artist: MARC BEHRENS & PAULO RAPOSO
title: Hades
catalog number: and/25
release year: 2006
format: CD
status: sold out
title: Hades
catalog number: and/25
release year: 2006
format: CD
status: sold out
After their first successful collaboration "Further Consequences of
Reinterpretation" (premiered in May 2003 at the Goethe-Institut in Lisbon,
released as a CD album by the Portugal-based label Crónica), and the project's
appendix release entitled "Product", the sound artists Paulo Raposo and Marc
Behrens have created a new dynamic sound work entitled HADES.
HADES is based on sound recordings made aboard Lisbon ferries and at the quays
of Cais do Sodré, Trafaria and Cacilhas 2001-2005. Both artists had initially set
out to record independently, being fascinated with the sounds of the ship hull and
landing gear, as well as with the actual passage on the river, which gives a
magnificent (maybe the best) view on large parts of the old city of Lisbon.
During the course of the work which took three years to complete, some more
precisely directed recordings were made together. Understanding the actual
crossing as a symbolic passage, and once it was reduced to sound and memory, it
became associated to the crossing of the mythic river Styx to enter Hades, the
ancient Greek underworld.
As the different sound recordings provide the artists with very diverse material (for
example low frequencies from the ship's hulls and motors, high frequencies and
beats from the gates at Cais do Sodré), they understand the composition as
hovering on the delicate borderline between a soundscape portrait and a
multi-strata arrangement, in which things happen parallelly, and individual layers
move on more than one path simultaneously.
In the opinion of and/OAR, HADES is not only one of the strongest works to
surface from either artist, a/O will go out on a limb to state that it could very well
set a new precedent of quality for collaboration work of it's ilk. Needless to say, a/O
is highly honored to be releasing it. Please give it a very attentive listen.
Especially in headphones!
Apart from being collaborating sound artists, Behrens and Raposo have also
worked together since 2001 on the Lisbon based label SIRR.
Reinterpretation" (premiered in May 2003 at the Goethe-Institut in Lisbon,
released as a CD album by the Portugal-based label Crónica), and the project's
appendix release entitled "Product", the sound artists Paulo Raposo and Marc
Behrens have created a new dynamic sound work entitled HADES.
HADES is based on sound recordings made aboard Lisbon ferries and at the quays
of Cais do Sodré, Trafaria and Cacilhas 2001-2005. Both artists had initially set
out to record independently, being fascinated with the sounds of the ship hull and
landing gear, as well as with the actual passage on the river, which gives a
magnificent (maybe the best) view on large parts of the old city of Lisbon.
During the course of the work which took three years to complete, some more
precisely directed recordings were made together. Understanding the actual
crossing as a symbolic passage, and once it was reduced to sound and memory, it
became associated to the crossing of the mythic river Styx to enter Hades, the
ancient Greek underworld.
As the different sound recordings provide the artists with very diverse material (for
example low frequencies from the ship's hulls and motors, high frequencies and
beats from the gates at Cais do Sodré), they understand the composition as
hovering on the delicate borderline between a soundscape portrait and a
multi-strata arrangement, in which things happen parallelly, and individual layers
move on more than one path simultaneously.
In the opinion of and/OAR, HADES is not only one of the strongest works to
surface from either artist, a/O will go out on a limb to state that it could very well
set a new precedent of quality for collaboration work of it's ilk. Needless to say, a/O
is highly honored to be releasing it. Please give it a very attentive listen.
Especially in headphones!
Apart from being collaborating sound artists, Behrens and Raposo have also
worked together since 2001 on the Lisbon based label SIRR.
EARLABS (OCTOBER 2006)
Based on field recordings made while traveling on Lisbon ferry boats and at
various landing places, sound artists Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo have
composed a four-part sonic exposé in which untouched sounds blend with
processed sounds in such a way as to pull the receptive listener into that shadowy
region in which the real and the mythical become indistinguishable. Hades is
both a sound recording documenting real experiences and a contemporary
soundscape for a timeless allegory.
As the journey unfolds "Gate" begins with a quiet, but dense, drone as the low
hum of the ferry's engine makes its presence known. About one-half of a minute
into the composition, a stratum of noisy percussive clatter abruptly is added along
with various mechanical scrapes and groans that juxtapose themselves against the
increasingly powerful drone of the engine creating a noticeably tense atmosphere
and, at times, I hear what can best described as fragments of garbled voices. As
the track reaches the final third of its length, the chaotic noise and intense drone
suddenly cease, the tension dissolves, and all that remains are the sounds of
waves and random shreds of high
frequency tones.
"Crossing Into" is the first of two extended tracks (more than 21 minutes in length)
containing a subtle array of eerie tones and high-end frequencies that interplay
with a layer of slightly dissonant low-end tones along with occasional moments of
resonant booms and thuds making for an uneasy, surreal ambiance. The final few
minutes of this lengthy track find the composition assuming an almost lower-case
atmosphere.
The title track "Hades" is the shortest in duration of the four movements being just
over five minutes in length, but in this short time an abundance of real sounds
allow the listener to become a virtual passenger on the ferry. "Hades" deserves the
recognition of being the composition that best captures the essence of the
original source sounds. The deep, rumbling whir of the engine drones in the
background, and, in the foreground, the creaks and moans of the ships
architecture reveal in rich detail the stresses it faces as it moves through the water.
Detailed bangs and clangs make known the ferry's mechanical operations, and
there seem to be traces of human voices and coughs present in the background.
