The third thematic volume on the "Aquapelagos" series, a collection of split LPs where selected artists offer their own take into water surrounded cultures and communities (following the initial release of the Anthology compilation
Aquapelago in 2022 and the split LP
Atlantico by Lagoss & Banha da Cobra as well as the direct collaboration LP
Índico by Mike Cooper & Pierre Bastien), in the shape of no other than two inspiring artists, Vica Pacheco (water flutes, synths, electronics) and Pak Yan Lau (synth, hp, contactmic, effects, prepared piano).
Two different sound journeys inspired by the majestic and peaceful Pacific Ocean, the vastest, largest and deepest ocean of our planet.
Vica Pacheco's composition takes a calm meditation approach where water flutes and synths brush shoulders to create a ever expanding mind journey whereas Pak Yan Lau's ambitions Neo classical piece, The Ocean in Us, talks about that grand overwhelming feeling, that vast space deep under, on the bottom of the Pacific.
Both compositions were recorded and created with the particular wet acoustics of the Tank in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in mind.
''The Pacific is a complex space, comprising a third of the Earth's surface. A cascade of islands runs along its eastern flank, down from the Kamchatka peninsula, through Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines, Melanesia and on to Australasia. In its watery heart the islands of Micronesia and Polynesia stretch across huge distances, north-east to the Hawaiian archipelago, south east to Rapa Nui and south west to Aotearoa and Chatham island. Closer to the shores of the Americas lie Tierra del Fuego, the Galapagos Islands, Haida Gwaii and the Aleutians. This is a space that resists easy characterisation. The Pacific laps the shores of Japan and Chile, the beaches of Australia's East Coast and the cold, damp coasts of British Colombia and Alaska alike. Indeed, the space is so vast that it is a world in itself and one rarely navigated in its entirety. In this manner, strands of genres and the songs that reflect them are components in an intricate mesh of associations.''
Philip Hayward and Matt Hill
Musician, sound and visual artist Ana Victoria Pacheco (born 1993 in Oaxaca, Mexico) lives and works in Brussels. Her practice is rooted in experimental music and composition, also using ceramic and 3D animation. Her work, often described as eclectic and energetic, draws inspiration from mythological crossbreeding, prehispanic technologies and interactions between human and non-human. In a syncretic way, she combines heterogeneous or fortuitous elements like ceramics to produce her sound performances and installations.
Sound artist, improviser, musician and composer Pak Yan Lau (born in Belgium, originally from Hong Kong, now based in Brussels) has developed a rich, dense and captivating sound universe over the years, using modified pianos, children's pianos, synthesizers and a variety of electronic and sound objects. She has played with musicians such as Chris Corsano, Paolo Angeli, Daysuke Takaoka,
Giovanni Di Domenico,
Okkyung Lee, Joao Lobo, Norberto Lobo, Lynn Cassiers, Nico Roig, Lionel Malric, Mathieu Calleja, Lazara Rosell Albear, Audrey Lauro, Mathieu Ha, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Yuko Oshima, Darin Grey, Gregoire Tirtiaux, Mori-Shige, Manja Ristic, Andreas Trobollowitsch, Mia Ziabelka, etc.
