luz azul

i treni inerti

ruth barberán

trumpet & objects

alfredo costa monteiro

accordion & objects

 

recorded in september 2010 at sant vicenç de calders, tarragona and 

mastered in august 2011 by ferran fages

total time: 48:40

>> sound extract

 

limited edition of 120 numbered copies

screenprint on sandpaper

design by fabienne bartel

 

this recording is under creative commons licence

CC BY NC 3.0

 reviews down the page

 

15€ incl. worldwide shipping

 

I Treni Inerti est un duo formé de Ruth Barberán à la trompette et d’Alfredo Costa Monteiro à l’accordéon. Tous deux utilisent aussi des objets et des préparations. Tous deux ont une approche radicalement silencieuse et bruitiste (non, ce n’est pas contradictoire) de leur instrument. Luz Azul est une improvisation continue de 48 minutes enregistrée en plein air, en pleine nuit, entre deux voies ferrées. Deux trains passent pendant la pièce et ils sont, de loin, les intervenants les plus bruyants dans ce tableau quasi statique mais étonnamment organique.

I Treni Inerti is a duo between Ruth Barberán (trumpet) and Alfredo Costa Monteiro (accordion). Both are also using objects and preparations. And both have a radically silent and noise-based approach to their instrument. Luz Azul is a continuous 48-minute improvisation recorded outdoor, at night, between two railroads. Two trains pass by during the piece, and they are by far the loudest actors in this play. A near-static yet surprisingly organic play. Monsieur Délire 

 

 

I Treni Inerti wurde ursprünglich als Trio mit Matt Davis gegründet, jetzt firmieren Ruth Barberan & Alfredo Costa Monteira als Duo. Lustigerweise kommen die Trompeterin und der Akkordeonist, die beide auch gern zu flankierenden Objekten greifen, aus jenem Barcelona, dessen nicht gänzlich unbegabte Fußballer ich zufällig gegen jene aus Valencia kicken und Lionel Messi eines seiner Zuckertore zaubern sehe, während ich diese „Luz Azul“-Platte, die zweite auf dem Flexion-Label, höre. Sie vertiefen sich dabei zur Gänze in ein stilles, gemächliches Basteln an ihren Instrumenten und anderen Dingen, nur sporadisch lassen sie sich von lauten Zuggeräuschen unterbrechen, mit denen die Welt da draußen in die innere eindringt. Zwei Bahnlinien kreuzten sich nämlich just zu dem Zeitpunkt, als Barberan & Costa Monteiro zwischen 3 und 5 Uhr früh in unmittelbarer Nähe zum Bahnhof Sant Vicens de Calders ihre aufnahmen bewerkstelligten. Auch nicht von schlechten Ästhetinnen: das nachgerade geniale „Luz Azul“-Cover im A5-Format auf Schmiergel- bzw. Sandpapier! Eines durchdringt das Andere, daraus resultiert eine akustisch wie optisch betörend schöne, mit viel Liebe zu den Dingen fabrizierte Klangarbeit. felix / freistil

 

