The Squid's Ear Magazine


Chrysakis, Thanos: Equinox (Aural Terrains)

A remarkable album of electronic composition from sound experimenter and improviser Thanos Chrysakis, ten stunning compositions that explore a diverse set of tones across a broad spectrum of rich deep timbre and beautiful high frequency ringing, bell-tones at times taking the focus, at others providing a rotating basis for ethereal experiments; sophisticated and engaging!
 

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Thanos Chrysakis-composer, performer


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Label: Aural Terrains
Catalog ID: TRRN1137
Squidco Product Code: 25414

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2017
Country: Greece/UK
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded at Meridian Studio, between January and April, 2017, by the artist.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Music experimenter Thanos Chrysakis likes improvisation and electro-acoustic sound abstraction. We can see this on his work, art co-operation and the dramaturgy of his Aural Terrains label. Sometimes he also makes his own solo productions, and these are perhaps the most seductive in his catalog. Under the abstract concepts in titles, the booklet contains a minimum of information on the methods and tools used, and it is hard to read them from the recordings themselves. It can only be agreed that a computer was used here to process a hardly imaginable range of sound sources, but it will definitely play a more prominent role in field recording of different environments, their sampling and processing, and the presence of synthesizers is already uncertain in the possibilities of these procedures. Chrysakis is mentioned only as an author, who has also mixed and mastered everything.

The album titled Equinox (equinox), with the last few letters degrading, contains ten abstract electronic compositions based on sonic digital processes, in which more regular rhythms indicate only some repetitive pulsating effects or sampling structures. Many songs, from the introductory Geomancy, focus on exploring the sounds of the bells. They seem to be staging here in the recording of bells of real and synthetical bells, and maybe with other sources, though, they are crouched through some pretty ringing ring modulator. Chrysakis has a sophisticated aesthetics, and in his works, he is well versed in engaging in unexpectedly long sequences, sounding like a rich synthesizer and manipulating some choral pieces.

By the way, on the physical CD there are also very well chosen pauses between songs. Full-blooded music here has the ability to long for silence, perhaps after a while, with a last delay, and then a bit of a complete void rightly sensitively sets off the distance from the past and the courage to confront most of the sharp invasion of the next track, the mood that follows, the contrast.

There will also be some original drones, as in the fourth piece of Radar Horizon, in which the final show will reveal a shed human breath and occasional voice chuck. There may even be a few noose peaks, but most often there is a rather lively, clean laboratory environment. And the experiments apparently happened there. I recommend their sound documentation to all of them."-Jan Faix, His Voice (Translated by Google and pitifully corrected by Squidco)



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Get additional information at His Voice

Artist Biographies

"Thanos Chrysakis' output consists of composition, performance, and installation. He was born in Athens in 1971. After residing in the UK between 1998-2014 he moved in 2015 to Belarus. With several albums to his name his work has appeared in festivals and events in several countries, including CYNETart Festival, Festspielhaus Hellerau - Dresden, Academy of Arts / M:AI (Museum für Architektur und Ingenieurkunst NRW)- Berlin, TU - Berlin, Diapason Gallery - New York, ohrenhoch - der Geräuschladen Gallery - Berlin Neukölln, Spazioersetti Gallery - Udine, XXII "Sound Ways" International New Music Festival - St. Petersburg, Artus Contemporary Arts Studio - Budapest, CRUCE Gallery - Madrid, Fylkingen - Stockholm, Relative (Cross) Hearings festival - Budapest, ZEPPELIN festival - Barcelona, IVM (Institut Valencià de la Música) - Valencia, Motus/Festival Futura 2013 / 21 édition - Crest-Vallée de la Drôme-Diois, Xposed Club - Cheltenham, Festival de Música Contemporanea "Ramiro Guerra" - Monterrey, FACT Centre - Liverpool, Association Ryoanji - Salle Des Fêtes - Ahun, The Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale/International Chosen Vale Trumpet Seminar 2014 - Hanover-New Hampshire, Frost School of Music - Clarke Recital Hall - Coral Gables/Florida, XIII Festival Internacional de Música Nueva - Monterrey, Splendor - Amsterdam, VI European Clarinet Festival - Camerino - Italy, Logos Foundation - Ghent, Palacio de Bellas Artes - Mexico City, "On the Edge of Perceptibility - Sound Art" Műcsarnok Kunsthalle - Budapest, Festival del Bosque GERMINAL - Mexico City, Noise & Fury Festival - Moscow, Oosterkerk - Amsterdam, Center for New Music - San Francisco, Västerås Konstmuseum - Västerås, Störung festival - Barcelona, BMIC Cutting Edge concert series - The Warehouse - London.

