alva noto – xerrox vol. 2 |

Description

“›xerrox vol. 2‹ undertakes an intense journey and affords the luxury to take its time.”

while »xerrox vol. 1« (r-n 78) referred to the “old world” with its tradition deeply rooted in classical music, »xerrox vol. 2« tries to access a “new world”. it works with samples that have been gathered and developed in the usa – the so-called “new world” – where the album also has almost completely been recorded.

the dramatic and dynamic approach of »xerrox vol. 1« has been replaced by a structural density on »xerrox vol. 2«. instead of working with individual musical entities, the new album rather develops an overall, linear aesthetic that refers to musical strategies of film music. hence there are no implicitly singular pieces, but open musical structures – a journey without a predetermined target.

the first four tracks of »xerrox vol. 2« actually condense to one track, using samples of michael nyman and stephen o’malley. they kind of combine to a soundtrack as for a movie before fading away in a swell of reverb feedback. »xerrox sora« is a rudiment from the collaboration with ryuichi sakamoto, which originates from and has been performed as encore during the 2004 »insen« tour. continuing from »xerrox monophaser 2«, the album creates a dense and interweaved complexity, which only gradually unfolds its depth. while »xerrox teion« dissolves in the process of copying into another sample rate (xerrowed), »xerrox teion acat« again tends to re-condense its quality.

»xerrox vol. 2« seems to be more playful than »xerrox vol. 1«; following the approach of a live set, it is not so much obligated to a theoretical concept. therefore it intends to break a static framework before it gets too restricted. the eleven tracks of »xerrox vol. 2« serve as documents of an immediately experienced time or as attempts to unfold in an endless space. in this sense, »xerrox vol. 2« comes close to the idea of the aleph-1 project that tried to disappear rather than occupy an endless space.

in the end one might ask where the journey will go. will the next albums in the series – »xerrox vol. 3-5« – again commit to the idea of atomisation of sound or condense in monolithic structures? this only time can tell.

»xerrox vol. 2« is available as compact disc and double 12″ vinyl.