"Crossing Out Of" is lengthiest and most abstract of the four tracks (approaching 23
minutes) and for me, personally, the most poignant. The first ten minutes is an
immensely dark drone, cacophonous at times, and constructed of heavily
processed sounds textured with pristine noises and a combination of varying
frequencies of harmonious tones. The remaining thirteen minutes or so delivers a
more restrained, but quite sinister atmosphere. Random noises appear
unexpectedly amongst an unpredictable flow of varied and discordant tones. A
tension is present that never gets resolved.
"Hades" is one of and/OAR's strongest releases to date and diligent listening will
prove to be both rewarding and enjoyable. This is an opportunity to hear
contemporary sound art in one of its best moments with the perfect blend of
phonography and masterful processing. (Larry Johnson)
Based on field recordings made while traveling on Lisbon ferry boats and at
various landing places, sound artists Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo have
composed a four-part sonic exposé in which untouched sounds blend with
processed sounds in such a way as to pull the receptive listener into that shadowy
region in which the real and the mythical become indistinguishable. Hades is
both a sound recording documenting real experiences and a contemporary
soundscape for a timeless allegory.
As the journey unfolds "Gate" begins with a quiet, but dense, drone as the low
hum of the ferry's engine makes its presence known. About one-half of a minute
into the composition, a stratum of noisy percussive clatter abruptly is added along
with various mechanical scrapes and groans that juxtapose themselves against the
increasingly powerful drone of the engine creating a noticeably tense atmosphere
and, at times, I hear what can best described as fragments of garbled voices. As
the track reaches the final third of its length, the chaotic noise and intense drone
suddenly cease, the tension dissolves, and all that remains are the sounds of
waves and random shreds of high
frequency tones.
"Crossing Into" is the first of two extended tracks (more than 21 minutes in length)
containing a subtle array of eerie tones and high-end frequencies that interplay
with a layer of slightly dissonant low-end tones along with occasional moments of
resonant booms and thuds making for an uneasy, surreal ambiance. The final few
minutes of this lengthy track find the composition assuming an almost lower-case
atmosphere.
The title track "Hades" is the shortest in duration of the four movements being just
over five minutes in length, but in this short time an abundance of real sounds
allow the listener to become a virtual passenger on the ferry. "Hades" deserves the
recognition of being the composition that best captures the essence of the
original source sounds. The deep, rumbling whir of the engine drones in the
background, and, in the foreground, the creaks and moans of the ships
architecture reveal in rich detail the stresses it faces as it moves through the water.
Detailed bangs and clangs make known the ferry's mechanical operations, and
there seem to be traces of human voices and coughs present in the background.
"Crossing Out Of" is lengthiest and most abstract of the four tracks (approaching 23
minutes) and for me, personally, the most poignant. The first ten minutes is an
immensely dark drone, cacophonous at times, and constructed of heavily
processed sounds textured with pristine noises and a combination of varying
frequencies of harmonious tones. The remaining thirteen minutes or so delivers a
more restrained, but quite sinister atmosphere. Random noises appear
unexpectedly amongst an unpredictable flow of varied and discordant tones. A
tension is present that never gets resolved.
"Hades" is one of and/OAR's strongest releases to date and diligent listening will
prove to be both rewarding and enjoyable. This is an opportunity to hear
contemporary sound art in one of its best moments with the perfect blend of
phonography and masterful processing. (Larry Johnson)
STYLE (NOVEMBER 2006)
One Should be alone when one listens to Hades, the joint work of experimental
composers and sound artists Marc Behrens and Paolo Raposo. One needs time
and, if possible, large headphones. Silence is an absolute must. Like the CD's
name already states, this is an acoustic journey through the underworld. One can't
really prepare for it - for something that unfolds is a great power, precisely through
the absence of the spectacular.
The CD starts with a type of nervous twitching comprised of short-winded squeaks
that are layered with overtones and rumbling approaching from the distance until
they fade into an oscillating acoustic movement. A quick, winding sound is
resolved by the surf's even beating. Behrens and Raposo approach Hades like a
nervous animal resigned to it's destiny, listening for what to expect from the
underworld. At first restless, but increasingly compliant over time. While crossing
the Styx, the border between the world of the living and the underworld, one starts
to form one's own pictures: the uncertain boat, the silent ferryman Charon, the
resounding walls, the fear.
Marc Behrens created an atmosphere that makes one's own uncertainty and
vulnerability accessible. One listens so attentively, the only way one can listen,
and finally there is nothing more than creaking planks and ropes being tugged on.
Paulo Raposo's part, which then follows, describes the departure from Hades. So is
there a way back? The question remains open. At the end, one still hears the
beating rope. Rescue sounds different. The recordings that generated the
composition Hades are from Lisbon. Behrens and Raposo were fascinated by the
old ferry boats that have crossed the Tejo since the 1950s, and their creaking
sounds at sea. They meticulously recorded the sounds of the ships, the docks and
steel pontoons. On one trip, the two artists watched the salvaging of a sunken ship,
a 'mud-caked part suddenly emerged', says Behrens, "and suddenly it was there -
the association with the underworld; this mysterious place under the earth that one
doesn't at all hear or see, but which directs are lives.'
The crossing as a symbolic trip to one's own subconscious.
'We wanted to divide the trip into various strata - high, medium and deep. The real
Hades remains a mystery and inaccessible, because,' says Behrens, 'it doesn't
exist.'
Empty spaces as the actual places.
(Rebecca Menzel - translated from German by Cathy Lara)
One Should be alone when one listens to Hades, the joint work of experimental
composers and sound artists Marc Behrens and Paolo Raposo. One needs time
and, if possible, large headphones. Silence is an absolute must. Like the CD's
name already states, this is an acoustic journey through the underworld. One can't
really prepare for it - for something that unfolds is a great power, precisely through
the absence of the spectacular.
