Matthias Puech — Mt. Hadamard National Park

Described by the artist himself, the title track, "Mt. Hadamard National Park," presents “an audio-naturalist noise meandering through an invented space that is subject to the arbitrariness of natural and mystical forces.” Springing forth from the works of the mathematician Jacques Hadamard (the nod is in the song/album title), Puech looks at how nature and natural processes are deterministic but hard to predict. Much like letting feedback into your signal chain, or letting your modular synth run somewhat amok, our noisy, synthetic world operates in a similar way to that of nature; we know pretty much how it will go, but there isn't a guarantee. This lack of control is exciting, and the sounds on Mt. Hadamard wonderfully reflect this by juxtaposing natural sounds with chaotic, but still contained, synthesis. In like a lion and out like a lamb, the title track, in its excellent ~23 minutes in one's speakers, encapsulates a range of emotion from its noisy, chaotic beginning to its high flying, ethereal ending. "Suspension" is a short, somewhat bubbling look at the type of solution one would see all throughout one's daily life. Like an audio recording in an Erlenmeyer flask, it serves as an interesting reminder of how much is actually going on in one's presence at all times. Closing out the album, "Imperceptible Life" looks at the musical properties of stridulation and uses this sound as a backdrop. Softer and more like the night while watching fireflies, this is quite a different approach to insect stridulation than many experimental fans are used to, as it's normally presented in a very harsh, "dying insect" type manner. 

 

Proving that math is natural and beautiful, Mt. Hadamard National Park is a fascinating and engaging look at chaos, predictability, nature, and synthetics. Matthias Puech's first LP on Hallow Ground is very welcome and plays equally well as subtle background music in addition to its main role as intriguing sonic art.  Never rushed and never off track, Mt. Hadamard National Park is a wonderful look at how natural and synthetic can co-exist and be equally beautiful. To check out for yourself