TAYLOR
DEUPREE "STIL." (12K1020)
to translate languages, paste text
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ALL
MUSIC GUIDE (US)
Stil.
has one weakness: It's too short. There are four tracks on here
that are equally intruiging separated from one another or listened
to in their entirety. But these compositions were designed to
unfold over a long duration of time, too long to be documented
on any sort of media. Stil. focuses on the variations
found in changes to minute sound loops layered one on top of
another, and the results are breathtaking. Warm sinewaves that
aren't glitched up to levels of pretensiousness are abundant,
giving the notion of activity to what could possibly be deemed
frozen and static. And Stil. can be deceptive if close
listening isn't employed -- the results are so subtle that it
can lead to a notion that it's nothing but a bunch of stagnant
drones carelessly looped together. But nothing could be further
from the truth, as it's easily Deupree's finest, most beautifully
executed release to date. - Rob Theakston
AMBIENTRANCE (US)
"Peacefully
noisy" isn't an oxymoron; Taylor Deupree's newest microsoundscapes
of Stil. prove that. Enigmatic radiance etched with teeny
imperfections defies simple description, but floats rather nicely
despite.
Ringing/droning
snow/sand just wafts on multiple planes of existence, dreamily
churning beneath faint decorative particle glints; its pulse-cycle
shifts during its evolution, growing slower, still emitting
mirage-like almost-music. Mutedly chiming tones slip from ("short"
piece) Recur (10:22) backed by a minute (and literal) click-track
of vinyl-esque pops and liquid plips.
Glowing
through a scritchy sheen of glaze, lovely Temper radiates rippling
auras of amber light (well, I hear amber...) against low bed
of textural grit, evoking something reminiscent of tonal rays
shining within flawed glass. Entering upon a thrumming essence
somewhere between machinery and magic, STIL. (23:08) hovers
with inhuman patience; eventually auroral overtones begin to
waver above the obscure pulsations, beginning a very-gradual
mutual evolution.
Like
discovering some particularly appealling modern-art piece, I
can't quite put a finger on what Stil.'s ambiguous freeform
floes are exactly (nor why they're so captivating)... I'm just
happy to be drawn so into Taylor Deupree's cryptically-patterned
earvisions that questions become irrelevant. Four tracks equal
65 minutes. A-
AUF
ABWEGEN (DE)
Das
12k-label ist binnen kürzester Zeit zur wichtigsten Referenz
im Microsound-Bereich geworden. Daran haben auch die Arbeiten
von Taylor Deupree selbst maßgeblichen Anteil. Seine neuste
CD Stil. zeigt Spuren einer Verdichtung im Gesamtsound. Hier
ertönen nicht mehr nur eklickende Hochfrequenzen und grummelndes
dsp-Geratter mit viel Freiraum. Im Gegenteil: es wird eine Reduktion
im Hinblick auf die Ereignisse in der Musik betrieben, dafür
herrscht mehr Volumen und Atmosphare vor. Stil. is augefüllter
Raum, punktiert von digitalen Soundwolken und dichtdrängenden,
warm knisternden Flächen. Dürfen wir es Ambient nennen?
- Zipo
BAD ALCHEMY (DE)
Kontinuum.
Diskontinuum. Aus der Wiederholung von Unterbrechungen ensteht
ein unaufhörlicher Puls, eine Brandung, Wellen, Zyklen,
hypnotische Präsenz. Der Brooklyner, Ambientelektroniker
ließ sich für "stil." durch die Seebilder
des Fotografen Hiroshi Sugimoto anregen. Die dröhnende
Monophonie im regelmäßigen Auf und Ab repetitiver
Loops suggeriert das monoton Anschlagen der Brandung, den einlullenden
Schaukeltrott durch ein Düneneinerlei. Trance und ein Gelühl
der Zeitlosigkeit stellen sich ein. Alle vier Tracks von 10,
15, 23 Minuten Dauer bilden nur auschnitte, lassen aber zeit
genug, um in das pulsierende, tröpfelnde, tickende Kontinuum
der Klänge mit einzuschwingen und ein Gespür zu bekommen
für Prozesse, die ohne 'uns' ihren Gang gehen, die aber
den allzu penetranten Luascher auch mal mit einem wechselschrit
düpieren.