His music has been frequently aired by RAI Radio 3, BBC Radio 3, Radio Portugal Antenna 2, Radio Nacional de España Radio 3, Ireland's RTÉ Lyric FM, Polskie Radio (Warsaw), RTS - Radio Belgrade 3 (Serbia), FM Brussel, Elektramusic (Strasbourg), CKCU FM - (Ottawa), Undae! Radio and Onda Sonora - Radio Circulo de Bellas Artes (CBA) (Madrid), Radio Horizon (Johannesburg), Motus/Radio Saint Ferréol -Les Territoires Du Son (la radio du Val de Drôme), Radio Nova (Oslo) among others. In addition, his texts have been also appeared in the Leonardo Music Journal (MIT Press), the Vague Terrain Journal, and in the volumes The Book of Guilty Pleasures and The Idea of the Avant Garde - And What It Means Today (Manchester University Press) edited by Marc James Léger. He composes for electronic and acoustic instruments, as well environmental sounds, focusing on the structural, aesthetic and transfigured capacity of sonic matter.

His formal training encompasses percussion (Dimitris Tzafestas), Sonic Arts (Hugh Davies) at the Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts and a PhD in composition from Goldsmiths, University of London (EMS/Michael Young) as well as private studies in orchestration with Dmitri Smirnov. However it is the yearning of the creative praxis itself that transmitted the crucial aspect of artistic practice: that something has to be staked, that something must be ventured.

His work was amongst the selected works at the 32nd International Competition de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges 2005, in the category œuvre d'art sonore électroacoustique, while received an honorary mention in 2006 at the 7th International Electroacoustic Composition Competition Musica Viva in Lisbon (the jury was constituted by Morton Subotnick (USA), François Bayle (France), and Miguel Azguime (Portugal).

He has written music for distinguished musicians such as Philippe Brunet (flugelhorn, trumpet), Wilfrido Terrazas (flutes), Chris Cundy (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet), the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, Jason Alder (bass clarinet), Alexander Bruck (viola), Yoni Silver (bass clarinet), Natalia Pérez Turner (cello), Nadia Ratsimandresy (Onde), Mikael Rudolfsson (alto trombone), Matias Karlsen Bjornstad (soprano saxophone), Liam Hockley (clarinets), Michael Pelzel (church organ), Kate Ryder (piano, prepared piano), Tzenka Dianova (piano), Claire Chase (bass flute), Peter Evans (trumpet), Julie Kjaer (alto saxophone/alto, Luis Tabuenca (percussion), Philip Chase Hawkins (trumpet).

Recent compositions amongst others, include: Above the Hidden Track an Endless Blaze (Aural Terrains 2015), Terra Firma (for Mikael Rudolfsson [alto trombone] 2015), Astraea (for the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, 2013), Undercurrent (for Liam Hockley [clarinet in A] 2014), Arché (for Chris Cundy [baritone saxophone] 2014), Nocturnal Flight (for Nadia Ratsimandresy [onde] 2014), Ingress (for Yoni Silver [bass clarinet] 2015), Canto Intrare (for Philippe Brunet & Philip Chase Hawkins [duo trumpets] 2015), Μήτε το Κύμα / Νé da'll onde (for Wilfrido Terrazas & Natalia Pérez Turner [bass flute / cello] 2014].

He has recorded/performed with a number of improvisers including among others Wade Matthews, Dario Bernal-Villegas, Jerry Wigens, James O'Sullivan, Philip Somervell, Jamie Coleman, Chris Cundy, Zsolt Sőrés, Sebastian Lexer, Javier Pedreira, Julie Kjaer, Artur Vidal, Christian Kobi, Christian Skjødt, Yoni Silver, Nuno Torres, Kurt Liedwart, Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême. Furthermore, he has also closely collaborated with the visual artists Pascal Dombis, and Villő Turcsány. Since 2007 he operates the record-label 'Aural Terrains' focusing in electroacoustics, composed and improvised music.

