Obmana returned with Echo Passage and Surreal Sanctuary. Subterranean Collective was issued the following year.

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An Opera for Four Fusion Works by vidnaObmana , is a composition composed over a period of several years (2001-2006). It is neither an opera nor fusion in the familiar musical meanings of the words. The terms opera and fusion show that it is a collection of works (opera is plural of opus ) and fusion stands for the integration of another's compositions in Serry's work, a kind of sampling .

What does point to a classic opera is a division into acts and, as it were, other people's music. The whole consists of four, each of which has been chosen to be recycled by Serries. Acte I has the guitar as the main instrument, Acte II the soprano saxophone , Acte III the piano and Acte IV dedicated to multi instrumentalist Steven Wilson , but only his voice has been used.

VidnaObmana's music takes a unique position within the ambient . He is one of the few who insists isolationism within the genre. That flow, through its endless repetition, causes an uncomfortable feeling. It has to be borne in mind, that was seen from the ambient and new age . The flow is not as dark as the doombient , the very dark branch of ambient.

By virtue of the almost endless repetition of fragments etc. the music is also divided into minimal music . If one approaches the music from that view, there is hardly any uncomfortable feeling, the music creates a trance, similar to one of the first compositions of Terry Riley and Philip Glass , especially Music in Twelve Parts of the latter. This last job delivers or trance on whether one is annoyed by the (than annoying) repetitions. The music of this composition, however, is not as intrusive as Music in Twelve Parts, but it continues to be quiet.

Finally, there is another type of music that shows the album. Due to the quiet nature of the music, which seems to be slipping, it sounds like someone is making a long trip and produces a melody that's not finished yet to wake himself up. Comparison with the Joik of the Saami urges in Act IV, as a voice, which is recognizable as a voice, but the text is not yet composed of the melody. It remains with a murmur that drives away time. The same goes for the other three actions that can be considered as joiks from the electronic age.

Act One: Echoes of Steel (Featuring Dreams in Exile) has five scenes, all of which star Serries on guitars, e-bow, synths, vocals, and endless recycling. He recorded these stunning atmospheres over 13 months, from April of 2001 through May of 2002. This is cutting edge e-music. Serries combines acoustics, electronics, and processes expertly to forge a unique experimental sound that shimmers. The organic textures are harsh and cold. The exiled dreams are in different worlds. The atmospheres provide structure for the soundscapes and have no structure. This ambiguity defines the existentialism of Serries' sound worlds. The unique experience has no valid comparison.



Vidna Obmana - Act 1, Echoes of Steel (flac 315mb)

01 IV 17:07
02 V 7:33
03 III 8:51
04 II 9:30
05 I 9:33

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Vidna Obmana - Act 2, Phrasing The Air (flac  280mb)

01 I 7:07
02 II 14:29
03 VI 10:15
04 V 19:15
05 IV 9:51

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Vidna Obmana - Act 3, Reflection On Scale (flac  284mb)

01 I 24:08
02 II 14:47
03 III 14:02
04 IV 8:28
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Vidna Obmana - Act 4, Bowing Harmony  (flac 228mb)

01 II 6:06
02 IV 9:11
03 VI 3:57
04 III 23:59

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho,

Any chance of re-upping these at all?

Many thanks.