You can see the respect and patience that these musicians have, they do not speak the same verbal language but they are fluent in discovering and expanding their ranges of sounds, experimental and rich with strange hypnotic harmonies.
A remarkable gift to intrepid listeners
Nothing endures but change. Music is a language, also for a lucky few it can be a method of transportation, if you close your eyes. With it, you do not have to actually go down down down into the murky cave, risking mud and entombment or simply vanishing without a trace. You can ponder the wonders of the immense caverns, sensing the vast black oceans down there, and you can learn about the ancient artifacts, hear how the symbols on the walls might feel, all in the sound of fingers on musical strings; there are rainbows of darkness. Not rainbows in the darkness, but rainbows made of darker hues. You can be safe and still surrender to the vampire, if there indeed is a romantic vampire down there in those lonely caverns.
Some use the electric guitar to make songs with chords and melodies, this music is about texture and risk, exploring atmospheres of foreboding and darkness, places to simply visit for some time. Listening, you can sometimes temporarily stop being what you were and give yourself over to travel into the unknown, to draw off of many different synergies, some that you have never known before.
A. J. Kimmel is a Paris, France based guitarist who records under the name Departure Street. He has released several albums on various labels (Healing Sound Propagandist, Somewherecold Records, Wormhole World, Shady Ridge Records) and has received radio airplay on various alternative stations, including WFMU, KEXP, Koop Radio, Lot Radio, etc.)
Francisco Sanfuentes is based in Santiago, Chile and records under the name Sonidos Precarios. He is a known experimental guitarist in Chile who has given numerous live performances. His most recent release was a collaboration with the guitarist Frank Balducci, El Velo de lo irrepresentable.
Sharing their divergent styles on a common instrument ::
Sonidos Precarios has teamed up with Departure Street to create a wondrous statement, perhaps about the distance between Paris and Santiago (where summer and winter are simultaneous in opposite hemispheres), sharing their divergent styles on a common instrument, the electric guitar. Creating an ethereal and dream-like experience that uses their improvised sonic language to tell stories they have always wanted to explore, sounds they love. This is a remarkable gift to intrepid listeners.
The associated cover artwork sets a visual mood to accompany the sounds, and consists of photographs created by the musicians. There is an ancient metallic or archeological feeling to the pictures. You can see the respect and patience that these musicians have, they do not speak the same verbal language but they are fluent in discovering and expanding their ranges of sounds, experimental and rich with strange hypnotic harmonies. They grasp the possibilities for freedom, restlessly tinkering and wandering, with some repetition woven into the innovation they deliver.
Dandelion seeds fly away, carried by the capricious subterranean breezes ::
In the void, the duo first bid you welcome with these wishes for prosperity and new beginnings, as dandelion seeds fly away, carried by the capricious subterranean breezes. Little symbols of hope, love and happiness, to carry the sun’s power with perseverance, endurance and determination. “Across the Darkness Like Dandelion Seeds” (08:09) opens the journey, fingers scratching the echoes to pull up fragments of lava and fire hidden in the dust.
Distance means something new in this darkness, caution prevents haste, each step must be firm in the darkness. “Foggy” (05:41), is a dream-state wherein things keep their secrets. Thus only the effect is of interest, not how it is obtained. To give form to emotion one must risk solitude sometimes. There are the things in the world which might have meaning, and human emotions include flights of light and darkness, sometimes one might feel as “Lonely As a Cloud” (07:47), testing the bonds to speculate about new possibilities for advancement.
Ahead there is a vague promise, shimmering and calling, “A Single Source of Light” (08:47). It stimulates a desire for wandering, yearning and restless explorations. Where is it, one might say, that the soul is longing to go? And who will be able to soothe those that desire sonic travel? We knew there would be darker things in these caves, not to interpret negatively, but to endure and contemplate. Unless you expect the unexpected, you will not find the path, for it is hidden and thickly tangled. With a slower vibration and contrasting combinations of texture and grasping for melody. “The First Sign of Woe” (07:41) invokes the same thing in us that is quick and dead, awake and asleep, young and old. “A Change in the Wind” (08:40) floats precariously, cracks in the wall wait and grow. Turning and reaching, “Lost in Dream Time” (06:37) brings ringing and calling from deeper in the wide darkness. And finally, “Memories of a Good For Nothing” (11:44) leaves us to interpret what comes after a complicated lifetime.
All is flux, nothing is stationary ::
On this voyage, we are going to be gaining wisdom and pleasure from the soul, and during silent thoughts, consider Time, and Space, and Death. The pull of exploration is like a current running through the human race, a part of it wants to feel the connectivity of the earth. There are many forms of beauty, not all are easy. There are things in the world that are also signs of other things in the world. In the words of ancient Heraclitus, interpreted by Plato: “Everything flows and nothing stays. Everything flows and nothing abides. Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed. Everything flows; nothing remains. All is flux, nothing is stationary. All is flux, nothing stays still. All flows, nothing stays.”
This music is a special treat to voyagers who seek change and new styles, recognizing fresh potential in the possibilities of freedom. The sound is restless and wandering, rich and deep in the atmosphere. There are no cold endings for any of the tracks, all episodes fade out, and thus the music continues into eternity.
Été/Hiver is available on Bandcamp.