He has held residencies at the Visby Centre for Composers (twice) and at the Artus Contemporary Arts Studio in Budapest. His work has been supported by PRS for Music Foundation and the Swedish Art Council.

Current and upcoming projects for 2016-17 include a residency at the Porticello Artist Residency in Calabria/Italy, a series of compositions for the Hyperion Ensemble, Tim Hodgkinson (bass clarinet), Yoni Silver (bass clarinet), Tibi Cenuser (trombone), for the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, for Konus Quartett, for Liam Hockley (clarinets in A and E♭), Laura Faoro (bass flute), Philippe Brunet (trumpet), Elena Kakaliagou (french horn), Stephan Vermeersch (bass clarinet), Alexander Bruck (viola), Natalia Pérez Turner (cello), Chris Cundy (bass clarinets), Markus Wenninger (clarinet E♭), Serge Bertocchi (Tubax E♭), Shadanga Duo (alto flute/alto clarinet), Katalin Szanyi (alto flute), Jason Alder (contra bass clarinet), Alejandro Tello (oboe), Wilfrido Terrazas (flutes), Dana Jessen (bassoon) as well a new electronic music CD entitled 'Equinox'."

-Aural Terrains (http://www.auralterrains.com/chrysakis/en/bio/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Geomacy 3:55

2. Seagazers 6:31

3. Kernes Vermilio 4:53

4. Radar Horizon 4:20

5. Prisca Sapientia 8:10

6. Mirrors Upon Dunes 3:31

7. Undercurrent Confluence 5:40

8. Frozen Forest 3:20

9. Homing Pigeon 4:49

10. Vermilion Zone 1:19

Related Categories of Interest:


Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
Organized Sound and Sample Based Music
European Improvisation and Experimental Forms
Electronic Forms
Solo Artist Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Experimental & Electronic Music