i treni inerti est un duo qui joue depuis 2003, composé de Ruth Barberán à la trompette (et objets) et Alfredo Costa Monteiro à l’accordéon (et également aux objets). Creative Sources avait déjà publié deux albums de ce duo en 2003 et 2004, et c’est maintenant au tour de l’accordéoniste suisse Jonas Kocher de publier ce magnifique duo sur son label Flexion, label qui après un très réussi duo Kocher/Doneda, réitère avec une publication très prometteuse! Car oui, luz azul est franchement et simplement magnifique. Le principe de base est simple, le duo a enregistré cette pièce dans une oliveraie située entre deux rails de trains de marchandises, une après-midi de septembre 2010. On comprendra vite que l’environnement prend ici une présence et une signification importantes dans la structure de la pièce. Quant à la musique elle-même, il s’agit d’une pièce assez minimaliste mais tout de même riche en évènements. La même note est répétée à intervalles réguliers, ou le même accord, ou encore l’harmonique d’une cymbale frottée, mais si les sons sont linéaires et réguliers, ils ne sont pas lisses pour autant. Il y a d’une part une lente pulsation toujours présente, une pulsation pas forcément régulière, une pulsation organique, voire cosmique. Et d’autre part, l’environnement et les objets forment régulièrement des accidents, comme ces oiseaux que l’on entend, et bien sûr ces trains mugissants qui traversent la pièce selon une autre pulsation encore, mais de manière rationnelle toujours, et il s’agit pour le duo de répondre à cet environnement, d’y répondre aussi bien par le silence que de manière instrumentale. Étrange sensation que cette musique procure, car bien qu’elle soit minimale, les nombreux accidents et les réponses envisagées et chaque fois renouvelées par le duo procurent à cette musique une forme de richesse qui semble inépuisable. Et c’est le minimalisme de cette richesse qui forme certainement la puissance de chaque partie de cette pièce merveilleuse, pièce qui forme une narration post-industrielle, qui tente de répondre esthétiquement à une machinerie industrielle oubliée. Bien sûr, la puissance de luz azul provient également de la prise en compte de l’environnement et du terrain d’enregistrement, terrain qui devient l’alter ego de Matt Davies, troisième membre d’i treni inerti entre 2001 et 2003. Car le duo entre véritablement en interaction avec l’environnement spatial et sonore de la performance, une interaction si sensible et réussie que cet environnement se personnalise et s’individualise, au point de quasiment accéder au statut de troisième musicien. Poésie de l’espace, poésie du timbre, de la texture des notes répétées simplement jusqu’à ce que l’on parvienne à accéder à leur essence sonore, mais aussi approche sensible et poétique de l’environnement sonore, appréhendé avec sensibilité, précision, et intimité. luz azul est une pièce musicalement extrêmement forte, puissante, sensible, et poétique. Une pièce magnifique et onirique, qui parvient à intégrer l’industrie et l’espace au profit d’une poésie sonore exceptionnelle. Un voyage de cinquante minutes où l’on est bercé entre le bonheur et la jouissance, malgré les nombreuses teintes mélancoliques: hautement recommandé! Julien Héraut /Improv spheres

 

Similarly to an old work by Cremaster – 32,41 n/m² on Absurd – Luz Azul comes lodged in a folded sandpaper sheet. And, just like the duo of Alfredo Costa Monteiro and Ruth Barberán (respectively accordion and trumpet, both augmented by unspecified objects), it is named with a palindrome, also the case of their 2004 CD Aérea on Creative Sources. The newest release is indeed very welcome: not only because I have always admired the compelling modesty of the Iberian characters but also for the background chosen, involuntarily connected with my own past. As already mentioned in other writeups, an incalculable number of afternoons and nights during the early times of this writer’s life were accompanied by the remote rolling noise of carriages and wagons. A reverberation that still rings inside the memory: whenever someone decides to use it as a sonic shade, a nostalgic sigh comes out. The pair chose an olive orchard near a railway junction as a setting for their musical performance, which remains pretty much confined within the realm of long exhalations of tones enhanced by assorted kinds of metallic vibration. The freight trains running along the instrumental activity complement – occasionally, overwhelm – the now warm, now raspy subtlety of the pitches. In the quieter sections, the whooshing mildness of that September night wraps the environment, thus adding further layers of impermanence to an evocative wholeness. One wonders if the train operators were able to take a look at what was happening in that field, probably remaining puzzled after having being testimonies to a curious nocturnal perspective. Massimo Ricci / Touching Extremes

 

 Zwei Musiker mitten in der Nacht draußen in einem Olivengarten bei Sant Vicenç de Calders, wo sich die Zuglinien Cercanias Barcelona und Cercanias Tarragona treffen. Ruth Barberan spielt Trompete, Alfredo Costa Monteiro Akkordeon, beide auch mit weiterem ‘Zeug’ wie z. B. Metallfedern. Die Hauptrolle spielt aber die nächtliche Atmosphäre selbst. Das ferne Rau­schen und das nahe Vorbeisausen von Güterzügen, der Wind in den Bäumen, verschlafe­nes Grillengezirpe, ganz weit weg auch Hundegebell. Barberan entlockt ihrem Instrument schäbige Laute, ein krächzendes oder zirpendes Schaben, ein spuckiges Schmurgeln, oft nur ‘tonloses’ metallisches Tönen oder ein dunkles Tuten. Das Akkordeon pumpt, ‘atmet’, ‘bläst’ ebenfalls nur protomusikalische Haltetöne, künstliche Naturgeräusche, die sich mit dem holpernden Rattern und schleifenden Quietschen der passierenden Züge mischen. Keine Serenade also, vielmehr ein ambientes Notturno, eine Einladung, in Gedanken auf einen dieser Züge zu springen, als Hobo aufzubrechen ins Mitternachtsblaue. Rigobert Dittmann / Bad Alchemy

