Various Artists – Beyond the Static [Soundsphere]

Various Artists - Beyond the Static [Soundsphere]

Various Artists – Beyond the Static [Soundsphere]

Soundsphere returns with a new Various Artists compilation titled “Beyond the Static”, bringing together artists from Romania, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Ukraine who explore the twisting combinations between ambient, drone and experimental music with contemporary literature and poetry. With 10 tracks focused on themes which reflect upon life, death and everything in between or beyond, the material stands as a spiralling musical manifesto dedicated to contemporary music and art.

The VA’s artwork is signed by the project’s curator Andrei Barbu while in the presentation document attached to the release you can find more goodies coming from the participating artists. We strongly recommend going through it in order to find out more information about the whole concept and the authors, in reference to all the tracks.

Behind five of the tracks, you’ll find Andrei Barbu aka Atouck and Mihail Tunaru aka Electronic Emotions teaming up for the audio production process, inviting performers, writers and poets to freely express themselves, creating vivid dioramas of their inner or outer worlds. Lala Misosniky opens the journey with “The Line”, an immersive composition that sets the pace of the VA by creating a hypnotic atmosphere which is elegantly transferred to the next track, where Ana-Maria Irimia will take the listener into a trance-like state of mind with “Lasă-te ridicată”. Here, traditional symbolism and the concept of The Living Water (Apa Vie) smoothly merge with deep background textures and field-recordings, perfectly adjusted by Dan Bărbulescu, who also worked on the mixing and mastering.

The collaboration with Maia Șerbănescu reveals a more abstract scenario, the text being an excerpt from “F**k off, Mr. Charcot!” (frACTalia, 2019) while “трансгресія” (Transgression), a thought-provoking poem signed by Lviv-based multidisciplinary artist Rostyslav Kuzyk goes for a ride into darker dimensions. Inspired by feminist studies, Alina Ușurelu steps outside her skin with “My body is a soldier”, questioning everything and exposing the issue of the docile body smoothly complemented by laid-back drones.

Another component of the compilation includes equally trippy and mind-bending sounds, created solely by contributing artists that closely examine the borders of music, language and expressivity. Tokyo-based Masashi Yamada aka y space works with soothing yet twisted effects and arrangements on “Frequency” followed by “I Am The Light” by Arte Sacra Atelier, a deeply meditative piece that uses acoustic instruments to build up tension and express pure emotions inspired by one of the art creations of Cherice Lucero while Boboc Gabriel makes a surprising appearance with “The mind is a spaceship”, tackling the controversial subject of remote viewing. The VA closes with “E frumos când mori” by Miron Ghiu, a short yet deep poem written in memoriam Ionuţ Cioană (Mircea Nicolae). After the static noise clears, curtains close!

You can download Beyond the Static and directly support the label on Bandcamp.

Artist: Various Artists
Title: Beyond the Static
Label: Soundsphere
Cat. number: SNDSPHR036
Release date: 27.08.2020
Format: Digital (audio + pdf)

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Since 2008, Save or Cancel is a medium of communication and propagation of the arts and culture, promoting and facilitating their role in contemporary society.
The self-initiated multidisciplinary programs of Save or Cancel aim to identify sustainable and adaptable opportunities for (re) valorization of the existence through architectural, cultural and editorial projects.

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