BLOW UP (IT)
Inspired by the pictures of Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto,
particularly by the composure of his seascapes which blends
reiteration and infinitesimal changes, "Stil." is certainly
the most ambitious and mature work of Taylor Deupree. Four lengthy
compositions with an apparently motionless outline ("stil."
comes from stillness), starting from the amazing ambient-glitch
drowsiness of "Snow/Sand" and ending with the abstract drone
of the title track, repeated loops that in the long run releases
pulses originally frozen in unimaginable interstices, melodic
grains floating in rhythmic multi-stratifications absolutely
unforeseeable in the final utopia to fix time and (sound) space
for the eternity.
BOSTON'S
WEEKLY DIG (US)
In many respects, microsound as a genre often appears to be
the locked steel box of electronic music - all impenetrably
smooth surfaces and imposingly sharp angles. Indeed, the obsessively
precise sound-sculpture so essential to the genre and its ultra-spare
musical structures can, upon occasion, make for music that is
as dry and engaging as digital dust. Happily, Brooklyn's Taylor
Deupree, who is a microsound pioneer of sorts, is an exception
to this, producing work that possesses a sense of narrative
flow and drama all too often lacking in this most ascetic form
of post-techno. Stil., Deupree's latest relase on 12k,
is one of his finest efforts thus far. It is also certainly
his most rigorously spare release, as he employs a minimal number
of sounds and rhythmic structures to maximum effect. The tension
that he is able to create on a piece like "snow/sand" or "temper,"
for instance, using only a small arsenal of delicately crafted
and carefully deployed hums, pings and pops is quite breathtaking.
An excellent example of less as more. - Susanna Bolle
CHRONIC
ART (FR)
Stil. is nothing less than the 32nd long format in
Taylor Dupree’s 9 years of electronic activism. In other
words, this album is the only solo project of this hyperactive
thirty-something in 2002…after three albums in collaboration
with Frank Bretschneider (Balance, Mille Plateaux), Kim Cascone
and Richard Chartier (After, 12k) and Kenneth Kirschner (Post_Piano,
Sub Rosa). While bearing the influence of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s
series of seascapes where nature is photographed as if it was
petrified, out of the time, Stil. remains true to the minimalist
precepts: the composer explores repetitive melodic canvases/outlines
along four long slack pieces in order to uncover new sound stratas
teeming with minute variations. But this ambient record goes
one step further as at the same time, Deupree, rather than hiding
the microstructure (sound loops) of his pieces, deliberately
exposes it by choosing motives long enough (in the order of
a tenth of a second) to be caught. Hence this feeling of 'hearing'
a fine hail. Hence also this collision between Stil. and Frozen
Water, an installation by Carsten Nicolai where low frequencies
go through two stretches of water, making the audible visible:
the vibration of air particles on a water surface changed into
liquid and quivering mesh. By its emotional power and the purity/clearness
of its sound, Stil. is, to be even more explicit, a great record,
of the might of the crystalline Die Entdeckung des Wetters by
Stephan Mathieu (Lucky Kitchen).
DE:BUG
(DE)
Four wonderful long and almost even epic tracks from Taylor
Deupree who has drawn inspiration from the photographer Hiroshi
Sugimoto and let just simply freeze time. the droning loops
decide everything and the thrifty clicks are sometimes clear
and determinate, some other times they bang around with playfulness
and then they twitter again. these clicks are the only sign
of life. In between It's modulated and filtered with caution
and describe one wide arc to the next. Deep like the pacific,
clear like a winter night. It's a must.
(in german)
View wundervoll lange, fast schon vorsichtig epische Stücke
von Taylor Deupree, der sich auf "Stil." vom photographen Hiroshi
Sugimoto hat inspieren lassen und die Zeit mal eben einfriert.
Der dronige loop bestimmt, mal rumpelig verspielt, dann wider
zwitschernd sind einziges Lebenszeichen. Zwischendrin wird behustsam
moduliert, gefiltert, ein weiter Bogen nach dem nächten
gespannt. Tief wie der Pazifik, klar wie eine Winternacht. Ein
Muss.
ETHEREAL
(FR)
Nouvel album, sur son propre label, de Taylor Deupree qui continue
à explorer la frontière, qu’il rend ténue,
entre techno minimaliste et ambient.