The CD starts with a type of nervous twitching comprised of short-winded squeaks
that are layered with overtones and rumbling approaching from the distance until
they fade into an oscillating acoustic movement. A quick, winding sound is
resolved by the surf's even beating. Behrens and Raposo approach Hades like a
nervous animal resigned to it's destiny, listening for what to expect from the
underworld. At first restless, but increasingly compliant over time. While crossing
the Styx, the border between the world of the living and the underworld, one starts
to form one's own pictures: the uncertain boat, the silent ferryman Charon, the
resounding walls, the fear.
Marc Behrens created an atmosphere that makes one's own uncertainty and
vulnerability accessible. One listens so attentively, the only way one can listen,
and finally there is nothing more than creaking planks and ropes being tugged on.
Paulo Raposo's part, which then follows, describes the departure from Hades. So is
there a way back? The question remains open. At the end, one still hears the
beating rope. Rescue sounds different. The recordings that generated the
composition Hades are from Lisbon. Behrens and Raposo were fascinated by the
old ferry boats that have crossed the Tejo since the 1950s, and their creaking
sounds at sea. They meticulously recorded the sounds of the ships, the docks and
steel pontoons. On one trip, the two artists watched the salvaging of a sunken ship,
a 'mud-caked part suddenly emerged', says Behrens, "and suddenly it was there -
the association with the underworld; this mysterious place under the earth that one
doesn't at all hear or see, but which directs are lives.'
The crossing as a symbolic trip to one's own subconscious.
'We wanted to divide the trip into various strata - high, medium and deep. The real
Hades remains a mystery and inaccessible, because,' says Behrens, 'it doesn't
exist.'
Empty spaces as the actual places.
(Rebecca Menzel - translated from German by Cathy Lara)
VITAL WEEKLY (NOVEMBER 2006)
The Hades is the Greek god for death, and as you know, you cross a river after you
die, the Styx. The ferryman puts you on the next border. I'm not sure if this
ferryman has a boat, but ferryboats are the theme of the collaborative release by
Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo. Over the course of three years they worked on
this, with as a starting point, ferryboat recordings from Portugal. I only like boats
when they are the size of a ferryboat; anything smaller makes me feel
uncomfortable. But such a big sized ship makes me feel ok, and especially for a
longer period, say going from Germany to Sweden on the night ferry, makes me
want to listen to the motor, the metal bangs, the air condition, the water. I
understand the fascination of Behrens and Raposo fully and listening to this brings
back the memories of the various trips I made. All of the familiar sounds are in
here, and they are carefully processed by both musicians. 'Hades' is not just a
plain recording of sounds of a ferry, but they compose with the material. In
'Crossing Out Of', the final piece on the album, they have some sorrowful tune at
the bottom of the piece and scraping sounds on top. A beautiful contemplative
piece. The others are equally strong pieces, less contemplative. 'Gate' for
instance takes us to the ship's motor and after a pretty noisy intro, things are slowly
silenced out in washes of the sea: the boat has left. This CD is a very fine example
of how to treat field recordings in a highly intelligent way - an example to many,
I'd say. Great stuff. (Frans de Waard)
The Hades is the Greek god for death, and as you know, you cross a river after you
die, the Styx. The ferryman puts you on the next border. I'm not sure if this
ferryman has a boat, but ferryboats are the theme of the collaborative release by
Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo. Over the course of three years they worked on
this, with as a starting point, ferryboat recordings from Portugal. I only like boats
when they are the size of a ferryboat; anything smaller makes me feel
uncomfortable. But such a big sized ship makes me feel ok, and especially for a
longer period, say going from Germany to Sweden on the night ferry, makes me
want to listen to the motor, the metal bangs, the air condition, the water. I
understand the fascination of Behrens and Raposo fully and listening to this brings
back the memories of the various trips I made. All of the familiar sounds are in
here, and they are carefully processed by both musicians. 'Hades' is not just a
plain recording of sounds of a ferry, but they compose with the material. In
'Crossing Out Of', the final piece on the album, they have some sorrowful tune at
the bottom of the piece and scraping sounds on top. A beautiful contemplative
piece. The others are equally strong pieces, less contemplative. 'Gate' for
instance takes us to the ship's motor and after a pretty noisy intro, things are slowly
silenced out in washes of the sea: the boat has left. This CD is a very fine example
of how to treat field recordings in a highly intelligent way - an example to many,
I'd say. Great stuff. (Frans de Waard)
TOUCHING EXTREMES (DECEMBER 2006)
The sea is an obvious source of fascination; innumerable artists have tried to
come to terms with its sonic power in the past. Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo
added a "mechanical" nuance to their interests by recording the noise of ferry
boats and quays in various Portuguese marine locations, placing them amidst
other local environmental recordings to generate this beautiful artifact.
"Itinerantly" composed between 2003 and 2006, "Hades" stimulates and wakes up
the nervous centres, but even more often it leaves a lot of mental room for
concentration and reflection. The raw materials chosen by Behrens and Raposo
allow for an intriguing deployment of gradations that might sound indelicately
harsh in tracks like "Gate 1" but, when sapiently treated, become mutations of
angelic choirs looking for a sky to dissipate in, ruptured by faraway thuds and
bumps, or even studies in dreams elicited by adjacent pseudo-tones, finally
directed to complete oblivion ("Crossing into"). "Gate 4" is an enthralling, obscure
drone in a reverberant virtual cathedral of noise, exquisitely sober and
impressively layered, later morphing into a siren's lament lowered three octaves,
wind and seagulls barely perceived in this profound context; it's a masterpiece of
the untold, one of the overall best compositions I've enjoyed in at least a decade.