 

Ah, my favorite palindromic band! Ruth Barberán (trumpet, objects) and Alfredo Costa Monteiro (accordion, objects) return with a pre-dawn recording realized in an olive grove alongside a working train stations (not an inert one). The atmosphere, from crickets to trains, pervades the proceedings, Barberán using mostly soft but raspy technique (scraping the horn’s metal, I imagine, and placing thin plates at the bell, etc.) while Costa Monteiro largely allows a fairly natural accordion sound to emerge, rather plaintively when one considers the environments, vaguely echoing distant locomotive whistles. The trumpet picks this up, injecting burred, industrial tones, mating calls to the passing engines. The tones tend toward the sustained, echoing both rumble and the delicate insect life, but the duo, manages to attain a wonderful equilibrium here, neither too deferential or overweening, but fitting in as though a regular nocturnal occurrence at this location. The sense of relaxation is amazing. There’s something very magical about this performance. It’s so beguiling to imagine sitting on some bench at the station, perhaps around the corner from this pair, hearing their sounds emerge and blend into the surroundings, perhaps never looking to see what had happened. Very, very lovely. (and a sandpaper cover never hurts…). Brian Olewnick / Just outside

 

Ah now, this is a lovely little CD. The group i treni inerti began life a decade or so ago now as the trio of Ruth Barberan, Alfredo Costa Monteiro and Matt Davis, and when their first album came out as one of the very first Creative Sources releases however long ago Brian Olewnick wrote what to this day remains one of my favourite opening lines to a review- something like “Yeah I can hear you sigh, yet another trumpet/trumpet/accordion trio…” In 2012, as David has long left Barcelona the group exist as a duo, and on this release they still play trumpet and accordion, each adding some of those ubiquitous “objects” to the equation. What makes this new release on Jonas Kocher’s Flexion label so nice however is the recording location, outside in an olive orchard between 3 and 5AM on a September morning in 2010. From the outset we hear that familiar dull grey hum of a town or city at night, but it is augmented by the chirruping of insects throughout, and, quite wonderfully, at a few intervals, the deafening arrival of freight trains passing very close in the small hours of the night. The musicians play in and around these additional sounds, but even if they made no sound at all I suspect I would thoroughly enjoy this recording. I think the album is titled Luz Azul, but there is also a further description of the single piece of music on the disc calling it Track 1: ser res. Those familiar with the group’s history will notice that their penchant for palindromic names continues. Whatever the title, there is a single unedited forty-eight minute recording here. The job done on the outdoors recording and subsequent mastering are excellent, balancing the sounds of the environment and the sounds made by the musicians perfectly, at least until the first train passes at a little over fourteen minutes. The duo play in a slow, languid manner, perhaps as might be expected at such an hour of the night. Most of the sounds we hear are relatively long tonal sounds, though always with a degree of gritty vibration added. The sounds they make seem to come and go in swells, often faintly rhythmic sections layered together in a way that reminds me of tidal patterns, gentle swoops and soft swells rather than any great attack or sudden cuts into silence. The sounds feel natural, a nice accompaniment to the hum and buzz of the recording location, but also there is always a degree of grit in there, an edge as something is bowed, a fizz as the trumpet rasps as often as it purrs. Then there are the trains, which have a beauty of their own, a deep rooted beauty for me as they sound so similar to the trains I can hear here if I open the windows and listen. The music doesn’t feel tense, but organic, flowing maybe, not droning as such but liquid and blending together with everything at least until the trains wipe the slate clean and leave it all to build again. Luz Azul is very lovely indeed. Its a very lovingly captured example of two musicians with a long artistic relationship together working in harmony both with each other’s musical approach and also with the place and time they have chosen to make music together. It feels a real privilege to be offered a place in this through this CD, an ear onto that semi still night of music, the chance to imagine the place, picture the surroundings as much as the musicians, transport something of that atmosphere via the imagination. A wonderful recording then. Richard Pinnel / The Watchful Ear

 

