The Wire (UK)

His own collection of stamps inspired Argentine composer Federico Durand’s latest album. Specifically, La Manzana Magica (The Magic Apple) celebrates so-called Cinderella stamps, looked down upon by philatelic purists They were designed, printed and issued throughout the last century for a range of functional, promotional or charitable purposes, rather than for standard postage. For Durand they now form little windows opening onto a world gone by. This selection of dust-speckled sketches sets out to share a sense of their intrinsic attractiveness, modest enough in itself, but also to reflect their capacity to stir recollections charged with personal significance, grown precious and precarious with the passage of time. Delicate pairings of synth tones and environmental captures delve into the past, as Durand distils the ambience of memory into a music of wistful reflection and faded beauty.