Search for other titles on the label:
Aural Terrains.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Chrysakis, Thanos / Chris Cundy / Peer Schlechta / Ove Volquartz
Archangel
(Aural Terrains)
The follow-up to Music for Two Organs and Two Bass Clarinets, combining the collective work of clarinetists Chris Cundy, (bass clarinets, soprano ocarina) & Ove Volquartz (bass clarinets), Thanos Chrysakis (chamber organ & voice) and Peer Schlechta (pipe organ), recorded in the natural resonance of the Neustadter Kirche church in Hofgeismar, Germany.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Chris Cundy / Peer Schlechta / Ove Volquartz
Archangel
(Aural Terrains)
The follow-up to Music for Two Organs and Two Bass Clarinets, combining the collective work of clarinetists Chris Cundy, (bass clarinets, soprano ocarina) & Ove Volquartz (bass clarinets), Thanos Chrysakis (chamber organ & voice) and Peer Schlechta (pipe organ), recorded in the natural resonance of the Neustadter Kirche church in Hofgeismar, Germany.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Chris Cundy
A Certain Slant Of Light
(Aural Terrains)
A 5-part electroacoustic improvisation from the UK duo of electronic and sound artist Thanos Chyrsakis and reedist Chris Cundy, the former using laptop computer, synthesizers, and copicat tape echo to create mesmerizing sheens of sound that circle and complement Cundy's bass clarinet, who also performs on megaphone, voice changer, zither, & objects; entrancing and captivating.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Sue Lynch / James O'Sullivan / Joe Wright
Iridescent Strand
(Aural Terrains)
Very much in an AMM mold of electroacoustic improvisation, this album of intense cooperation and sonic depth presents five sections numbered by Roman numerals, performed in the studio by the adept and investigative quintet of Thanos Chrysakis on computer & synthesizers, Sue Lynch on reeds, James O'Sullivan on guitar, and Joe Wright on sax & dynamic feedback system.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Philip Somervell
Knotted Alembic
(Aural Terrains)
The 7 part "Knotted Alembic" is an improvisation between electroacoustic artist and label leader Thanos Chrysakis and Brazilian based Chilean pianist Philip Somervell performing inside and out of the piano.
Chrysakis / Matthews / Bernal-Villegas
Parallaxis
(Aural Terrains)
Detailed electro-acoustic improvisation from the trio of Thanos Chrysakis on MaxMSP & electronics, Wade Matthew on synth and field recordings, and Dario Bernal-Villegas on percussion.
Chrysakis, Thanos
Subterranean Sky
(Aural Terrains)
Aural Terrains label leader and electronic composer Thanos Chrysakis in a work in five movements based on field recordings, synthesized, and acoustic instrumental sounds.
Chrysakis, Thanos
Klage
(Aural Terrains)
Other Recommended Releases:
Chrysakis, Thanos
Manifold Vista
(Auf Abwegen)
Aural Terrains label-leader, composer and sound artist Thanos Chrysakis presents six new pieces merging electronic composition with field recordings and other electro-acoustic sources, in five rich and beautifully paced works of a diverse nature, evolving a consistent sound world where each piece draws the listener into the composer's detailed and engaging concepts.
Petit, Philippe
In A State of Weightlessness
(Aural Terrains)
Four distinct compositions from French electroacoustic composer Philippe Petit, each using analog synthesizers including Buchla Easel K & Buchla 200 synthesizers, EMS Synthi and a Landscape Stereofield analog synthesizer, interestingly layered and captivatingly paced against processed voices, percussion, insider piano work, broken glass, samplers and turntables.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Jason Alder
Milieu Interieur
(Aural Terrains)
Employing multiphonics, circular breathing and unusual sonic phenomena of immense control over the lowest of clarinets--the bass clarinet and contra bass clarinet--UK-based multi-reedist Jason Alder performs the two-part "Milieu Interiuer" composition by Greek composer Thanos Chrysakis, along with three other Chrysakis compositions for solo and layered clarinets.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Dawid Frydryk / Edward Lucas / Sue Lynch / Adrian Northover
Five Shards
(Aural Terrains)
The edges of electroacoustic improviser and composer Thanos Chrysakis' shards are sharpened by the quartet of Dawid Frydryk on trumpet & electronics, Edward Lucas on trombone, Sue Lynch on flute & tenor saxophone and Adrian Northover on soprano saxophone, as Chryaskis generates evocative sonic environments over which the four horns mysteriously interact.
Grisey, Gerard / Iancu Dumitrescu / Niels Christian Rasmussen / Thanos Chrysakis / Salvatore Sciarrino / Lori Freedman / Tim Hodgkinson
Music for Violas, Bass Clarinets & Flutes
(Aural Terrains)
Compositions for violas, bass clarinets and flutes performed by Vincent Royer, Jill Valentine, Jason Alder, Chris Cundy, Tim Hodgkinson, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Carla Rees, Karin de Fleyt, Thanos Chrysakis, Katrina Lauder, with compositions from Gerard Grisey, Iancu Dumitrescu, Thanos Chrysakis, Niels Rasmussen, Salvatore Sciarrino, Lori Freedman, and Tim Hodgkinson.
Chrysakis, Thanos
Elytra
(Auf Abwegen)
"Elytra" are the protective fore-wings of beetles & crickets, which are raised and scraped to create a resonating and projecting sound; Greek composer and sound artist Thanos Chryaskis composed these seven works of deeply detailed, resonant and layered sonic interaction as a form of emulation to the action of the elytron, each piece an absorbing sonic experience.