Švýcarský label akordeonisty Jonase Kochera pokračuje ve vydávání CD poněkud nebezpečně zabalených do smirkového papíru. Druhý titul přináší nahrávku španělského improvizačního dua I Treni Inerti (Ruth Barberán – trubka, objekty a Alfredo Costa Monteiro – akordeon, objekty), které tentokrát zůstalo opravdu věrné svému palindromickému názvu přeložitelnému jako « netečné vlaky ». Nahrávací session se totiž uskutečnilo mezi třetí a pátou hodinou ranní pod širým nebem, v olivovém háji mezi dvěma vlakovými dráhami poblíž nádraží Sant Vicenç de Calders. V bezmála padesátiminutovém kusu se tak spojuje práce obou instrumentalistů s ambientním « netichem » kousku noční přírody poblíž města a jeho rozčlenění na několik epizod je svěřeno jízdnímu řádu nákladních vlaků, jejichž rytmický zvuk snímaný skrze přirozený filtr vegetace vyznívá opravdu šťavnatě. Důkladné naladění na stálé vlastnosti i nevyzpytatelnost svého okolí patří k disciplíně, kterou toto duo rozvíjí, a tak je skutečně dobrodružné sledovat s jakým smyslem pro detail umisťují Barberán a Monteiro své zvukové příspěvky do akustického prostoru. Přestože pracují bez elektroniky, některé z jejich zvuků o tom svým průběhem, barvou či strukturou mohou vyvolávat pochybnosti. Vedle dynamicky kontrolovaných ploch akordeonu a různými způsoby tlumených či preparacemi upravených tónů trubky zde můžeme nalézt například velkou škálu zvuků kovového charakteru (táhlé možná rozeznívané smyčcem či různě drobivě chrastící či skřípající) a můžeme se jen dohadovat, zda některé šumy vnesla do celého dění příroda či sofistikované prodýchávání nástrojů. Celková atmosféra je napínavá tak, jak má ostatně správný hudební rituál být. Možné je tu pro posluchače třeba také zaměření na vyvíjející se přístup umělců k projíždějícím vlakům nebo zamyšlení, zda Flexion Records oproti svému zvukově hladšímu prvnímu titulu (Jonas Kocher – Michel Doneda, viz recenze) zvolili pro Luz Azul záměrně smirkový papír o něco hrubšího zrna. Logické by to bylo, a pak už nezbývá než si nedočkavě představovat, co nám Jonas Kocher plánuje naservírovat v těch ještě drsnějších. Jan Faix / His Voice

 

Ruth Barberan kommer från Barcelona. Hennes trumpet rör sig i samma hage som en Dörner eller Ulher, men hon har skaffat sig en alldeles egen ton. Här har hon tillsammans med dragspelaren Alfredo Costa Monteiro givit sig ut i en olivlund en septembernatt 2010. Mellan klockan 03.00 och 05.00 spelade de, läser jag på konvolutet. Det låter härligt. Men det vore ju en onödig upplysning, om det inte hördes. Det gör det. Vinden drar genom olivträden, ett avlägset flygplan hörs, och jag undrar om de där tågliknande ljuden kommer från musikerna eller… Karaktären är mycket av nattmusik. Inga våldsamma utbrott, snarare vila, långt utdragna toner, dragspelet sätter stark karaktär i ljuden. Samtidigt håller både musikerna på med att pilla på små objekt, rassla med instrumenten, klappra och låta. Ibland stillnar de för att släppa fram något de fått höra. Och jag anar något fjärran i hörlurarna. Då jag lyssnar på musikens varma böljande ström slår det mig att dragspelaren Alfredo Costa Monteiro annars mer sysslar med olika ljud från skivspelare och elektronik, men framför allt att han är utbildad skulptör. Hans spel växlar mellan utdragen och böljande bälg och små ljud, där varje pling och plong liksom lägger något till en helhet. Klang- och ljudskulptör. Om denna duo är något så är den skulptural, den har en fast form, ytan är slipad, mörk i brist på dagsljus, men upplyst inifrån. Koncentrationen på natten dras till en kärna, en fasthet, en rörelse, och ytan måste förbli känslig, taktil, följsam. På annat sätt kan jag inte förstå tilltaget att spela på detta vis. Kvaliteten på musiken blir av annat slag genom inspelningstillfället och platsen. Antagligen skulle jag ha kunnat argumentera mer ingående i detta om jag hade känt stämningen där de spelat, då de spelat. En ny form växer då de börjar litet trevande, den tar sig olika riktningar, kräver skilda sinnliga kvaliteter. Naturligtvis tänker jag på den speciella materialestetiken i det konstnärliga avantgardet i Barcelona, särskilt eftersom Antoni Tapies just avlidit. Den känslan förstärks förresten av själva fodralet, ett rödockra sandpapper vikt och infogat i plastficka. Det är ett sandpapper för finslipning för övrigt. När Axel Dörner introducerade detta slags fodral för – var det tolv-tretton år sedan? – då använde han grovt sandpapper, svårt att vika, som skar i händerna, en sinnebild för den förvandling hans lur just då genomgick. Här säger sandpappret, att allt från yta till kärna ses över i minsta grand, som böjs och bänds och formas till både materia och färg; ja, just detta sandpapper har förresten varumärket ”Holz und Farbe”. Det ser nästan ut som en tanke, eller i alla fall en funnen dikt. Och jag noterar dessutom att ännu en skivetikett sett dagens ljus, den här känns dock nödvändig. Thomas Millroth / Sound of Music