Every sonic object manipulated by the couple is translated into something utterly
meaningful, and the silences they leave for the sounds to breathe in are nicely
filled by extraneous elements (a faraway bell tower entered my room at noon this
Sunday during this listening session, and it was wonderful). "Hades" is brilliant, just
like everything in the and/OAR catalogue. (Massimo Ricci)
The sea is an obvious source of fascination; innumerable artists have tried to
come to terms with its sonic power in the past. Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo
added a "mechanical" nuance to their interests by recording the noise of ferry
boats and quays in various Portuguese marine locations, placing them amidst
other local environmental recordings to generate this beautiful artifact.
"Itinerantly" composed between 2003 and 2006, "Hades" stimulates and wakes up
the nervous centres, but even more often it leaves a lot of mental room for
concentration and reflection. The raw materials chosen by Behrens and Raposo
allow for an intriguing deployment of gradations that might sound indelicately
harsh in tracks like "Gate 1" but, when sapiently treated, become mutations of
angelic choirs looking for a sky to dissipate in, ruptured by faraway thuds and
bumps, or even studies in dreams elicited by adjacent pseudo-tones, finally
directed to complete oblivion ("Crossing into"). "Gate 4" is an enthralling, obscure
drone in a reverberant virtual cathedral of noise, exquisitely sober and
impressively layered, later morphing into a siren's lament lowered three octaves,
wind and seagulls barely perceived in this profound context; it's a masterpiece of
the untold, one of the overall best compositions I've enjoyed in at least a decade.
Every sonic object manipulated by the couple is translated into something utterly
meaningful, and the silences they leave for the sounds to breathe in are nicely
filled by extraneous elements (a faraway bell tower entered my room at noon this
Sunday during this listening session, and it was wonderful). "Hades" is brilliant, just
like everything in the and/OAR catalogue. (Massimo Ricci)
FURTHERNOISE (JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2007)
Witnessing an old sunken boat being wrenched from its watery grave is what gave
Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo the idea to create a sonic journey towards the
depths of the underworld. Though this may immediately set off the concept album
warning light, Behrens and Raposo base their work on solid, well recorded material
collected from the ports, ferries and the surrounding milieu of various coastal
locations. Their collaboration takes the form of four parts: 2 shorter 'Gates' which
work as more active pieces. Machinery squeals and thuds; tensile coils of metal
strain under unknown pressures; sound becomes dulled by the idea and presence
of water. These 'Gates' are full of spluttery abrasion as they distort and swirl around
the listener's perceptions of real and manipulated sounds. They serve as
introductions the longer 'Crossing into' and 'Crossing out of' pieces which inhabit
the bulk of this release.
The original source material: the sea, the creaking and movement of these vessels
are sensitively constructed and manipulated; modifying, blurring and focusing
reality. Smeared tones and ghostly hollow sounds drift in and out of the horizon as
the real and the processed are expertly combined, separated, disjointed and
lulled. The pace of the whole album matches the slowed down, thick feeling of
slowly drifting in water. A journey worth taking many times. (Mark McLaren)
Witnessing an old sunken boat being wrenched from its watery grave is what gave
Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo the idea to create a sonic journey towards the
depths of the underworld. Though this may immediately set off the concept album
warning light, Behrens and Raposo base their work on solid, well recorded material
collected from the ports, ferries and the surrounding milieu of various coastal
locations. Their collaboration takes the form of four parts: 2 shorter 'Gates' which
work as more active pieces. Machinery squeals and thuds; tensile coils of metal
strain under unknown pressures; sound becomes dulled by the idea and presence
of water. These 'Gates' are full of spluttery abrasion as they distort and swirl around
the listener's perceptions of real and manipulated sounds. They serve as
introductions the longer 'Crossing into' and 'Crossing out of' pieces which inhabit
the bulk of this release.
The original source material: the sea, the creaking and movement of these vessels
are sensitively constructed and manipulated; modifying, blurring and focusing
reality. Smeared tones and ghostly hollow sounds drift in and out of the horizon as
the real and the processed are expertly combined, separated, disjointed and
lulled. The pace of the whole album matches the slowed down, thick feeling of
slowly drifting in water. A journey worth taking many times. (Mark McLaren)
ARTFORUM (DECEMBER 2006)
BEST OF 2006: MUSIC
1. Eliane Radigue: Naldjorlank
2. Maryanne Amacher: Gravity - Music For Sound Joined Rooms Series
3. Keiji Haino: Performance at Sound Forest festival, Riga, Latvia
4. Sons Of God: Swedenborg, Stockholm New Music Festival, Sweden
5. Steve Roden: Lines & Spaces
6. Folke Rabe & Jan Bark: Argh! (Kning Disk)
7. John Cage: 18 Microtonal Ragas: Solo 58, performed by Amelia Cuni and
musicians at Festival Marz Musik, Berlin
8. Jonathan Coleclough & Murmer: Husk (ICR)
9. Shinji Aoyama: Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachthani?
10. Marc Behrens & Paulo Raposo: Hades (and/OAR) *
* Behrens draws on his background in product design to create compositions that
are far removed from Frankfurt's click 'n cut aesthetic - his second collaboration
with Paulo Raposo is based on recordings made on ferries and on harbor quays.
(Christina Kubisch)
BEST OF 2006: MUSIC
1. Eliane Radigue: Naldjorlank
2. Maryanne Amacher: Gravity - Music For Sound Joined Rooms Series
3. Keiji Haino: Performance at Sound Forest festival, Riga, Latvia
4. Sons Of God: Swedenborg, Stockholm New Music Festival, Sweden
5. Steve Roden: Lines & Spaces
6. Folke Rabe & Jan Bark: Argh! (Kning Disk)
7. John Cage: 18 Microtonal Ragas: Solo 58, performed by Amelia Cuni and
musicians at Festival Marz Musik, Berlin
8. Jonathan Coleclough & Murmer: Husk (ICR)
9. Shinji Aoyama: Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachthani?
10. Marc Behrens & Paulo Raposo: Hades (and/OAR) *
* Behrens draws on his background in product design to create compositions that
are far removed from Frankfurt's click 'n cut aesthetic - his second collaboration
with Paulo Raposo is based on recordings made on ferries and on harbor quays.
