Eliane Radigue — Adnos I-III

Eliane Radigue is a name well-known to me, but until this point I’d never heard a note of her work. Admittedly, a three cd set - containing three long tracks - is a somewhat daunting way to make her acquaintance; but actually the set isn’t as monolithic as you might think. The strikingly presented release, comes in a foldout cardboard wallet; holding the three cds and a small booklet about the pieces and Radigue herself. Rather than any text, the booklet reproduces letters, posters and performance notes from around the period of composition; giving an insight into the composer and works without prescription.

The three parts of ‘Adnos’ were all composed in the 1970s, and all follow a very simple structure: drone. I say simple, but its a beguiling, labyrinthian simplicity. For some reason, I’m reminded of the advertising for the board-game Othello: ‘A minute to learn, a lifetime to master’ - there’s a similar thing going on here. From a distance, these pieces are essentially ‘drone’, plain and simple; but, given more careful listening, they are incredibly detailed, textured and nuanced travels. If you listen for a minute, you will be able to grasp precisely what Radigue does here; but, frankly, it might well take a lifetime for you to pretend to have any true knowledge of the works. Although there is a sense or suspicion that ‘Adnos I-III’ might be the result of (or underpinned by) serious, intellectual music theory; the actual pleasures of the pieces are overwhelmingly sensual. Just beautiful, beautiful sound. A very physical experience too, with Radigue utilising tones that move around the room.

I realise that this is a cursory review, but there’s no disrespect meant. Some things don’t need to be ‘sold’, or explained and spoiled in the process of selling. Put very simply, if you have any interest in drone music, this seems to be a compulsory acquisition for you. Each cd is crystalline from beginning to end; built on the foundation of sheer sensual beauty, but built upwards into sometimes surprising structures and turns. If I had to express a favourite, then undoubtedly the purer drone of ‘Adnos I’ would be my choice - ‘Adnos II’ adds some rhythmic elements, and the third part runs even further in that direction - but each cd is enthralling. The three works seem to present obvious contradictions and comparisons: the sensuous moment, experienced within huge, lengthy structures (each track is over seventy minutes); the surface simplicity, versus the hard-boiled complexity that can be discovered; and the clear warmth of the sounds, compared to the sometimes almost cold, formal nature of the music. Given that the only listed instruments are an Arp synthesizer and reel-to-reel tape machines (though these are listed purely for ‘Adnos II’), Radigue truly does create sound-worlds from very little, here. As I said in the introduction, this has been my first acquaintance with Eliane Radigue’s work; but I’m quite happy to switch to ‘purple prose mode’ and declare that it might be the start of a love affair…