Young, visionary sound artists bring new depth and context to drone and minimalist canon
updated May 1st, 2008
Riccardo Dillon Wanke-Caves cd 43 min. (sedcd051) ltd to 500 copies
Kyle Bobby Dunn-Fragments & Compositions cd 52 min., (sedcd052) ltd to 500 copies
(both titles issued in our unique plastic-less cardboard gatefold sleeve with spine)
Riccardo Dillon Wanke-Caves
Riccardo Dillon Wanke’s Caves was composed and recorded in 2006 in Alfama (historical district of
Lisbon, Portugal) using acoustic and electric guitars, saxophones and natural sound elements starting from pure radical improvisation evolving into the investigation of drones and static and looped music related to minimalism. At the center of these works are the binaural beats in musical composition, the results lying between classical composition, minimalistic improvisation and a “folk” sensitivity. The five tracks of Caves explore this in various ways. Its music plays with the relation between different geometries: expanded drones and concrete sounds, acoustic melodies and looped music. The project is music with a sort of irrational tension within a composed piece, built as a musical space made with few elements. On the surface, its aura seems immediately knowable and known yet Wanke has delivered a much more complex, nearly radical gesture.
Wanke was born in Genova, Italy in 1977, was established in Milan from 1982 until 2005 and now lives and works in Lisbon. He began to study piano 1986, playing saxophone (tenor and alto) in 1994, and then guitar in 2001. He has been working in the experimental music field since 2000 (long-term collaborations with Giuseppe Ielasi, Francesco Dillon, Stefano Pilia, David Maranha, Renato Rinaldi, Christian Alati, Andrea Belfi, Margarida Garcia). He is member of Medves group.
Press: “Caves hovers between discord and beauty, between drone and improvised to build a collection of pieces that swings between hypnotic, poignant, emotional pulling….He also often adds in cut-up improvised instrumental elements, or textural sound settles fuzzed over the top of the drones which really heightens the music’s strange, tragic and often beautiful charm. Caves is an exceptional work of honesty, pain and beauty which will have you seeing wonder and magic in every crack, chip and dis-colorment that surrounds your existence-simply spellbinding stuff”-Roger Batty, Musique Machine, 06/2008)
” In this calm and dilated sea the sound grow and extend as an hypnosis, evoking sometimes minimalistic backgrounds speckled of bluesy notes (and) or raga-folk mutation (the beautiful Jest), exploring ways where the (ec)static formula of minimalism pervades in the improvisation and in the folk memories, leaving the droning of a sax kept on the puff-sound boundary dissolve itself in a modulation of bewildered beauty (Old Man). Wanke is, in fact, the nicest monthly surprise in the electro-acoustic field; moving close to David Maranha, Manuel Mota, Giuseppe Ielasi….resulting in a bright and peculiar personality, a clear and conscious sound, a never banal composing ability. 8 out of 10” -Stefano Bianchi-Blow UP magazine, 07/2008)
“Wanke layers sound upon sound, starting with a few simple disparate sounds and then goes on and on to layers them until a somewhat (not to) dense mass of sound arrives….Very nice record, this one, with solid improvised drone music-FdW, Vital Weekly, 05/2008)
Kyle Bobby Dunn-Fragments & Compositions Fragments & Compositions is a collection of long-processed recordings that began at several universities and art centers visited frequently from 2005 to 2007. Working with classically trained musicians recruited on a whim, Dunn recorded the often awkward sounds of the sessions and sparse notes of the musicians as Dunn dictated. The music addresses amongst other aspects: the pace of meeting people and their vanishing, the human condition, the nothingness of being, indifference, the ephemeral, the bleak and the misery of mid-winter and mid-summer. Yet also the warmly humanist acceptance of these negative terms and things. Sedimental has been following Dunn’s sensitive and world-wise drone works closely for many years (keep in mind he is only 21 now), and with this brilliant new release we expect to expand his presence on many levels. KBD was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1986 and active since 2000 as a minimalist composer and sound artist. As a sound artist, Dunn has exercised his work in exclusive outdoor locations, generating sound from site-specific environments and processing them via analog setups and laptop. He’s also premiered his more musical works at various academic settings including the Alberta College of Art and Design, The Banff Arts Centre, Cantos Music Museum, the University of North Carolina, The Bickett Gallery, and the more typical indie-rock venue.
“…there’s an austere classical air to Dunn’s compositions, recalling the geometry of cathedral domes and the interlaced ribs of vaulted ceilings.” -The Wire Magazine
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“Despite its refusal to make any concession to the listener, the music draws you and doesn’t let you go.”-Dan Warbuton in the December WIRE
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