(Christina Kubisch)
DMUTE / LE SON DU GRISLI (DECEMBER 2006)
Après avoir disposé leur matériel d’enregistrement à l’intérieur d’embarcations
évoluant en rade de Lisbonne, Marc Berhens et Paulo Raposo montent leurs
sound recordings en vue de fantasmer une traversée du Styx, puis une approche
du Royaume d’Hadès.
Ingrédients concrets de l’ambient expérimentale proposée ici, le souffle des vents
et quelques vagues, les craquements du bois des nacelles puis des chocs
métalliques. Relevant l’ensemble concret, le traitement électronique se charge d’
amasser les nappes grondantes, d’allonger les enregistrements brefs offrant la
possibilité de leur propre changement en bourdon hésitant.
Aux portes d’Hades, donc, la tempête est simulée, qui marie les zones d’ombres
portées aux menaces des flammes, et transporte l’auditeur de l’appel étrange d’
une soufflerie inquiète à l’abîme abstrait de silences troublants. Le tout déposé
lentement, conseillé paisiblement ; imposé avec confiance et audace.
(Guillaume Grisli)
Après avoir disposé leur matériel d’enregistrement à l’intérieur d’embarcations
évoluant en rade de Lisbonne, Marc Berhens et Paulo Raposo montent leurs
sound recordings en vue de fantasmer une traversée du Styx, puis une approche
du Royaume d’Hadès.
Ingrédients concrets de l’ambient expérimentale proposée ici, le souffle des vents
et quelques vagues, les craquements du bois des nacelles puis des chocs
métalliques. Relevant l’ensemble concret, le traitement électronique se charge d’
amasser les nappes grondantes, d’allonger les enregistrements brefs offrant la
possibilité de leur propre changement en bourdon hésitant.
Aux portes d’Hades, donc, la tempête est simulée, qui marie les zones d’ombres
portées aux menaces des flammes, et transporte l’auditeur de l’appel étrange d’
une soufflerie inquiète à l’abîme abstrait de silences troublants. Le tout déposé
lentement, conseillé paisiblement ; imposé avec confiance et audace.
(Guillaume Grisli)
NEURAL (JANUARY 29, 2007)
Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo made these recordings one by one at the
beginning, on board a ferry boat and in other places near the Lisbon area's
landing places within the space of three years (2001 - 2003). All the recordings
were afterwards edited and condensed into only four tracks, poetically hovering
between analytical vocations and audio-narrations. The work is effective in the
extremely refined assemblage tidiness, varied in drones and textures. The
sequences are then dilated, and the harmonies and the iterations, very well
structured following sensitive attractions to (even) immaterial atmospheres. These
practices becomes really influential when the skills are so unequivocal. These
methods are not new in experimental music, but in this case they reflect the most
inspired environments of the genre. This is an incomparably limpid (lucid) sound
art work, even in the uncertain lack of specific programs and theories supporting
what the music extensively tells and charms. (Aurelio Cianciotta)
Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo made these recordings one by one at the
beginning, on board a ferry boat and in other places near the Lisbon area's
landing places within the space of three years (2001 - 2003). All the recordings
were afterwards edited and condensed into only four tracks, poetically hovering
between analytical vocations and audio-narrations. The work is effective in the
extremely refined assemblage tidiness, varied in drones and textures. The
sequences are then dilated, and the harmonies and the iterations, very well
structured following sensitive attractions to (even) immaterial atmospheres. These
practices becomes really influential when the skills are so unequivocal. These
methods are not new in experimental music, but in this case they reflect the most
inspired environments of the genre. This is an incomparably limpid (lucid) sound
art work, even in the uncertain lack of specific programs and theories supporting
what the music extensively tells and charms. (Aurelio Cianciotta)
ALL MUSIC GUIDE (MARCH 2007)
In the minds of Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo, Hades, the abode of the Dead, is
a water-world, but only because they elected to focus their attention on the Styx,
the river one must cross to get there. Hades (the album) is definitely water-centric.
The two artists have recorded their sound material on ferry boats and quays in
Lisboa (Portugal). The album also features additional material recorded by Patrick
McGinley (aka Murmer) who also has a very strong water-based release to his
credit ("They Were Dreaming They Were Stones"). Hades consists of four pieces
with titles depicting a journey to and back from the Greek underworld. The two
different “Gate” pieces are portals made of wood: the creaking wood of old boats,
the sound of floating objects hitting piers. These portals are quickly behind us and
lead to the two main tracks: "Crossing Into” and “Crossing Out Of”. Here we are
treated to delicate and disquieting compositions made of splashing water, (not
quite) silent sailing, mournful foghorn calls, wincing metal brackets, and various
other sounds evoking a ghost ship sailing through a haunted area. These pieces
are more eventful and image-filled than Behrens’ usual output, but they are just as
carefully paced and artistically shaped as ever, turning Hades into a vivid cinema
for the ear and a must-have for sound art afficionados.
Note that the sleeve announces five tracks (“1. Gate”, “2. Crossing Into”, “[3.
Hades]”, “4. Gate”, & “5. Crossing Out Of”), but the third one is placed between
brackets, as it does not exist. There isn't a piece for Hades per se on this album,
only the journey leading to and out of it. (François Couture)
In the minds of Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo, Hades, the abode of the Dead, is
a water-world, but only because they elected to focus their attention on the Styx,
the river one must cross to get there. Hades (the album) is definitely water-centric.
