Tomoko Sauvage sa už desať rokov venuje amplifikovaniu vody rôznych skupenstiev. Pomocou hydrofonických mikrofónov kreuje zo zostavy keramických misiek prírodný modulárny synth s vlastnou svojvôľou. Bubliny, vlny, kvapky z roztápajúcich sa vodných kvádrov produkujú podvodné spätné väzby v citlivom akustickom priestore, ktorý existuje medzi poriadkom a chaosom, medzi disciplínou a náhodilosťou.
Vo svojom jadre ide o veľmi úprimnú performance, ktorá sa zdráha predajnej konceptualizácie a tak sa posúva ešte bližie k samotnej matérii, s ktorou pracuje. Podobne ako jej talianska kolegyňa Caterina Barbieri, Tomoko oslobodzuje zvuku od externých kontextov – či už politických, sociálnych, kultúrnych, atď.
“Môj vzťah k vode je vysoko citlivý. Keď som v Berlíne prezentovala inštaláciu, ktorá pracovala s topiacim sa ľadom vytvárajúcim nahodilú kvapkajúcu hudbu, jeden z návštevníkov mi povedal, že to znie ako zaplakanie nad roztápajúcou sa Antraktídou. Možno mal pravdu, ale to rozhodne nebolo mojim zámerom.”
Popri Visible Cloaks, Mono No Aware, Midori Takada či Sarah Davachi je jej “Musique Hydromatique” (Shelter Press) nepochybne jeden z najpozoruhodnejších “ambientných” albumov minulého roka. Za všetko hovorí zoznam odohraných koncertov, napr: Roskilde Festival, Center Pompidou Musee, Borealis – en festival for eksperimentell musikk či blížiaci sa Unsound.
Mark Nelson aj jeho projekt Pan•American ovplyvnil celú generáciu. Ako vôbec prvý release na legendánom vydavateľstve Kranky (Deerhunter / Grouper / Loscil / Tim Hecker / STARS OF THE LID / GSY!BE) definoval zvuk, ktorý existuje mimo čas a žánrové obmedzenia, mimo nálepiek proto-lo-fi či proto post-rock. Neslon prešiel dlhou cestou od digitálne centrického ‚The River Made No Sound‘ k organickej inštrumentácii Quiet City“, od elektroniky plynúcej pomaly cez rôzne tradičné aj menej tradičné akustické nástroje, až po dokonalú synergiu organického hluku a minimalistickej intuitívnej kompozície. Gitarové plochy usporiadané do vzorcov pripomínajúcich hlboké perkusívne echá a rezonujúce basové dróny dubu. Neslon sa medzi Rímom a Parížom zastaví aj v Bratislave.
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Projekt podporil z verejných zdrojov Fond na podporu umenia.
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Sound T o m o k o S a u v a g e https://bit.ly/2ygha3N Shelter Press https://bit.ly/2gRiMbU
Sound P a n A m e r i c a n https://bit.ly/2NWkuvA
https://spoti.fi/2NW0ZD https://bit.ly/2P3cbdH
Pre-sale https://forumabsurdum.interticket.sk/
“My relation to the water is highly sensual and I cannot really think of it symbolically when I’m playing music with it. I made an installation work using melting crystalline ice, to create a random drip music. Once in Berlin, a visitor of the exhibition told me that it’s like a lament of the Antarctic ice and the world crying. I also felt that there was something about tears but I didn’t think about these things when I was realizing the piece.”
For more than ten years, Tomoko Sauvage has been investigating the sound and visual properties of water in different states, as well as those of ceramics, combined with electronics. Porcelain bowls of different sizes, filled with water and amplified via hydrophones (underwater microphones), waterbowls is a kind of natural synthesizer that generates fluid timbre using waves, drops and bubbles. These recipients resonate and also produce subaquatic feedback, an acoustic phenomenon that requires fine tuning depending on the amount of water, a subtle volume control and interaction with the acoustic space. Through primordial materials and playful gestures, Tomoko Sauvage searches for a fragile balance between randomness and discipline, chaos and order. Her second album „Musique Hydromantique“, alluding to hydromancy – divination by means of water – was released by Shelter Press in 2017.
Born in Yokohama, Japan, Sauvage moved to Paris in 2003 after studying jazz piano in New York. Through listening to Alice Coltrane and Terry Riley, she became interested in Indian music and studied improvisation of Hindustani music. In 2006, she attended a concert of Aanayampatti Ganesan, a virtuoso of Jalatharangam – the traditional Carnatic music instrument with water-filled porcelain bowls. Fascinated by the simplicity of its device and sonority, Sauvage immediately started to hit China bowls with chopsticks in her kitchen. Soon her desire of immersing herself in the water engendered the idea of using an underwater microphone and led to the birth of the electro-aquatic instrument.
During the summer of 1997, Mark Nelson started recording a full length album for kranky at home and at Sound of Music Studios in Richmond, Virginia. Mark Nelson had been playing guitar and singing in Labradford, but wanted to explore the possibilities of sampling and computer technology as well as his interests in dub and techno. The self-titled, debut Pan•American album came out on kranky in early 1998.
A review in Puncture magazine described it later that year:
„Dub’s influence on Pan•American is pervasive – cavernous, echoed percussion; resonant bass drones; Nelson’s hushed vocals dwelling somewhere in the middle ground. If you turn the sound low, you can still hear the rhythms booming from the speakers. Yet the coiled, conserved energy dub rhythms doesn’t obscure the delicacy and expressiveness of the underlying structure. While radiant, liquid guitar motifs trace delicate patterns across the surface, the adaptive and limber rhythm tracks add necessary tension and cohesion.“
Nelson continued to work on Pan•American material as he worked with Labradford, learning to play pedal steel guitar, releasing singles on European labels and getting some studio time in with engineer Casey Rice. Rob Mazurek from Chicago Underground Trio and Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low contributed cornet and vocals, respectively. The resulting album, 360 Business / 360 Bypass, was released by kranky in North America (and Blast First in Europe) in early 2000.
Fred Mills wrote in the June/July issue of Magnet that
„Nelson has a wraithlike quality; sometimes he lurks, but you always sense his presence, a deeply haunting one that’s resonant on the purest of emotional levels. This is the first unassailably great album of the century.“
More singles and compilation tracks followed, along with the odd live performance. Nelson’s placement behind a synthesizer and mixing desk belied the improvisational nature of the live mix. Between sternum-rattling bass rhythms and Nelson’s willingness to challenge an audience of with outbursts of static, Pan•American shows were more than the usual knob-twiddling and smooth noodle maps.

The third Pan•American record was entitled The River Made No Sound and was released by kranky in North American and Vertical Form in Europe in April 2002. Mark Nelson told Eyemagazine in October 2002 that „When I started I really had it in mind to make a more rhythmic record influenced by house music. I did the whole thing at home by myself, so I guess by the end my natural inclination towards ambience and peaceful textures won out.“ Stripped back compared to previous albums, The River Made No Sound, traded dub undertow for percussive points, field recordings and an ominous hum.
Lexie Macchi wrote in Your Flesh;
„The songs don’t progress so much as emerge from a substrate of silence and blank tape, carving pale shapes out of a dark canvas.“
Since late 2002 Mark Nelson has been preparing the fourth Pan•American album. Returning to the use of organic instruments and singing a few songs, Nelson has entitled the new album Quiet City. It will be released worldwide on kranky later in 2004.
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Projekt podporil z verejných zdrojov Fond na podporu umenia.