Evelina Domnitch, Dmitry Gelfand, CoH, — Liquified Sky
The first piece, “Mucilaginous Omniverse, Part 1” features sound from COH and installation/video documentation from Evelina Domnitch and Dimitry Gelfand. Its dominated visually by flickering blue bubbles (oil droplets, I believe), which give the impression of a cluster of comets, hurtling through space. They are accompanied by clipping, backwards lurches, over modulating background drones. These build into watery drones almost akin to reverberating didgeridoo tones, with breathy sounds that crescendo. Curiously, the audio reminds me of a more highbrow Pressure Of Speech (an obtuse “trance” outfit from the mid-90s), much helped by a rhythmic electroacoustic section halfway through. The second work on the disc (“Mucilaginous Omniverse, Part 2”) is created entirely by the Domnitch/Gelfand duo and, in stark contrast to the first, its shared bubble visuals are dark: red on black. Sonically, the piece is much more subdued as well - and all the better for it; with waves of low drones swelling like tectonic plate scraping. Nestling in this generally bassy landscape are little lines of very high pitched tones, almost glitches; which add a nice sense of detail and craft.
The third, and unashamedly my favourite, work (“Hydro Acoustic Study”) combines video from Paul Prudence with sound from Francisco Lopez. This mesmerising construction feels like the most effective marriage of visuals and audio on the album. It moves from intense strobing imagery to ghostly lights - like sunlight filtering through trees, before ending in a near-nauseating swirl of patterns. All of this video work is a very stark, and very detailed, white on black. The audio element is suitably strong too, with Lopez crafting creaks, rumbles and a drone somewhat similar to reverberating hoovers. As the track develops, Lopez emerges with a rhythmic construction that flits around the stereo-field; really cementing the notion that this is the most accomplished work here. The final piece, “Memory Vapor”, returns to the installation and video work of Domnitch and Gelfand; though this time Asmus Tietchens provides the sounds. On reflection, I probably shouldn’t have suggested such a gap in “quality” between the Prudence/Lopez piece and the rest of the compilation, since this last work is equally entrancing. Visually, its truly beautiful; certainly the most arresting video on the album. Essentially it looks like falling sands, dropping in waves and patterns and made luminescent in the colours of the spectrum. Really very enthralling, in the truest sense. Aurally, these sands (actually condensation droplets) are soundtracked by a breathy, whistling drone; constructed from waves and layers of hissing, ghostly sounds. The overall effect is of a shimmering but linear (static, even) quality which is consistent in sight and sound.
Whats been interesting with “Liquified Sky” is how much the visual elements have made the aural elements harder to define or describe - I can’t really extrapolate that any further, but its been noticeable. Perhaps we have a tendency to “see” shapes and patterns in sound, whereas in this case there are shapes and patterns already accompanying the sounds… Following on from this, its unclear how much direct input each has had into the other. The Prudence/Lopez piece would definitely seem to suggest visuals generated from sounds - or vice versa; but this remains uncertain. One piece of solid ground, though, is the fact that the last half of the compilation is really very good indeed. Its been a reminder that I should seek out more work by Lopez in particular. To end on an odd tangent: for all the “high art” implications of the compilation, the contents are actually very reminiscent of certain kinds of music-making apps - those often associated with mobile phones, for example