A split album as part of the GRM Portraits series bringing together two pieces by Jessica Ekomane (explores the multiple possibilities of polyphonic writing) and Laurel Halo (for piano and electronics).
"Entirely computer-generated, Manifolds is a work that explores the multiple possibilities of polyphonic writing, extending it to the 'multiphonic' universe where sources and timbres diffract themselves in the listening space. The different voices of the composition no longer follow the traditional parallel trajectories of musical dialogue, but find themselves propelled as if into a particle accelerator, a 'collider' freed from all formal rhetoric to reach a state of liberation of energies that is truly confounding. It is then that, in the multi-layered universe of sonic electrons, as if against its own will, a 'chant' of overwhelming humanity is revealed.
Octavia, a piece for piano and electronics, explores the relationship between melodic motifs and textures in a singular way, intermittent moments of melody, harmony and sound materials connecting and disconnecting, to indicate a series of nets or webs, swaying in and out of one another. These sonic nets gently float, spin and merge, and the effect is one of gently floating over an abyss. The work is inspired by the 'spiderweb city' of the same name in Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities: 'Below there is nothing for hundreds of feet: a few clouds glide past; further down you can glimpse the chasm's bed….Suspended over the abyss, the life of Octavia's inhabitants is less uncertain than in other cities. They know the net will last only so long.'"
François J. Bonnet
Perpetrating the fertile collaboration initiated in 2012 with Recollection GRM, INA GRM and Shelter Press (after
Editions Mego) offer the Portraits GRM complementary series, no longer focused on the "classic" GRM repertoire but towards recent creations commissioned by the GRM to artists from all horizons. Under the aegis of
François J. Bonnet, the Portraits GRM series focuses on important and emerging figures of the experimental music scene and highlights the notion of work rather than album. By reaffirming the concept of musical work, the Portraits GRM series seeks to renew with the pioneering work that the GRM Collection series but also the Philips Prospective 21e Siècle collection had achieved so admirably: offer a panorama of current musical experimentations and embrace a more durable scope with works that manage to extract themselves from an increasingly tyrannical and increasingly hazardous present-time. At a time when nothing knows how to "leave a mark", this series aims to address both current listeners, and explorers of the future. Many releases in the collection are contemporary works by two different musicians, each piece taking up the space of one side. Longer works however, fill an entire record.
Jessica Ekomane is a French-born and Berlin-based electronic musician and sound artist. Her practice unfolds around live performances and installations. She creates situations where the sound acts as a transformative element for the space and the audience. Her quadraphonic performances, characterized by their physical affect, seek a cathartic effect through the interplay of psychoacoustics, the perception of rhythmic structures and the interchange of noise and melody. Her ever-changing and immersive sonic landscapes are grounded in questions such as the relationship between individual perception and collective dynamics or the investigation of listening expectations and their societal roots.
Laurel Halo (born 1985) is a Los Angeles based electronic musician, producer and DJ. Her protean work blends electronica, ambient, techno, jazz and pop elements. She is the founder of the Awe label.
