Neau records tranquil surroundings, filled with birds and a bit of water, which he combines into soundscapes. He superimposes the material, and along with that, he adds some electronics.
Blending into one new, imaginary space
A Quiet Place is my second encounter with the work of Philippe Neau, following the CD Étang Donné, reviewed in Vital Weekly #1300. I don’t think I was all too convinced by that work for reasons I am unsure of myself. On this new cassette, he explores the world of quiet places. Much like his CD, Neau records tranquil surroundings, filled with birds and a bit of water, which he combines into soundscapes. He superimposes the material, and along with that, he adds some electronics. It is no longer music from one location but from various places, blending into one new, imaginary space. Music without much purpose or intention, I should think, but perhaps, that might just be the intention.
I am not sure what the titles refer to, “First S,” “Second I,” “Third G,” and so on; there are five shorter pieces on the first side, while “A Large Quiet Place” takes up the entire second side. The total length of the cassette is ninety minutes, which I thought worked quite well for this kind of music. There isn’t much happening in this music, and as such, it reminded me of taking a walk in a forest, ending up near a lake and sitting and resting there. The rustling of leaves, the tweeting of birds, and I’m trying to figure out where the electronic sounds could come from, but let’s say there’s a restaurant nearby. It is raining right now, here in the real world, so walking in a forest and resting near a pond is out of the question, so sitting home-bound, reading a book, creating a quiet place through the act of not doing much, with Philippe Neau’s music as the soundtrack to such nothingness, yes, that’ll work quite well. It’s ambient music, and as such, nothing you haven’t heard before, but alas, that’s the state of ambient music, I guess. Nice one, indeed.
Review by: Frans de Waard / Vital Weekly #1368. Reprinted with permission.
A Quiet Place is available on Mahorka. [Bandcamp]
