ACOXACA – THE GALVANIC MEASURE
This is the first time I heard music by Acoxaca, but it is not his (her? their? no idea) first release: there were two earlier albums, both on the same Other Forms Of Consecrated Life label.
With a running time of two hours (divided into 4 parts of 30 minutes each), this is music for patient listeners. There is a slow, barely noticeable but also undeniable, progress in these four movements.
The origin of these orchestral sounding loops comes from Wagner’s Parsival, more precisely from musical elements from Act III, ‘and specifically the moments when the protagonist is overwhelmed by the beauty of the natural world’.
These found musical elements, however, were removed afterward, ‘to reveal a series of stark, low-voltage transmissions’. Herein lies the relation to the title: The Galvanic Measure refers to Selim Lemström‘s 1883 experiments with ‘galvanometric recordings of the aurora borealis in Lapland.’
With its slow pace and long playing time, this music is extremely relaxing and meditative – perfect for passive listening, if you want. Its effect is not unlike that of William Basinski’s Disintegration Loops – but without the slow deterioration of the tape.
VARIOUS ARTISTS – THE LONGEST TIME
Talk about music for patient listeners – how about a 19-hour and 38-minute ambient compilation album? Impossible to listen in one session but obviously not intended to do so.
This is not the first time the Imaginary North label has presented a massive project like this: in June 2023 they released the 24-hour compilation Today Until Tomorrow (which is still available to download). And, like with last year’s compilation, they are once again donating all proceeds and donations to Music Declares Emergency Canada, an organization dedicated to supporting musicians in the fight against climate change. This may be a fine reason to donate a bit more than the $10 they ask for this massive compilation download.
There are a few known artists among the 71 tracks included, such as Kilometre Club, Hollie Kenniff, Markus Guentner, Henrik Meierkord, Tewskbury, Willebrant, Zakè, City Of Dawn, … and probably some more names you’ll recognize. But the majority of artists are unknown (to me). Sometimes I had the feeling that this compilation had the risk of being quantity over quality because to be honest: not all tracks are good. But I guess this is inevitable with a project like this. And after all – even if you pick only the tracks that appeal to you then there is still enough to justify the purchase!
Though introduced as ‘some of the best longform ambient, neoclassical, and experimental works’, I found that most of the artists remain close to the ambient side of the genre, with only some exceptions. This means that the compilation can be played in random order without the mood being broken by a sudden change of genre.
By the way: ‘longform’ means any possible length between 8:00 and 39:34 minutes.