Composé de quatre longs morceaux (chacun faisant entre
dix et vingt-trois minutes), Stil. se présente comme
un album fondé sur l’esprit de répétition
et centré sur un travail sur la durée. Avouant
s’être inspiré des œuvres du photographe
Hiroshi Sugimoto (qui prit surtout des paysages de bord de mer),
Deupree part d’une séquence de quelques secondes
(une nappe de fond, deux-trois glitchs, plusieurs craquements)
et la met en boucle tout au long de chaque morceau. Pour autant,
le résultat n’est nullement ennuyeux puisqu’en
écoutant avec précaution, on distingue des éléments
mouvants à l’arrière-plan, la nappe va et
vient ou passe de droite à gauche (une écoute
au casque est donc recommandée). Bien qu’employant
majoritairement des sons qui, s’ils étaient joués
tout seul, seraient presque désagréables, le musicien
américain parvient, par la grâce et la magie de
ses arrangements à les agencer de manière à
former des ensembles cohérents et largement appréciables.
Parfois, comme dans Recur, deuxième titre de l’album,
Deupree nous offre un titre davantage mélodique et moins
porté sur la répétition, les glitchs se
succèdent sur différents tons, une mirco-rythmique
et quelques "vents électroniques" font leur apparition.
Pourtant, généralement, c’est bien sur les
textures et le minimalisme de ses sonorités qu’il
porte son attention, arrivant à créer un univers
onirique et sensible (tantôt on imagine des profondeurs
marines, tantôt l’ambiance se fait plus lumineuse).
Métaphore de notre vie quotidienne (sous leurs allures
de répétition et de redite continues, les morceaux
sont, en fait, en perpétuelle évolution et ne
sont jamais les mêmes), Stil. est une indéniable
réussite, réussissant à traduire, dans
le cadre de la techno minimaliste, les expérimentations
et recherches de Steve Reich. - François Bousquet
FLUID
(PL)
Ta
plyta dostoje ode mnie nie tylko menzurke wypelnionq po brzegi
- ale takze samo naczynie wykonane z najczystszego krysztatu.
"stil." to kompozycje, od ktorych piekniejsza moze
byc tylko cisza w bezwietrzny, stoneczny i bardzo mrozny dzien.
Nowojorski minialista Deupree tym razem bada, jaki efekt mogq
miec mikro-manipulacje bardzo krotkimi loopami, bardzo jednak
rozciqgnietymi w czasie. Nie ma tutaj intelektualnych tamancow
i hermetycznych hatasow - bedq zachwyceni zarowno mitosnicy
niespiesznych, staromodnych ambientow, jak i zafascynowani nowymi
dzwiekowymi wszechswiatami minimalisci. - maciek sienkiewicz
GEIGER (DK)
Lige
siden Brian Eno for alvor begyndte at teoretisere over sin egen
ambient-musik, har distinktionen mellem ”populær”-musik
og ”kunst” musik været endegyldigt uddateret.
Ikke at der var meget mere mening i at opfatte den megen anden
tilsvarende musik med en perifer tilknytning til rock og pop
(fra de tidlige kraut-lydflader over Enos egne forudgående
instrumentalplader til den begyndende industrial) som ”populær”
musik, men med karakteren af klart gennemtænkte musikalske
projekter/processer var der ikke længere noget at rafle
om: Denne niche af elektronisk musik var på alle tænkelige
måder kunstmusik - og det i en sådan grad, at den
kun manglede det akademiske blåstempel for virkelig at
være akademisk. Det har den siden hen, til en vis grad
i hvert fald, fået, og den dag i dag er store dele af
Enos arvtagere – og Eno selv – rykket ind på
institutionerne; primært som Lydsiden til kunstudstillinger
og diverse multimedieprojekter, om end stadig ikke som en del
af konservatoriernes verden. Stilen synes at udgøre en
helt selvstændig strøm, der måske nok er
lidt mere imødekommende (og tilsvarende sælger
lidt bedre) end den klassisk udviklede model, men alt andet
lige er lige så teoretisk begrundet. Et glimrende eksempel
kunne være New York-pladeselskabet 12k, som på to
nye udgivelser leverer en så teoretisk indspist musik
– i knasende kedelige covere (selv for cd’er) –
at den sagtens kan hamle op med enhver form for moderne elektroakustisk
musik, som stort set ingen har hørt om. Og det er der
sådan set ikke noget i vejen med - der er meget fremragende
elektroakustisk musik, som stort set ingen nogensinde har hørt
om. Problemet er, at der også er ufattelig meget af det,
som lyder mistænkeligt ens - og på dette område
står pseudo-avantgarden heller ikke tilbage for den ægte
vare, om end forbillederne befinder sig et andet sted.