 

There is only one track, which is, oddly enough, called ‘Ser Res’ and recorded on the night of the 29th September 2010, in an olive orchard near Dant Vicens de Calders station, where two train lines meet. They played from 3 to 5 am, and freight trains pass. With microphones set up in the orchard, they also capture occasionally these trains passing. Ruth Barberan is playing trumpet and objects and Alfredo Costa Monteiro plays accordion and objects. From the description they gave us it not difficult to see that they are a duo of improvised music. In these forty-eight minutes they play a work that indeed deals heavily with silence, although its not silent per se, but it deals vastly with playing their instruments as objects, with objects and sometimes as they are. When trains pass, there is of course no more silence, but improvisation and field recordings meet up in a great way. There is a totally acoustic feel to this and the two deliver some very strong improvisations. Packed in flint paper, which may damage the CD. That’s a pity and already done before. Other wise: great work. FdW / Vital Weekly

 

Sur son label, Flexion Records, Jonas Kocher a récemment publié Luz Azul, expérience faite en septembre 2010 par Ruth Barberan (trompette, objets) et Alfredo Costa Monteiro (accordéon, objets) d’une improvisation nocturne le long d’une voie ferrée. Les sirènes graves de l’accordéon y défient les crissements, grincements et bruits de frottement, élaborés sur objets ; sur le souffle du vent saisi par les micros, le duo rejoue et même fantasme de lentes manœuvres de trains fantômes : comme la nature lutte contre son « horreur du vide », I Treni Inerti s’est attaqué au silence qui ose, la nuit, traîner entre les carcasses de métal. Fabuleux. Guillaum Belhomme / Le Son du Grisli

 

Luz Azulé o terceiro registo do grupo I Treni Inerti formado por Alfredo Costa Monteiro e Ruth Barberán (no primeiro disco, fazia ainda parte do agrupamento o trompetista Matt Davies). Ruth Barberán é uma trompetista catalã cuja abordagem ao trompete muito deve às inovações que Axel Dörner e Greg Kelley desenvolveram, mas que soube criar uma linguagem própria e original. Quanto a Alfredo Costa Monteiro, é um dos mais interessantes improvisadores da actualidade, capaz de em cada disco surpreender com as suas ousadas propostas, quer nos registos a solo, quer em grupos de formação fixa, como os Cremaster ou os Octante, ou nas suas ocasionais colaborações. A procura de obter novas sonoridades de instrumentos convencionais e de diversos dispositivos produtores de sons tem levado Costa Monteiro a explorar as suas possibilidades nas diversas gravações que efectua, sendo sempre um interessante desafio tentar perceber qual será o instrumento a que se dedicará em projectos futuros. No entanto, quando toca nos I Treni Inerti utiliza o acordeão, o instrumento com que se iniciou na música improvisada, para além de, como Ruth Barberán, manipular diversos objectos.

Para a gravação de Luz Azul, os dois músicos escolheram tocar entre duas linhas de comboio, o que para além de fornecer uma alietoriedade a nível do som captado, devido à sonoridade ambiente ter sido registada, com o som dos ocasionais comboios que vão passando, acabou também por ser responsável pelas opções dos dois músicos na escolha dos sons a serem tocados durante a improvisação. O que se torna interessante constatar é o facto de ambos terem optado por sonoridades que afinal surgem habitualmente associadas aos respectivos instrumentos. Assim, Costa Monteiro parece ter prescindido das habituais e elaboradas preparações que usa no acordeão, tal como de resto o faz Ruth Berberán, embora no caso da improvisadora catalã ainda seja possível detectar a particular sonoridade que habituamente extrai do trompete. Integrando-se na paisagem sonora captada, surgem sons cheios e contínuos que os músicos sustêm, e que, depois de casualmente se cruzarem, dão lugar aos ruídos dos comboios que passam. Por vezes, os sons dos instrumentos coincidem com os dos comboios, outras vezes ouve-se apenas um instrumento, isolado ou acompanhado da manipulação de objectos, ou, noutras ocasiões, o acordeão e o trompete dialogam serenamente de forma a enriquecer a paisagem sonora.

