io — Flamenco Abstractio​ns

This is a nice looking package, which combines a simple sticker with a hand-printed outer and insert to make a noticeably “different” release. I must admit I got quite excited from reading said sticker: “david font: electronics/ jose luis rodriguez: guitar”; because my immediate thoughts were that this would be an album of electronics and flamenco guitar improv, which sounded like a fascinating meet-up. However, rather than the electronics being a separate instrument as such, they take the form of realtime processing.

So, we have nine live constructions made out of processed guitar playing; with Font chopping up Rodriguez’s guitar. Perhaps because its live, there is a definite predominance of looping and delaying on the album; which becomes somewhat “cheap” and cloying across the forty plus minutes. To some extent, in Font’s situation, its the only real weapon in his arsenal to “build” alongside the guitar - but, certainly, if this was an album of non-realtime workings, it would be very disappointing. So, there is a lot of looping, often of unprocessed guitar sounds and often moving around the sound-field. These are perhaps to be seen as the larger, “gestural” moves from the duo; but many of the more effective moments involve the slightest colouring of Rodriguez’s guitar, often very briefly. The first six tracks are all titled with numbered variations of “Sobre Mineras”, followed by “Sobre Mineras (En Vivo)” and the last two pieces: “Sobre Bulerias, No. 1” and “Sobre Bulerias, No. 2”. These two are much more convincing, to my ears, than the “Mineras” tracks. There’s a greater sense of sound exploration and manipulation, and a greater sense of composition too - too many of the earlier works seem to wander without coherency. The last piece, “Sobre Bulerias, No. 2” is particularly enjoyable, with the guitar buried under a blanket of clicks and grainy hiss.

The “set-up” of the album suggests that it warrants an “academic” listen, but I think that quite the opposite approach yields more joy. Treating it as an “ambient” work and letting it wash over the ears, like a soundscape, reveals a hazy, dream-like world - beautifully inverting all the earthy connotations of flamenco music. Though this isn’t to say there aren’t any great details to be found: there’s a wonderfully controlled section in “Sobre Mineras (En Vivo), where Font manipulates the “space” of Rodriguez’s staccato guitar, whilst introducing a creeping, eerie “flamenco” vocal. These disembodied cries sound somewhere between the Silent Hill game series, and a call to prayer; and the whole passage works incredibly well. This is an interesting project, and hopefully one that io will continue to explore. However, if anyone is listening, I would still like to hear an album of separated electronics and flamenco guitar…