Noget af det samme gør sig gældende på den
anden nye 12k-udgivelse, Taylor Deuprees Stil., der også
er kendetegnet ved den sporadiske minimale digitalknitren, men
derudover primært beskæftiger sig med meget langstrakte,
næsten statiske klangflader - en tradition, der rækker
meget længere tilbage end Oval. Hvor vellykkede næsten
statiske klangflader er, afhænger selvfølgelig
af, hvad de er bygget op af og hvilken stemning, de dermed formår
at etablere. På Stil. finder man den lidt drømmende
og uvirkelige stemning, som man typisk finder i den slags musik,
men uden at denne stikker dybere og for alvor blive interessant.
Bedst går det på numrene ”Recur” og ”Temper”,
der synes at indeholde tilstrækkeligt stof til lige akkurat
at være let fascinerende spilletiden ud, men overordnet
ændrer det ikke på, at pladen ikke gør nogen
væsentlig forskel. Men det er måske også meningen?
Deupree og Willits fabrikerer en diskret næsten-stilhed,
som man kan have liggende i baggrunden af sin tilværelse
og næsten-sove til, men som det ellers ikke er meningen,
at man skal lade sig begejstre af. Det er afgjort den bedste
brug af værkerne, jeg kan komme i tanke om – populærmusik
er det i hvert fald ikke, og som egentlig kunstmusik skal der
også betydelig mere til at gøre det interessant.
GROOVES
(US)
Deupree's
latest offering is miles away from his previous, "urban"
Occur. That album portrayed the nature of city life as
one of accidental, unplanned convergences, nine resolutely non-linear,
grainy excursions. It was heavy going. This drone-based successor
is much better, and might be taken as analogous to a satellite
photograph of the terrain visited in Occur. With only
four long tracks that evolve at a snail's pace (and even these
are intended to be taken as excerpts from pieces of gargantuan
length), Stil. gives Deupree an opportunity to refine
the graininess of the earlier work. He grasps it with both hands
to produce by far his finest full-length release to date.
These quiet pieces don't wander too far from their starting
points, so it's a good thing that Deupree gives them sufficient
depth to leave the listener transfixed. "Snow/Sand"
is constructed around gentle, slowly oscillating pitch pulses
that retain an almost ascetic consistency. Crucially, through,
they act as anchors to a Koner-esque drone that inches fractionally
and imperceptibly into the sand or show of the title. Tiny pops
flitter across the surface, baseball-sized meteors passing above
the earth's atmosphere. This shouldn't give the impression of
a smooth, linear evolution. There are sudden shifts in
dynamics here, but compared to the sudden cliff-faces that,
say, Pita likes to throw his listeners down, Stil. is
wonderfully subtle and rewarding in the way that all the best
lowercase music is. "Recur" contains a colossal jump
about two minutes in, when its serene mood is swpt aside by
a sudden dark felling of tension that remains unresolved.
Deep down, this music is pockmarked with all manner of unusual
features that are just about audible, the intent mysterious.
In a context whereby too many artists in this neighborhood have
resorted to essentialist justifications for clicks, glitches,
and drones, Deupree makes a beautifully open-ended statement
from which he could go in a myriad of directions. Absolutely
first rate. - John Gibson.
HAUNTED
INK (US)
Taylor
Deupree's previous solo work, Occur, was, according to
the 12k web site, "a work of non-repetition and subdued melodic
passages composed almost entirely by granular synthesis algorithms."
By contrast, Deupree's latest, Stil., is"the sonic opposite
of Occur: a set of compositions based on extreme repetition
and the exploration of stillness." Do these explanations help
you better understand or appreciate either work? Certainly.
However, such analytical appraisals--accurate though they may
be--do tend to scare off most potential listeners. People don't
want to listen to concepts; they want to listen to music. The
shame is, Stil., although based around an interesting
concept, is a far more enjoyable listening experience than the
12k web site lets on.
