Various Artists

9 Trajectoires

Genre: ELECTRONIC

9CD Boxset

Boomkat Product Review:

GRM map the diversity of nine far-flung composers linked by their innovative search for new directions in electro-acoustic, acousmatic composition, encompassing works realised and performed over the past 30 years - RIYL Roland Kayn, Harry Bertoia, Jaap Vink, Bernard Parmegiani

‘9 Trajectoires’ is one of the lesser known additions to the GRM microcosm, and on that basis, one of its most intriguing. 9 x CDs, totalling nearly 9 hours of composition exploring the limits of abstract sound arrangement, largely devoid of conventional melody, harmony or rhythm, and focussed on stretching your proprioceptive senses. Whilst all conceived for diffusion via the famous multi-channel INA GRM soundsystem, these stereo reductions nonetheless beguile with their exploration of fathomless dynamism and projections of inexplicable thought modelled in non-musical sound.

Aye, we’re dealing deep in dancing-to-architecture territory here. Germany’s Ludger Brümmer, director of ZKM, characterises interests in structural synthesis using physical algorithmic composition, granular synthesis and spatialisation across a series of shattered, arrhythmic, and quiet-loud works recalling Roland Kayn’s heady depth perceptions; French composer Philippe Leroux explores the limits of symphonic, vocal, electronic and chamber musician a series of gyring whorls and displaced orchestral tones fascinating in their fine grained intricacy and movement.

Argentinian Diego Losa - mastering engineer at INA-GRM - conjures vast, gnarly drone scapes laced with etheric voices and passages of poised string performance and shearing noise, next to fellow Argentine artist Mario Mary’s durational pieces of sci-fi film score alike computer music, and the more fractured fissures of rhythm and enharmonic plong by fellow countryman Luis Naon.

Sweden’s Åke Parmerud, a software deisgner, performer and multimedia artist animates his sound with an underlying theatric logic; the only woman inside, Poland’s Elzbieta Sikora - student of Pierre Schaeffer, François Bayle, and John Chowning - impresses with disassembled orchestral sound of ‘Flashback’ and pieces of ferocious, sustained delirium, contrasting a thrilling soundtrack like work ‘Derriére Son Double’; Kees Tazelaar hails from the same Dutch Institute of Sonology as Roland Kayn, and chases the acousmatic dragon down deeply eerie wormholes to moments of poignant sublime; Germany’s Hans Tutschku, another alum of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, who once accompanied Stockhausen on concert tour, gets under the imagination's skin in particular with the hellish ‘Distance Liquide’.

9CD Boxset (9)

9CD box set. Each artist has an individual disc that comes in a wallet with the tracklist on it. All discs are housed in a cardboard box which includes a 100-page booklet with artist profiles and track-by-track liner notes in both English and French.

Play All 9CD Boxset (9)