The two artists have recorded their sound material on ferry boats and quays in
Lisboa (Portugal). The album also features additional material recorded by Patrick
McGinley (aka Murmer) who also has a very strong water-based release to his
credit ("They Were Dreaming They Were Stones"). Hades consists of four pieces
with titles depicting a journey to and back from the Greek underworld. The two
different “Gate” pieces are portals made of wood: the creaking wood of old boats,
the sound of floating objects hitting piers. These portals are quickly behind us and
lead to the two main tracks: "Crossing Into” and “Crossing Out Of”. Here we are
treated to delicate and disquieting compositions made of splashing water, (not
quite) silent sailing, mournful foghorn calls, wincing metal brackets, and various
other sounds evoking a ghost ship sailing through a haunted area. These pieces
are more eventful and image-filled than Behrens’ usual output, but they are just as
carefully paced and artistically shaped as ever, turning Hades into a vivid cinema
for the ear and a must-have for sound art afficionados.
Note that the sleeve announces five tracks (“1. Gate”, “2. Crossing Into”, “[3.
Hades]”, “4. Gate”, & “5. Crossing Out Of”), but the third one is placed between
brackets, as it does not exist. There isn't a piece for Hades per se on this album,
only the journey leading to and out of it. (François Couture)
PARIS TRANSATLANTIC (FEBRUARY 2007)
Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo have been running the Sirr label together since
2001, but this collaborative release appears on the increasingly wonderful
and/OAR imprint, which is going from strength to strength these days. After some
early cassette only releases, Behrens' first CD Advanced Environmental Control
appeared on Bernhard Günter's Trente Oiseaux label in 1995, but, as is also the
case with Francisco López, it's a mistake to associate him exclusively with the
quieter end of abstract electronic music. Hades in fact is quite noisy, especially
34 seconds into the opening track, "Gate", a clattering, squeaking assemblage of
sounds recorded on Portuguese ferryboats, but it eventually settles into more
familiar territory: low rumbling drones and ghostly wails, accompanied by
meticulously transformed natural sounds (footsteps, doors slamming, distant
voices, and waves breaking). Hades, as Wikipedia will tell you (hey, if Wiki's good
enough for Phil Freeman it's good enough for me – 'scuse me if I haven't got time
to re-read The Odyssey), was "the gloomy abode of the dead, where almost all
mortals go. There is no reward or special punishment in this Hades, akin to the
Hebrew sheol. In later Greek philosophy appeared the idea that all the dead are
judged after death and rewarded or punished. In this view, Hades was the destiny
of those who were not particularly good or bad." Indeed; if you were good you
ended up in the Elysian Fields (not my idea of fun, the Champs-Elysées, I can tell
you), if you were bad it was off to Tartarus and if they couldn't make up their mind
what to do with you you went to Asphodel. That probably explains why DJ Spooky
ended up there. Anyway, whether the south bank of the River Tagus is Lisboan
Paulo Raposo's idea of "the gloomy abode of the dead" or not is open to question
(it looks a far nicer place to hang out than certain parts of Manchester I know), but
if it's as beautiful as the music on this album I'll take my place in the queue to
cross the Acheron right now. I'm waiting for the silent boatman / To ferry me across
the unknown waters. Oops, wrong album. (Dan Warburton)
Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo have been running the Sirr label together since
2001, but this collaborative release appears on the increasingly wonderful
and/OAR imprint, which is going from strength to strength these days. After some
early cassette only releases, Behrens' first CD Advanced Environmental Control
appeared on Bernhard Günter's Trente Oiseaux label in 1995, but, as is also the
case with Francisco López, it's a mistake to associate him exclusively with the
quieter end of abstract electronic music. Hades in fact is quite noisy, especially
34 seconds into the opening track, "Gate", a clattering, squeaking assemblage of
sounds recorded on Portuguese ferryboats, but it eventually settles into more
familiar territory: low rumbling drones and ghostly wails, accompanied by
meticulously transformed natural sounds (footsteps, doors slamming, distant
voices, and waves breaking). Hades, as Wikipedia will tell you (hey, if Wiki's good
enough for Phil Freeman it's good enough for me – 'scuse me if I haven't got time
to re-read The Odyssey), was "the gloomy abode of the dead, where almost all
mortals go. There is no reward or special punishment in this Hades, akin to the
Hebrew sheol. In later Greek philosophy appeared the idea that all the dead are
judged after death and rewarded or punished. In this view, Hades was the destiny
of those who were not particularly good or bad." Indeed; if you were good you
ended up in the Elysian Fields (not my idea of fun, the Champs-Elysées, I can tell
you), if you were bad it was off to Tartarus and if they couldn't make up their mind
what to do with you you went to Asphodel. That probably explains why DJ Spooky
ended up there. Anyway, whether the south bank of the River Tagus is Lisboan
Paulo Raposo's idea of "the gloomy abode of the dead" or not is open to question
(it looks a far nicer place to hang out than certain parts of Manchester I know), but
if it's as beautiful as the music on this album I'll take my place in the queue to
cross the Acheron right now. I'm waiting for the silent boatman / To ferry me across
the unknown waters. Oops, wrong album. (Dan Warburton)
AQUARIUS RECORDS (APRIL 2007)
Sourced from recordings made aboard Lisbon ferries and at the quays of Cais do
Sodre (one of the neighborhoods in the Portuguese capital), Marc Behrens and
Paolo Raposo have constructed an allegorical set of compositions on Hades that
intentionally mirror the mythological journey in crossing the River Styx. According
to the ancient Greek beliefs, Styx was a border between the Underworld and Earth;
and a ferry was the only means of transportation across the river. When put into a
modern context of sound art and field-recording based collage, quotidian sounds
such as the rumble of a diesel motor as it spews crusty exhaust and the creaking of
the hull against the pier takes on a much more profound significance.