Stil.
is four long tracks in the 10-25 minute range. Each song has
a fairly similar structure, one focused on repetition, but the
tracks are not about repetition at all. They are, if anything,
about the process of dissecting repetition. The first track,
"Snow/Sand," is, at first listen, merely a single, repeating
synth/glitch loop. This loop rolls along through the entire
track, and my first impression was disappointment. What's the
point of creating a song that just repeats a tiny fragment for
15 minutes? Ah, but I kept listening. Sure, the loop is constant,
but it's not alone. At around the 4 minute mark, tiny little
grains of noise start to flitter around like a digital emulation
of LP scratches, interfering with the original loop. Then, around
the 8 minute mark, the initial loop itself starts to change:
at times speeding up, at times slowing down, and at times panning
from left to right (this is especially apparent if you wear
headphones). It's a beautiful work that gets more beautiful
the more you listen.
"Snow/Sand"
IS constantly repeating itself, yet this repetition is far more
complex, far more nuanced than it lets on. In other words, it's
repetitious in the same way that life is repetitious. We might
get up at the same time every day, go to work at the same time,
and eat lunch at the same time, go home at the same time, watch
TV or surf the Internet at the same time, and go to sleep at
the same time, but that doesn't mean that every single day is
exactly the same. There are always little differences that separate
one day from the other; it's just that we generally ignore those
differences. What makes music like "Snow/Sand" so interesting
and so relevant is that it focuses our attention on the shifting
variations that make every repeating loop different. In effect,
a song like this encourages us to pay more attention to the
infinite differences in our lives.
Stil.
does the seeming impossible. It manages to take the standard
glitch sounds that pervade most electronic music today, put
them (ostensibly) into a boring, repetitive framework, and somehow,
some way, turn each track into a wonderful, haunting soundscape
that is as emotionally rewarding as it is intellectually stimulating.
Deupree is one of the finest electronic artists working today,
and his music is always worth experiencing. This is certainly
no exception.
INCURSION.ORG
(CA)
Composed
over the period of one year from the summer of 2001 to 2002,
from Brooklyn to Montreal, and back again, stil. is Taylor Deupree's
latest solo work, a follow-up to the much lauded CD (in these
pages, at least) occur. While occur is characterized by change,
by keeping the compositions moving, a little restless and seemingly
always in a state of transition, stil. slows things down considerably,
keeping things comparatively static—or so it first seems.
Turning his attention closer to loop structures and their anomalies,
Deupree sets up a loop, subtly constructed with a variety of
elements and beautifully balanced, and then finds a way of gently
breaking from that loop to form a new one, a variation on the
first... the changes are delicate rather than dramatic, and
the four long pieces on the disc manage to leave an impression
of a certain slowing down of time. The sound is crisp and dynamic,
filling the space with a superb clarity and drawing the listener's
attention closer and closer, until he finally finds himself
totally immersed, lost in a loop, in a near-loop, looking for
the next break to maybe find his way to yet another, or maybe
leave entirely. For its conclusion, the title track features
twenty-three minutes of shimmering, rich drones and textures,
as still as a cold winter day, but as experienced from the warmth
of being indoors; a double-impression of warm and cold, of the
simple and complex, of reality and this dreamplace, however
virtual, however digital, however formless, having filled my
days with sound and wonder. [richard di santo]
INDUSTRIAL
NATION (US)
The
freezing of time is something Maya Deren tried in the 40's in
film by bringing slow motion and freeze frame techniques to
the screen. It resulted in a peculiar reflexive and hypnotic
effect. Later on she tried her hands at voodoo, but that&Mac226;s
a different story altogether. Taylor Deupree, the much praised
wunderkind from Brooklyn, tries the same thing on his second
album "Stil." The only difference is that he uses
looped drones and granular electronica passages which only slightly
and very slowly change or evoke the feeling something might
have changed in the listener's head after listening attentively
enough. Only the extended repetition of the same allows for
discoveries of new patterns or frequency overlaps. Four long
tracks fluctuate hardly noticeable among the enveloping sound
of warm fuzz and stretched synthetics. Clicks and beeps are
sprinkled on top of the flowing sounds that almost make for
rhythmic flair. The oscillating sound planes have the same calming
effect as the gentle movements of the sea (Deupree&Mac226;s
original inspiration came from photographs of seascapes by the
Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto) that also define themselves
through repetition and minute changes. You are instantly captured
by this ambient sound. Subtlety intelligently improved, as there
is indeed stuff happening under the at first seemingly uniform
surface. A very mind-expanding and fascinating work.