Cundy, Chris
Mountains
(Aural Terrains)
Bass clarinetist Chris Cundy, uses the studio as a performance tool for accompaniment along with pre-recorded tapes, as he contrasts two different composers--Cornelius Cardew & Ton de Leeuw and their compositions titled "Mountains", alongside a Cardew graphic score piece, and 2 work for 5 bass clarinets, from Thanos Chrysakis and John Cage, the latter from his Numbers series.
Fine, Milo / Joseph Damman
Acceptance Of Sorrow
(Aural Terrains)
An album off free improvisations culled from the long-running Minneapolis duo of amplified acoustic guitarist Joseph Damman and multi-instrumentalist Milo fine, recorded in concert at Studio Toile d'Angles in 2018, with Fine performing on percussion, a Bosendorfer imperial piano, B-flat clarinet & marimba, for 8 pieces of explorative and accomplished dialog.
Hodgkinson, Tim / Jason Alder / Chris Cundy / Yoni Silver / Heather Roche / Shadanga Duo / Thanos Chrysakis
Music For Bass Clarinets
(Aural Terrains)
A live performance at London's Cafe OTO from composer Thanos Chrysakis, performing compositions focused on the deeper reeds from composers Christian Wolff, Iancu Dumitrescu, Hannes Kerschbaumer, Georges Aperghis, and Chrysakis himself, in configurations from solo to quintet, with Tim Hodgkinson, Jason Alder, Chris Cundy, Heather Roce, Yoni Silver, and Shadanga Duo.
Alder, Jason / Thanos Chrysakis / Caroline Kraabel / Yoni Silver
Music for Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinets & Electronics
(Aural Terrains)
Exploring the low end of the clarinet family with Jason Alder on bass, contra bass, B flat & E flat clarinets, Yoni Silver on bass clarinet, plus Caroline Kraabel on baritone saxophone & voice, Thanos Chrysakis expanding the sonic space with laptop & synthesizers, in a 5-part series of beautifully paced, absorbing and subtly detailed collective improvisations.
Roigk, Stefan
Suffering For The Promised [VINYL]
(Fragment Factory)
Multi-disciplinary artist living in Berlin, Stefan Roigk developed "Suffering For The Promised" over a 14 year period, composing this large work of acousmatic music as an atmospherically intense yet utterly fragile piece, combining concrete sounds, field recordings and devotional vocal fragments in an eclectic and highly intimate composition of great depth and detail.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Chris Cundy / Peer Schlechta / Ove Volquartz
Music for Two Organs & Two Bass Clarinets
(Aural Terrains)
Recording at the Neustadter Kirche in Hofgeismar, Germany, the quartet of Thanos Chrysakis and Peer Schlechta organ with Chris Cundy and Ove Volquartz on bass clarinets, use the resonance and massive sound of their organs to create active improvisations of deep tones, cries, and unearthly squalls, an incredible set of interacting textures and runs.
Opalio, Roberto
Once You'll Touch The Sky You Will Never Return To Dust
(Opax Records / Elliptical Noise)
Half of the Italian improvising duo My Cat Is an Alien, Roberto Opalio uses prepared mini-keyboard, handmade shortwave receiver, alientronics, and vocalizations to create this improvised prelude and statement, a shifting work that draws the listener into mesmerizing sonic environments of alien origin and transports them deceptively between ringing and textured vistas.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues / Miguel Mira / Abdul Moimeme
Micrographia
(Creative Sources)
Recording in Portugal, the quintet of Aural Terrains label leader Thanos Chrysakis on piano, Creative Sources label leader Ernesto Rodrigue on viola, son Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Miguel Mira on double bass and Abdul Moimeme on electric guitar, three parts of microscopic collective electroacoustic improvisation of highly focused, detailed interplay.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Christian Kobi / Christian Skjodt / Zsolt Sores
Carved Water
(Aural Terrains)
Using principles similar to Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening, the quartet of Thanos Chrysakis, Christian Kobi, Christian Skjodt, and Zsolt Sores use acoustic and electronic instruments in carefully developed improvisations based around dynamics, densities & textures.
Chrysakis, Thanos
ΜΑΓΜΑ / MAGMA
(Monochrome Vision)
An extended electroacoustic piece recorded in 2011 and named as an apt description of the bubbling, dense and intense flow of sound Chrysakis generates using electronic devices, acoustic sounds and field recordings, an absorbing work of audio flux and percolation.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Chris Cundy
Music for Chamber Organ & Contra Bass Clarinet
(Aural Terrains)
Electroacoustic improviser Thanos Chrysakis performing on the chamber organ at the University of Gloucestershire, UK in a collaboration with Chris Cundy on contra bass clarinet, for a subtle, mysterious and uncompromising four-part improvisation.
Chrysakis / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Mira / Moimeme
Exaiphnes
(Creative Sources)
A quintet of string improvisers in discerning dialog using viola, cello, double bass, electric guitar, piano & harp, from regular collaborators Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues, Miguel Mira, and Abdul Moimeme, plus Aural Terrains label leader Thanos Chrysakis.



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