Behrens and Raposo have done quite a good job in highlighting particular
sounds, frequencies, and vibrations from the aquatic journey in traveling through
Lisbon by way of boat, as a way of transforming that experience into a sombre
event of mournful bellows and anguished sighs. Yet on occasion, Hades becomes
agitated with rasping clatters of mechanical noise, alluding that the end of life is
certainly not an easy journey. For an album about such a portentous subject as
death, Behrens and Raposo do well to concentrate upon their sounds through the
lens of a minimalist conceptual framework and allow the mythological and
allegorical images to flow around their well-grafted sound.
Sourced from recordings made aboard Lisbon ferries and at the quays of Cais do
Sodre (one of the neighborhoods in the Portuguese capital), Marc Behrens and
Paolo Raposo have constructed an allegorical set of compositions on Hades that
intentionally mirror the mythological journey in crossing the River Styx. According
to the ancient Greek beliefs, Styx was a border between the Underworld and Earth;
and a ferry was the only means of transportation across the river. When put into a
modern context of sound art and field-recording based collage, quotidian sounds
such as the rumble of a diesel motor as it spews crusty exhaust and the creaking of
the hull against the pier takes on a much more profound significance.
Behrens and Raposo have done quite a good job in highlighting particular
sounds, frequencies, and vibrations from the aquatic journey in traveling through
Lisbon by way of boat, as a way of transforming that experience into a sombre
event of mournful bellows and anguished sighs. Yet on occasion, Hades becomes
agitated with rasping clatters of mechanical noise, alluding that the end of life is
certainly not an easy journey. For an album about such a portentous subject as
death, Behrens and Raposo do well to concentrate upon their sounds through the
lens of a minimalist conceptual framework and allow the mythological and
allegorical images to flow around their well-grafted sound.
E / I (SEPTEMBER 2007)
With The Sun, Andrew Deutsch aims to construct a sound event that is static, or
which, at any rate, shimmers in its fixed place. Towards this end, an ocean’s wave
is adopted as the sound source which becomes the object of an excessive fixation
on the part of Deutsch. Over the course of the work, however, the recording moves
from its largely immobile, frozen state, and comes alive as a spectral apparition.
What remains fixed, that is, what one experiences as stationary, is the gaze of
Deutsch itself. Through various digital processing devices, then, Deutsch not only
makes the ebb and flow of the waves chime, rattle and clang along an expanded
dynamic range, he stands himself in as the frozen point of immobility, creating a
fine catch and retreat game between him and his source sounds. Hovering clusters
of organ-like notes and panoramic spaces are thereby seen from a fascinating
perspective, one that participates in rather than frames the proceedings. Deutsch
himself makes efforts to point out that this is music specifically intended to aid in
the process of painting. While this work is no doubt successful on that front,
intentions be what they may, the simple appearance of this work, with its sonorous
humming and eloquent, effulgent tones, is becoming in and of itself. Successful,
too, is Hades, a collaborative work between Paulo Raposo and Marc Behrens,
which took place over some three years. Sounds featured are the knocking of a
ship’s hull, the clanking of gates and thrum of motors, all of which were captured
aboard Lisbon ferries at the quays of Cais do Sodre, Trafaria and Cacilhas. Quite
clearly, the pair are not only interested in the exhibition of a sonic environment,
with all its respective particularities and manners, but their arrangement in a
complex structure of many levels that feed into each other, overlap, and separate
in a partially controlled yet spontaneous fashion.
Unlike The Sun, which is largely serene, Behrens and Raposo favor abrupt
oscillations, doleful pauses, and more or less sudden changes of attack. It stands
as an approach that comes to work as well as it does on account of the concise
and insightful way that it is employed. The boom and squeal of machinery, while
exaggerated many a sawtooth edge, providing a leap in intensity, is shaded well
by metallic monochrome reverb and brooding, suspended chords and hovering
atmospheres, which approach and recede like the tides. Although more manic,
then, with so many muffled squawks and rasping, churning drones that enable one
pleasure through displeasure, it also oozes a sublime oceanic stillness. A most
remarkable document, it seems to give a presentiment of the dimension of the
kernel from whence this environment came. (Max Schaefer)
With The Sun, Andrew Deutsch aims to construct a sound event that is static, or
which, at any rate, shimmers in its fixed place. Towards this end, an ocean’s wave
is adopted as the sound source which becomes the object of an excessive fixation
on the part of Deutsch. Over the course of the work, however, the recording moves
from its largely immobile, frozen state, and comes alive as a spectral apparition.
What remains fixed, that is, what one experiences as stationary, is the gaze of
Deutsch itself. Through various digital processing devices, then, Deutsch not only
makes the ebb and flow of the waves chime, rattle and clang along an expanded
dynamic range, he stands himself in as the frozen point of immobility, creating a
fine catch and retreat game between him and his source sounds. Hovering clusters
of organ-like notes and panoramic spaces are thereby seen from a fascinating
perspective, one that participates in rather than frames the proceedings. Deutsch
himself makes efforts to point out that this is music specifically intended to aid in
the process of painting. While this work is no doubt successful on that front,
intentions be what they may, the simple appearance of this work, with its sonorous
humming and eloquent, effulgent tones, is becoming in and of itself. Successful,
too, is Hades, a collaborative work between Paulo Raposo and Marc Behrens,
which took place over some three years. Sounds featured are the knocking of a
ship’s hull, the clanking of gates and thrum of motors, all of which were captured
aboard Lisbon ferries at the quays of Cais do Sodre, Trafaria and Cacilhas. Quite
clearly, the pair are not only interested in the exhibition of a sonic environment,
with all its respective particularities and manners, but their arrangement in a
complex structure of many levels that feed into each other, overlap, and separate
in a partially controlled yet spontaneous fashion.