LES
INROCKUPTIBLES (FR)
Minimalists
are disturbing senses with their delicate electronic music.
One of the more implicit goals of ambient or minimalist electronic
music is to succeed in painting musical canvasses in which the
listener should be lost hypnotizedand stunned : a kind of senses
disturbance. A goal rarely reached but which subtends each CD
from 12k a microlabel from Brooklyn specialized in exploration
of minimalist regions. 'Stil' is the more successful in this
quest : we let us being out of one's depth in CD's curls, imperceptible
swirls and delicate pleats. (Translation to English by Christian
LeMouellic)
NEURAL
(IT)
Living
in Brooklyn and head of 12k, Taylor Deupree continues his brilliant
exploration into sound possibilities with his new CD 'Stil.'
through the interaction of statical musical elements such as
short patterns reiterated in loops.
If in the beginning it's not easy to come to terms with a work
having his focal point into repetition and stillness (particularly
'Snow/Sand'), then in 'Recur' the apparently free movements
of sound make up a scheme of complex settlement.
The careful listening of this work, inspired by the seascapes
of photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, reveals abstract forms in
slow motion, leaving to listeners an extraordinary freedom of
imagination. The granular sound changes into melody and rhythm,
finding its best in the title track, a composition entirely
based on the variable oscillation of a single fragment of 0.33
seconds, extreme point of an exemplary and fascinating record.
- Michele Casella
PEACE WARRIORS (FR)
Taylor Deupree emmène le minimalisme, cher au label 12k,
et la scène laptop faire un petit tour du coté
de la musique contemporaine sur ce qui est, à ce jour,
son meilleur disque. Le titre, "Stil." évoque
la continuité et l'infini, tout comme les quatre pièces
au concept d'abstration de début ou de fin. La répétition
est ici tout à son nonneur, thème central d'une
imagination à toute épreuve. De longs moments
de plenitude où oscillations et fragments cristallins
fricotent avec une contemporanéité palpable. On
passe de l'ambiant au drone, pour quatre univers différents,
parfois dans l'esprit du "mort aux vaches" d'Oren
Ambarchi. Un grand album, vivement la suite.
TESTCARD
(DE)
Um es kurz zu machine: Stil. gehört zum Intesnivesten,
damit Sinnlichsten, was die radikale Minimalelektronic im vergangenen
Jahr hervorgebracht hat. Melodisch schwingende Loops werden
so eingestezt, dass die Modulationen beim Höoren nicht
bewusst wahrgenommen werden. Deuprees Arbeiten, die sich oft
über Stunden hinziehen, sind hier natürlich für
das CD-Format verkürtz wiedergegeben, dennoch entfalten
sie eined ähnlichen Eindruck, senken den Puls, verlangsamen
das Zeitghfühl - allesamt Eingschaften, die man auch gelungenem
Ambient zuschreiben würde. Und doch sind Deuprees Arbeiten
radikaler, entschalckter als herkömmliche Ambient-Stüke,
nutzen ein Minimum an Material und Variation. Diese "deep
listening" Stücke leben von obessiver Klangphänomenologie,
sie wollenb nicht Clicks'n'Cuts - Manier destruieren, sie wollen
aber auch nicht - wie im schlimmsten Fall von Ambient - in Fantasiewelten
entführen, nichts transzendieren. Sie stehen einfach im
Raum, klar, skulputural, so einnehmend wie die Gemälde
eines Barnett Newman, eine in die Zeit ausgedehnte Fläche,
Erhaben, nein, das Wort will mir nicht über die tastatur
laufen, doch schon ist es geschehen.
TRAX
(FR)
Les amateurs d'électronique atmosphérique et d'expériences
digitales auront sans doute déjà remarqué
les productions de Taylor Deupree. Depuis 1994, ce new-yorkais
a composé une belle brochette d'albums subtilement planants.
Mais ce sont ses disques pour les labels Mille Plateaux ou Raster-Noton,
ou encore sa belle compilation " Microscopic Sound ", qui lui
ont récemment assuré une belle notoriété.
