Sparkling or Silent / unfamiliar music (paris)

Sparkling or Silent, by the duo composed of crys cole and Oren Ambarchi, is a moment apart in their respective artistic approaches, taking a step aside and marking a point of fixation around an electroacoustic method which, while always latent in both of their works, here asserts itself as a central compositional modality. However, the electroacoustic approach is not called upon here for its formal reasons, or even less as an aesthetic line to follow. On the contrary, it is seen as a writing tool, open to all possible sonic possibilities, a tool that allows the artist to draw, within the sound itself, an intertwined space where reminiscences, impressions and sensations weave a narrative on the edge of the imagination and the moments experienced together, a narrative in which a complex and sensitive layer of sound is embedded, blurring the boundaries between artistic project, intimate journey and shared dreams.François J. Bonnetunfamiliar music is the name I gave to the archive of sounds I’ve been using in live performances for the past few years. Some of those sounds appear, in different form, on a couple of my records, but most of them have only been used in live shows. The structure of the concert is always improvised: the materials are chosen, processed, combined and mixed on the spot, depending on the acoustics, size or configuration of the performance space. I was very honoured when asked to release the ‘piece’ I had just played at Présences électronique in November 2024, but the piece was not really an actual piece, not yet. Releasing the concert recording was out of the question: mixing for a show with multiple speakers is a whole different thing than mixing music made to be listened at home, and a lot of decisions I take in a live setting might not work so well in the studio. Instead, I decided to use this recording as a score and to re-compose the piece, by using the same sounds and following the same structure with just a few necessary changes. This was also the very first time I used a score, even if not a conventional one.Giuseppe IelasiDerived from a live performance, unfamiliar music (paris) reveals the essence of the obsessions and sonic universe of Giuseppe Ielasi, a musician whose discretion is matched only by his talent and boundless dedication to musical creation over almost 30 years. unfamiliar music (paris) is a remarkable manifestation of Ielasi’s approach, an approach in which delicacy, sometimes nostalgia, and emotions know how, with discretion, to infuse a sound universe built around polyphony and reminiscence, around textures and motifs that intertwine, combine and drive each other with grace and inspiration.François J. Bonnet