Unfolding as a sonic drift through varied sound atmospheres, Alfredo Costa Monteiro's large sonic canvas creates a narrative akin to a psychogeographical wander that evokes emotional states of disorientation; inspired by found footage techniques in cinema, it serves as a "cinema for the ear," where found sounds stripped of context form an immersive, unpredictable auditory journey.
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Alfredo Costa Monteiro-composer, performer
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Label: Sublime Retreat
Catalog ID: SR019
Squidco Product Code: 35216
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2024
Country: Poland
Packaging: Cardboard sleeve, w/ eco wallet insert
Recorded at Mont Efimer, between September, 2022, and June, 2023.
"Transient spaces as impermanent lines was composed as a sonic drift with no other purpose than a mindful wander. This lack of direction, expressed through a hypothetical narrative, shapes an itinerary through different sound atmospheres carried by the materiality of sound and thus creating variable emotional states close to disorientation; exactly as in a psychogeographical drift, which implies a certain renunciation of what to expect, depending on each space where this underlying narrative evolves.
It is a piece for found sounds, inspired by the found footage technique in experimental cinema, where images, often from anonymous sources are shown as if they were edited in a narrative by those who literally found them.
Like a soundtrack for a non-existent movie, it could be compared to a piece of cinema pour l'oreille (cinema for the ear), literally applying the French expression donner a voir (something like "allow to see"), but with sound as its means.
All the sounds were compiled during the first three months of the process; the source of most of these sounds has been intentionally forgotten in order to empty them both of their psychological and contextual content."-Sublime Retreat
"For me, Portuguese composer Alfredo Costa Monteiro belongs to a group of people who have quite a body of work available and a lot I reviewed, but also I need to learn more about; Bruno Duplant is another one. For instance, I wonder if Monteiro has a preferred instrument; various releases were recorded with an accordion. But just as much, perhaps, use field recordings, such as this new release, which " was composed as a sonic drift with no other purpose than a mindful wander", and Monteiro uses found sounds, just as they do in found cinema footage. Where he made his findings is unclear. Maybe in his own archive, maybe in a thrift store, but whatever the case, he uses these randomly. That's not what I think but what he writes, "This lack of direction, expressed through a hypothetical narrative, shapes an itinerary through different sound atmospheres carried by the materiality of sound and thus creating variable emotional states close to disorientation; exactly as in a psychogeographical drift, which implies a certain renunciation of what to expect, depending on each space where this underlying narrative evolves." Working with random sounds is a hit-or-miss thing, but it works wonderfully well in this case. There are lots of field recordings, birds mostly, but, also other animals. There are also electronics of some kind, which made me wonder, where do you find these? I'd love to see some of that. These electronics usually arrive in small blocks of drone sounds, which are never much longer, adding to the music's slightly more broken up, collage-like feeling. I thought that Monteiro processed some of the found sounds with computer treatments and worked that into the music. The work is quite lively because of all the moving around of sounds, the intricate cuts and the briefness of some of the sounds, while others linger on for a while. Quite a mysterious work, of being in various places simultaneously, of dislocation, yet that never gets in the way of the piece's beauty. You can be in a forest, listening to birds, while also being on a train station platform. Monteiro knows how to pace his music, never going too fast or slow, keeping a delicate balance, making this true cinema for the ears."-Frans de
Waard, Vital WeeklyGet additional information at Vital Weekly
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Alfredo Costa Monteiro "Alfredo Costa Monteiro was born in 1964 in Porto (Portugal) Lives and works in Barcelona, Spain. He studied sculpture/installation at the fine art school in Paris with Christian Boltanski.In 1992, he moved to Barcelona. Since then, his work stands somewhere between visual arts, visual poetry and sound. His installations and sound pieces, all of a low-fi character, have in common an interest for unstable processes, raw materials and gestures, where the manipulation of objects as instruments or instruments as objects has a strong phenomenological aspect. From 1998 to 2006, he was member of espai 22a, an independent collective for contemporary art. From 2001 to 2006, he was also member of IBA col.lectiu d'improvisació In sound poetry, he performs in solo polyglot and noise pieces ( portuguese, french and spanish), where sound establishes a different semantics. Ongoing sound projects: Cremaster (with Ferran Fages), i treni inerti (with Ruth Barberán), Atolón (with Ferran Fages and Ruth Barberán), Astero (with Juan Matos Capote), 300 basses (with Jonas Kocher and Luca Venitucci) and duos with Pascal Battus, Tim Olive and Michel Doneda. He has given workshops at Hangar (Barcelona, Spain), ESDI (Barcelona, Spain), Janácek Academy of Music and Performing Arts (Brno, Czech Republic), Arteleku (San Sebastián, Spain), Facultad de Bellas Artes, (Pontevedra, Spain), ESAD (Caldas da Rainha, Portugal), Crossroads during John Cage's Year, (Lublin, Poland) among others. He has toured in Canada, Japan and Europe." ^ Hide Bio for Alfredo Costa Monteiro
12/3/2024
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Track Listing:
01. Transient Spaces As Impermanent Lines 49:05
Electro-Acoustic
Compositional Forms
Electroacoustic Composition
Field Recordings
Electronic Forms
Solo Artist Recordings
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
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