Unlike The Sun, which is largely serene, Behrens and Raposo favor abrupt
oscillations, doleful pauses, and more or less sudden changes of attack. It stands
as an approach that comes to work as well as it does on account of the concise
and insightful way that it is employed. The boom and squeal of machinery, while
exaggerated many a sawtooth edge, providing a leap in intensity, is shaded well
by metallic monochrome reverb and brooding, suspended chords and hovering
atmospheres, which approach and recede like the tides. Although more manic,
then, with so many muffled squawks and rasping, churning drones that enable one
pleasure through displeasure, it also oozes a sublime oceanic stillness. A most
remarkable document, it seems to give a presentiment of the dimension of the
kernel from whence this environment came. (Max Schaefer)
THE SQUID'S EAR (APRIL 2007)
Hard to believe that Marc Behrens once made abstract, reductionist techno (under
his Feedback Bleep and Eyephone guises), as his recorded output since those
early 90s operations are literal three-sixties, manifesting themselves instead via
installation, field recordings and sound art work. He seemed to shed his former skin
completely, turning his back on all things rhythmic - and harmonic or melodic, for
that matter - for "serious" artistic endeavors of more site-specific, concretized and
politicized natures. Paulo Raposo, whose modus operandi virtually mirrors
Behrens' own, founded the Portuguese experimental imprint Sirr, and has built up
just as provocative a career muddying the waters between audio, visual, space,
and architecture by highlighting the situationist malleabilities of sound.
On Hades, both Raposo and Behrens integrate natural sounds and "synthetic"
occurrences so seamlessly that the environment created is rendered totally
physical, a subliminal actualization of minutely coarse, occasional texture. What
goes in between the sounds is every bit as important as what our ears duly render -
grey area becomes a third dimension in the stereo field, the mind effectively
filling in the blanks during each "epic" bit of sonic grandeur, thanks to the duo's
cinematic acumen. Using sonic flotsam coaxed off of ferry boats and at the quays
of Cais do Sodré, Trafaria, and Cacilhas, Portugal, despite the inherent
proclamation of the album title, Behrens and Raposo want to offer glimpses and
sensations rather than broad portraits of whatever seventh circles they've witnessed
visually. The opening "Gate" is about as clangorous as the recording gets, as a
river's tidal rush, scraping ship's hulls against scabrous pilings and the rusting shells
of buoys, explodes into an index of metals and whitewash, nature's own ambience
subverted into a twisted soundscape. On "Crossing Into," random squeaks weep
between taut pulses, metal fibers are scored so their resonances seem to decay
indefinitely; timbre is altered in an engrossing enough fashion that each steel
ping, knock and shiver achieves an epic, otherworldly heft.
Though broken up into five distinct points of reference, Hades' long day's journey
into night has been constructed to flow effortlessly along its Stygian parameters,
Behrens' and Raposo navigating the compass of the soundscape with a bracing
intensity of purpose. Eclipsing contextual margins that reaches far beyond mere
installation wallpaper, Hades supple imagery informs a powerful work that ballasts
its exotic origins. (Darren Bergstein)
Hard to believe that Marc Behrens once made abstract, reductionist techno (under
his Feedback Bleep and Eyephone guises), as his recorded output since those
early 90s operations are literal three-sixties, manifesting themselves instead via
installation, field recordings and sound art work. He seemed to shed his former skin
completely, turning his back on all things rhythmic - and harmonic or melodic, for
that matter - for "serious" artistic endeavors of more site-specific, concretized and
politicized natures. Paulo Raposo, whose modus operandi virtually mirrors
Behrens' own, founded the Portuguese experimental imprint Sirr, and has built up
just as provocative a career muddying the waters between audio, visual, space,
and architecture by highlighting the situationist malleabilities of sound.
On Hades, both Raposo and Behrens integrate natural sounds and "synthetic"
occurrences so seamlessly that the environment created is rendered totally
physical, a subliminal actualization of minutely coarse, occasional texture. What
goes in between the sounds is every bit as important as what our ears duly render -
grey area becomes a third dimension in the stereo field, the mind effectively
filling in the blanks during each "epic" bit of sonic grandeur, thanks to the duo's
cinematic acumen. Using sonic flotsam coaxed off of ferry boats and at the quays
of Cais do Sodré, Trafaria, and Cacilhas, Portugal, despite the inherent
proclamation of the album title, Behrens and Raposo want to offer glimpses and
sensations rather than broad portraits of whatever seventh circles they've witnessed
visually. The opening "Gate" is about as clangorous as the recording gets, as a
river's tidal rush, scraping ship's hulls against scabrous pilings and the rusting shells
of buoys, explodes into an index of metals and whitewash, nature's own ambience
subverted into a twisted soundscape. On "Crossing Into," random squeaks weep
between taut pulses, metal fibers are scored so their resonances seem to decay
indefinitely; timbre is altered in an engrossing enough fashion that each steel
ping, knock and shiver achieves an epic, otherworldly heft.
Though broken up into five distinct points of reference, Hades' long day's journey
into night has been constructed to flow effortlessly along its Stygian parameters,
Behrens' and Raposo navigating the compass of the soundscape with a bracing
intensity of purpose. Eclipsing contextual margins that reaches far beyond mere
installation wallpaper, Hades supple imagery informs a powerful work that ballasts
its exotic origins. (Darren Bergstein)