" Stil. " consiste en une série de quatre longues plages
d'une rare quiétude, qui s'inscrivent dans la longue
tradition de l'ambient, tel qu'il fût conceptualisé
par Brian Eno il y a quelques années déjà.
Mélodies en sourdine, textures microscopiques, longs
développements harmoniques, on se laisse happer avec
délectation dans cet univers calme et rigoriste. - Jean-Yves
Leloup
URBAN
MAG (BE)
Moeilijk
te definiëren welk effect de minimale geluidssculpturen
van 12K-man Taylor Deupree op de luisteraar uitoefenen. 'Snow/Sand'
bijvoorbeeld is niet meer dan een zich eindeloos herhalende,
ruisende loop met één enkel fluctuerend ritmisch
ijkpunt. 'Recur' drijft dan weer op een gedempte dubbeat en
tikt verwoed als het binnenwerk van een kapotte klok. Minutieuze
details dringen zich op. Water drupt met een glasheldere klank
op kristal. 'Temper' tolt om zijn as als een roterende satelliet
in de ruimte. Signalen zoeken het heelal af naar buitenaards
leven. Of gaat het hier om een onderzeëer? In de onderwaterwereld
van de titeltrack 'Stil.' gebeurt helemaal niks meer. Verdoezelde
geluiden van de buitenwereld dringen nauwelijks door tot op
deze diepte. Stil' werd geïnspireerd door het oeuvre van
de Japanse fotograaf Hiroshi Sugimoto. Zijn reeks 'Seascapes'
combineert eindeloze herhaling met een feilloos en perfectionistisch
gevoel voor detail en verandering. In tegenstelling tot Deupree's
vorige cd Occur - die gebaseerd was op eenmalige, onherhaalbare
natuurgeluiden - wordt hier geëxperimenteerd met oneindige
loops en met quasi stilte. De 4 tracks op het album zijn bovendien
slechts relatief korte fragmenten van werken, die uren aan een
stuk kunnen afgespeeld worden.
VITAL
WEEKLY (NL)
Taylor Deupree becomes more and more a man of minimalism. On
his latest CD 'Stil.' (he has a fixation with periods...) he
contiues were he left with 'Occur' but now in a more rhythmical
context and thus becomes the opposite of 'Occur'. Deupree works
with a relatively simple set of sounds, looped of course in
this case, which move in and out of phase, and can easily be
compared with Steve Reich's phase shifting techniques. It works
well in the first three pieces of this CD, but unfortunally
the longest piece of the CD 'Stil.' is the weakest brother here.
It all becomes a bit of blurr and some of the tension of the
other pieces is entirely gone here. Which is a pity because
in the other three pieces things worked out well. These pieces
have a lot of tension and fragile beauty. Things move with not
much speed, but they move around majestically. It's almost a
new definition of ambient music, with lush textures but also
with sound material borrowed from click and cuts. It's a pity
that the last track sort of ruins it for the CD. It could have
been a great CD, now it's sort of alright. (FdW)
THE
WIRE (UK)
A
steady, lulling, synthetic ambient drone with a slow two-note
oscillation, a pulse of sorts, opens Deupree's latest minimalist
foray. The ears are bathed in a soft hum, with gentle changes
in density, and after some minutes he introduces barely audible
electric nicks, or pricks of static with no breadth of depth
- just minute incisions on the temporal surface. It's a plain,
meditative style - just four lengthy tracks examining simple
misphased pulses, or delicately modifying a single quavering
whirr like a muted generator noise, soft and woolly. And yet,
compared to some of the sparser pulse productions on the 12k
label, Deupree allows a certain amount of organic breadth here.
One track segment starts to shift harmonically to different
one levels, serenaded by various mysterious clicks, peeps, and
breathings from the digital woodland; another is more of a looped
soundscape with hints of tolling bells and bowed bass emerging
behind the veil of digital abstraction.
XLR8R
(US)
With this release, it's no longer essential to find a vacous
space in which to enjoy 12k material. On his follow-up to last
year's Occur, Deupree inverts his microsound universe to create
gentle fabrics of sound reminiscent of Stephan Mathieu, undulating
like small waves rippling quietly on a morning's shore. Gone
is the absence of silence - such a teeming pool of creativity
for Deupree - yet in Stil.'s dense four tracks there's a bounty
of sound for him to explore.