Os dois músicos escolheram, pois, um espaço específico para a sua performance e os sons dos seus instrumentos integram-se de forma homogénea e quase orgânica com os da sonoridade envolvente, criando uma interessante e bem conseguida osmose. Ao optarem por tocar uma sucessão alieatória de contínuos sonoros, provocados pelas permanências das notas que sustêm, durante intervalos de tempo mais ou menos longos, ou sujeitos a subtis variações, enquanto se ouvem os sons dos diversos objectos manipulados, os dois músicos acabam por reinviar as suas intervenções para os sons das locomotivas que surgem para depois desaparecer. Deste modo, Costa Monteiro e Ruth Barberán criaram uma “situação sonora” e performativa que integra o som associado ao espaço envolvente da gravação e as sonoridades dos seus instrumentos, resultando num excelente e muito original trabalho.

Luz Azultransmite uma homogeneidade sonora atraente e apelativa, encontrando-se presente a imprevisibilidade resultante, quer das opções sonoras que a cada momento os músicos tomam (e que abrange não só os sons que são criados pelos instrumentistas, mas também o acto de permanecerem em silêncio), quer pelo ruído ambiente captado por Ferran Fages (um habitual colaborador dos dois improvisadores) durante a gravação. Assim, a mais recente edição dos I Treni Inerti resulta num excelente e estimulante disco, cuja escuta não deixará de deliciar os que dela quiseram usufruir. Pedro Chambel / jazz.pt

 

Now here are two of Barcelona’s most extreme improvisers, good old Alfredo Costa Monteiro and Ruth Barberán, who have often played as a trio with Ferran Fages. This one is by another collaborative team-up of theirs called I Treni Inerti, which used to include Matt Davis, and now it doesn’t, so it’s just a duo. Luz Azul (FLEXION RECORDS FLEX_002) is a single 48-minute piece called ‘Ser Res’, probably performed in real time, and though compelling and riveting, it’s also quite a testing experience to listen to. Monteiro has his slow and wheezy accordion, Barberán has her trumpet from which she contrives to extract long and spindly alien tones, and they both rattle unnamed objects about. They’re moving slowly and perplexingly, and the musical language they speak is tough to follow.

What’s going on? Well, it was recorded at an unearthly hour of the night at a deserted railway station. The duo positioned themselves at this station at three in the morning, playing for two hours, and making the most of the situation. The added aural dimension to the performance comes from the passing freight trains, whose passage both interrupts the flow of the music but is also made to accompany it in some way. The silent parts in between the arrival of the late freight trains are filled with anticipation and tension, and do somehow add traces of drama to the music. It also makes it feel incredibly remote and lonely, although Sant Vicenç de Calders may actually be an extremely lively junction for aught I know. I have no idea what brought the two musicians there, unless…maybe they deliberately sought it out as an inhospitable zone, an arena not normally considered conducive to music production, or even somewhere they could perform in secret, far from the prying ears of an audience. All of this indicates an artistic strategy on their part to lift their carcasses out of the comfort zone, concentrate on doing nothing but making the music with zero distractions, and most of all doing it for themselves – without the obligation to consider anything about “entertainment” value. These are all pure and idealistic notions about art which I can respect. After all, Charlie Parker and his men used to go to New York clubs at four in the morning specifically so they could “play for themselves” with no paying customers getting in the way of the art. And I have noted before how the English group Unseen have, collectively, done very similar things and produced great music thereby. In its hermetic way, the experience has probably helped our two Spaniards define the very severe aesthetic of I Treni Inerti. They state they are aiming for music with no “ornamentation”, making use of silence, striking a balance between the audible and inaudible, and establishing an aural zone where their own private interior worlds can grow.

Limited edition of 120 copies, and like the first release on this label, is packaged in a sandpaper cover. And even if that sandpaper trope is getting a bit stale now, at least the music is good! Ed Pinsent / The Sound Projector