Fani Konstantinidou :: Undertones (Moving Furniture)

Undertones doesn’t merely explore disorder; it thrives in it—spinning volatile frequencies into an oddly meditative turbulence, where musique concrète meets instinctive structure, and where noise becomes a living, breathing force.

Each movement unfolds through a graphic score

Beneath a shifting veil of pulse and timbre—drawn from field recordings and uncanny sonic fragments—Fani Konstantinidou conjures a rare form of auditory magnetism in Undertones, a suite of four rigorously sculpted pieces. While its title hints at oblique mysteries, the execution delivers something extraordinary: a plunge into volatile bursts of electronic signal and tactile, raw elements.

As described in its press release, the work is “a composition for percussion idiophones, electronics, and variable field recordings, originally composed for four channels.” Each movement unfolds through a graphic score—an open framework that both guides and challenges performers, inviting interpretive dialogue and participatory shaping of sound.

There’s a striking coherence to the semi-improvised flow, where clarity emerges not from structure alone, but from a refined instinct for sonic interplay. Layer upon layer, a kind of refined chaos is revealed—equal parts machine and memory. From the metallic stirrings and industrial echoes that open “Undertones I,” to the splintered interference of “Undertones II,” through the corrosive hum and tactile collision in “Undertones III,” and into the electric twitch and rhythmic buzz of “Undertones IV,” the record traverses a visceral terrain.

Undertones doesn’t merely explore disorder; it thrives in it—spinning volatile frequencies into an oddly meditative turbulence, where musique concrète meets instinctive structure, and where noise becomes a living, breathing force.

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Fani Konstantinidou (GR/NL) is a composer and performer interested in the sonic imprints of cultural, cross-cultural, and social identities. She composes music utilizing urban and rural sonic environments, combined with conventional and self-designed digital musical instruments. Her musical ideas are expressed in various formats such as site-specific and multichannel compositions, improvisation, and through collaborative projects with artists of various disciplines. Within this context, she performs live-electronics and composes music for solo instruments and small ensembles.

Undertones is available on Moving Furniture. [Bandcamp]