Francisco López - La Selva (1998)

"La Selva is an immersion into the sound environments of a tropical rain forest in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. An astonishing natural sonic web created by a multitude of sounds from rain, waterfalls, insects, frogs, birds, mammals and even plants, through a day cycle during the rainy season. A powerful acousmatic broad-band sound environment of thrilling complexity. And above all, a tour de force of profound listening".

Much against a widespread current trend in sound art and the customary standard in nature recordings, I believe in the possibility of a profound, pure, 'blind' listening of sounds, freed (as much as possible) of procedural, contextual or intentional levels of reference. What is more important, I conceive this as an ideal form of transcendental listening that doesn't deny all that is outside the sounds but explores and affirms all that is inside them. This purist, absolute conception is an attempt at fighting against the dissipation of this inner world.



[From the liner notes of the CD “La Selva. Sound environments from a Neotropical rain forest” (released by V2, The Netherlands).
Extracted and modified version of parts of the in-progress larger essay “The dissipation of music”]

+ info about La Selva @ http://www.franciscolopez.net/env.html

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track 1 _ 1:10:50''

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Escaping From Color - Rapoon Recomposed & Remixed (2007)

"Again Quasi Pop Label hits the target, with one of the most interesting compilation CDs coming lately to my hands. So, this is at my eyes a kind of tribute to British ethnic ambient industrial solo project known as RAPOON, which has been developing all its talent through the years. Through “escaping from color: Rapoon recomposed & remixed” album. We swim in an experimental sea of creativity, originality and dynamism. This time Quasi Pop Label in the shape of Edward.S has gathered a selection of one of the most representative projects inside experimental/ambient scene to escape from reality and to enter in a no colors world, when Rapoon is the only tangible reality. A reality based in 15 compositions, all of them bringing the necessary essence to represent in a concrete way the nature of an act such as Rapoon.

FRANCISCO LOPEZ, with more a high quantity of releases, and having traveled the world developing electro acoustic performances, is opening this album with a minimalistic ambient composition, floating slowly from start to finish. TV POW, surprises this time with an excellent track, full of dense percussive sounds and effects surrounding the whole track. Really one of the best tracks here. The german duo of Baraka (H) and Glit(S)ch known as TROUM,one of the most representative acts nowadays comes with a tribal ethnic composition with impressive percussive elements which moulds perfectly with the structure of the track in general.

The sound & Media explorer from Portugal, PAULO RAPOSO, makes its presence in this album with an interesting track, in the hands of drone sounds mutating into dense ambient atmospheres, creating architectural spaces through such musical vortex, as only Mr. Raposo could create. AIDAN BAKER, devour us with a magnificent convergence of drone elements, mixed with dense eerie percussive sounds floating between each atmosphere, to create an hypnotic voyage to the most hidden realms of Rapoon. FAMILY UNDERGROUND is a Danish trio, adapting its track into psychedelic drone/noise invasion full of madness. Another artist to mention is Swedish RONNIE SUDIN, creating hypnologic states, covering a wide range of styles as experimental and electronics. This time he develops a provocative ambient piece with vibrating elements, abrasive atmospheres and subliminal vociferations at the core of this track.

CISFINITUM, the Russian ambient act, develops a perfect emotive live track which was recorded 29.10.2006 at “Lkra” Club in Moscow, together with RAPOON, in which the percussive elements and atmospheres are the predominant patterns marked here. Limited to 500 copies, and coming in a kind of digipack with abstract drawings and general art, which reflects in part the material included on this excellent release."

1. Francisco Lopez “Untitled #193”
2. TV Pow “Ladder Friends Remix”
3. Machinefabriek “Drijfzand”
4. Troum “Farawer”
5. Steve Roden “Colorscape Forming”
6. Jorge Castro “Depths”
7. Paulo Raposo “Tidal Winds”
8. Aidan Baker “Percussive Drone”
9. Anla Courtis “Rapooned Rapunga”
10. Gert-Jan Prins “Raponsje”
11. Heimir Bjorgulfsson “Obmam Ognom”
12. Mike Shiflet “Version Belize”
13. Family Underground “Tube”
14. Ronnie Sundin “Distant Demons”
15. Cisfinitum & Rapoon “Live in Ikra, Moscow 2006”

+limited edition of 500 copies*

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V/A - Nexsound Ringtones

An useless Nexsound collection of 57 ringtones for your mobile surveillance machine, courtesy of the following artists:

Günter Müller
Francisco Lopez
Andrey Kiritchenko
Frank Bretschneider
Kotra
Kim Cascone
Roel Meelkop
Zavoloka
Bluermutt
Arturas Bumsteinas
I/Dex
Thomas Korber
AGF
Nole Plastique

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