Sunday, April 17, 2005
Raymond Dijkstra- "La Philosophie des Chiottes"
Raymond Dijkstra is a veteran Dutch sound artist and his Le Souffleur label has released a handful of his own works on vinyl both solo and in collaboration with Timo van Luijk as Asra. This is a one-sided LP that comes in a plastic sleeve with a printed white card insert which is slightly smaller than the record. The insert has the title of the record printed in block letters, and nothing more. The record labels add no more information other that the artist's name. This all adds to the mystery. "La Philosophie des Chiottes" apparently translates as "Philosophy of the Toilet"- though I'm not sure I can guess at how that might apply to the composition. The piece is a sparse mix of closely-mic'ed scratches and scrapes, faint electric cable hum, subtle feedback whistles and a recurring "organ-like" sequence. There is some delay and possibly some other effects at play but the sounds that dominate are the raw scratchy microphone sounds, which remain prominent throughout. The sound that I identify as "feedback whistles" rises in volume as the mix progresses, but the overall feel of the track is very balanced- the sounds flow at a constant pace and rarely rise to any level which might even remotely be considered as "loud". I'm reminded of the work of Ralf Wehowsky and late P16 D4- subtle and mysterious electroacoustic music (heavy on the acoustic element) that follows a logic of its own. The organ-like sequence (perhaps a harmonium) becomes a bit freer as the track passes the halfway point, as the effects and delay seem to acquire a bit more intensity. The whole track dissolves into near-silence as it winds down to the finish, leaving nothing but the ambient hiss of an empty room. Or, at least that is what it sounds like to me. Fans of the work of Wehowsky and related Selektion label artists should investigate Djikstra's work.
Released by Le Souffleur
|| carlos pozo, 2:57 PM
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