SFAIRA by Werken

https://shopendtitles.bandcamp.com/album/sfaira

Genre: Musique Concrete

Rating: 5/5

released on bandcamp February 21, 2022

Listening to this got me to thinking about the evolution of electronic music and what’s been going on with the releases that have been hitting my bandcamp feed. Obviously, there’s no way to tell if what I’m observing is an actual pattern in the totality of music that’s being released but here’s what I think is up. I think 2016-2020 represented a very strong resurgence in free jazz. It was like a free jazz renaissance that objectively (and I hate how trendy that word is) was comparable to the golden age in the sixties. I say objectively just to say that although it’s impossible and maybe not even appropriate but if you removed your bias for Ayler and Cherry you there’s probably just as much gold in the recent releases from labels like Clean Feed Records, Constellation, DOEK RAW and stuff simply made available, mostly on bandcamp, directly from the artist.

With my blog I’m not trying to tackle the state of affairs of music that has reached any stature in terms of buzz, streams, or sales. I’m trying to tackle the impossible task of grappling with whatever sounds are being released without regard for anything other than if I can access it for free. In doing that, recently 2022 is starting to feel like it’s hosting the rise of a musique concrete or electro-acoustic revival like the free jazz renaissance I was just describing. I think that drone and ambient has about run it’s course artistically for the time being and artists are starting to dig back into the works of the early electronic pioneers for inspiration. Like a move from Eno to Stockhausen. And this album does remind me a bit of one my faves, Stockhausen’s Hymnen. Hymnen is a composition with an exceptional amount of direction compared to most of the electronic stuff from back then. And lack of direction in this sense is not at all a criticism. It’s all potentially great and the abstract random rumblings of some are just as important and just as enjoyable as a composition that moves, if you will. Ambiguity is important. And being emotive is important. It all has its place. Werken is emotive in a way that reminds me of Elliott Carter in the 1940’s. A certain amount time had passed since Schoenberg’s earliest work by then. A bit longer has passed since Cage’s stuff to this. I think there’s a similar progression.

That move from the ambiguous to the emotive really flies on the track Black/Pink. And the most traditional moment is right at the end of the final track Waving.

I know I spent a lot of time talking about other music besides the record I’m reviewing here but I hope this is helpful in terms of where this might sit in a historical context.