ABUL MOGARD & RAFAEL ANTON IRISARRI –
IMPOSSIBLY DISTANT, IMPOSSIBLY CLOSE
A collaboration with two artists’ names that immediately should raise attention: Abul Mogard (Guido Zen) and Rafael Anton Irisarri. Impossibly Distant, Impossibly Close is released on Black Knoll Editions (Irisarri is the owner of the Black Knoll Studio).
A 2023 performance in Madrid inspired Mogard and Irisarri to work together, resulting in this album. The second track Waking Up Dizzy On A Bastion is a recording from that performance – it is easy to hear why this piece ‘resonated deeply with the audience’.
Place Of Forever is a studio work that ‘builds on the same energy of that live performance’: ‘Starting with a somber and minimal tone, the track gradually evolves, unfurling layers of deep bass tonalities draped in blissful gauze as it progresses’.
The studio track was probably created through online collaboration from their studios (‘impossibly distant’); they were obviously ‘impossibly close’ at the live performance. Mogard‘s Farfisa (+ effects) and Irisarri‘s electric guitar (+ treatments) sound ‘impossibly close’ in both the live and studio tracks.
Notably, the (black, yellow, and green) vinyl versions are pressed on sustainable bio-vinyl. Unfortunately, they are allready sold out before the official release date.
LOSCIL & LAWRENCE ENGLISH – CHROMA
Another collaboration of a dream duo: Loscil (Scott Morgan) and Lawrence English. Chroma is a limited edition tour CD which was sold at their recent concerts. only a few copies were available on Bandcamp, but … you guessed it … no more physical left by now, only digital.
The duo’s work on Colours Of Air (2023) resulted in an invitation to perform at the Vox Organi festival in Vancouver. For this performance, an organ would have to be played live, ‘and not just as a rich sound source’.
Preparing for this performance led to all sorts of new ideas, which were then exchanged and became Chroma.
‘This edition collects a series of pieces that travel in parallel with Colours Of Air. Each piece is drawn from the same source, the organ at Brisbane’s Old Museum, but opens it out in ways not necessarily collected on the Colours Of Air album’.
The album also contains a live recording of Vermillion, which was written for the Vox Organi performance.