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CD Feature/ Marc Behrens & Paulo Raposo: "Hades"

  Tobias

Marc Behrens and Paulo Raposo don’t meet that often, but whenever they do, the earth moves. Not in the stadium rock kind of way, but in a silent manner. You could call it a hushed revolution. "Further Consequences of Reinterpretation" of 2003 and the ensuing “Product” album, which followed in its wake, were highly praised collaborations in microtonal experimentation (in fact, they based on Nosei Sakata’s “o.ooo”, which was beyond the human ear’s perception) and definitely required sharp ears. “Hades”, meanwhile, is a remarkably diverse collection and presents the duo as an imaginative and border-crossing project with its sensors open in all directions: Field recordings, drones, atmospheres, musique concrete and anything worthy of its attention and interest.

It wasn’t only musical influences which played a role. Both Behrens and Raposo were deeply fascinated by the reverberations of huge ships leaving the anchorage and docking in again, of the squealing noises under deck and the various sounds of the passage. While they both set out on individual terms, taping aural logbooks of their own, they decided to join forces on several occasions in the final stages of the project in order to bring in the missing pieces of the puzzle. After this process, the composing phase followed suite, which resulted in two twenty-minute as well as two somewhat shorter excursions forming an extremely coherent entity. All in all, “Hades” was three years in the making and the first thing you notice is that the care has more than paid off: The environmental recordings are pristine, crystal clear and as sharp as a three-figure megapixel shot and fascinating enough to constitute an album of their own. On top of that, there are discrete layers of drones, finely woven and glassy in the beginning and deep, feminine and resting towards the end. In the more stretched out works, the serene side of the material is presented. Here, the ships heave and breathe with rusty lungs, rocked by the calm motion of the sea, while sun sinks on the horizon, each moment bringing forth new beauty. In the more scenic short pieces, the source sounds return in a more processed form, clattering and clanking, but interspersed with organic environments. Part of the power of “Hades” results from the fact that Behrens and Raposo do not merely use their brilliantly realized field recordings as a New Age background to the tracks. Their intent lies in a process of crystalisation and specification: It is thanks to their placement in a new context, that the individual elements regain their original meaning.

In the middle of the voyage lies a short moment of silence, signifying the point of no return. From there on, the boat is captured by an invisible tractor beam, the current of the stream, guiding it onwards into its own heart of darkness. All the same, the album never enters esotheric waters, remaining firmly with both feet on the ground. The more spacy aspects, the possibility for dreaming and tasting new territories – they’re an offer, a second level, which you can, but need to enter to enjoy the trip. Any which way, I’m sure that if someone took the pain of checking it out, the earth’s axis has shifted just a little again.

By Tobias Fischer

Homepage: Paulo Raposo
Homepage: Marc Behrens
Homepage: and/OAR Records