david maranha

David Maranha / Gabriel Ferrandini – A fonte de Aretusa

2011-07-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

david maranha e Gabriel ferrandini

LP, 2011 ed. Mazagran Records (Portugal/Italy) MZ002

mz002_maranha/ ferrandini_2 by mazagran

This Portuguese duo combines organ and percussion in a freeform context that has very little to do with free jazz. Maranha is less interested in playing recognisable chords or melodic runs, preferring to approach it as a mysterious generator of textures. One moment it’s growling like an angry wookie, the next it’s humming and whining like a maxed-out guitar amp. That leaves room for Ferrandini to provide the detail, rolling out a delicate tapestry of sustained percussive activity from drums, cymbals, gongs and chimes. Energy ebbs and flows in billowing gusts but just when it feels as if the storm is about to break, it dissipates back into simmering intensity. Once you learn to stop waiting for a decisive pay-off, the set follows its own perfect logic.
Daniel Spicer
The Wire

Based in Lisbon, Portugal, hammond organist David Maranha and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini have something to say, judging from the live vinyl LP release A Fonte de Aretusa (Mazagran MZ002).
It's 40-some-odd continuous minutes of the duo droning, psychedelisizing and freely traversing a quietly dense soundscape that resembles an expanded explosion of what Mike Ratledge and Robert Wyatt might have done in an early Soft Machine performance. It has that sort of rhythmically open, interestingly distorted organ tone and flippy pulseless drumming that was known to come about for a minute or two in the course of a long jam by the Softs.
Of course there's a bit more to it than that. There is staying power generated betweeen the two. It goes in various directions, creates variations on the variations of the deceptively static overall sound, and never gets boring.
I find myself drawn to this one for reasons that do not have a cognitive logic. It's well mapped spontaneity on a trip without a literal map, a sonic journey that thrives from its simple premises.
Not everyone will be drawn to this one. But I think if you have read the description you will know if it is going to be you. . . or not. Play on players, dream on dreamers.

Grego Applegate Edwards

E' uno dei nostri "protetti" il portoghese David Maranha. Un artista di cui spesso ci siamo occupati e che abbiamo sempre ammirato per la capacità di fondere istanze d'avanguardia con una materia elegantemente rock, come successe per l'ottimo Marches Of the New World o per il successivo Antartica. In quei casi era il rock d'origine velvetiana ad essere sottoposto ad un trattamento di elongazione, quasi di sfaldamento del canone stesso alla base di quella materia oscuramente rock, mediato da una capacità ossessiva figlia del minimalismo meno eterodosso e dello sperimentalismo timbrico più acceso. Ora in A fonte de Aretusa -omaggio al mitico specchio d'acqua siracusano che ha sempre attratto poeti da Pindaro a D'Annunzio, da Milton a Pope- il portoghese unisce le proprie forze con un giovane e talentuoso drummer, Gabriel Ferrandini, e sposta la propria visuale sull'avant-rock più claudicante e oscuro. La formula hammond/batteria non perde in ossessività, sia chiaro, ma l'aggiunta di un drumming cosí vario e pulsante rende la fiumana droney dell'organo di Maranha ancor più libera di indagare i meandri più ossessivi/ossessionati della visuale musicale del portoghese, ma facendola risultare più viva e devastante, ipnotica e cerebrale che in passato.

L'album nasce da un a session live catturata in quel del ZDB di Lisbona e poi suddivisa in due cut, uno per facciata di vinile che mettono in chiaro, se ce ne fosse bisogno, lo spessore del progetto Maranha. Dopotutto, ce lo confessava nello speciale Ad Libitum di un paio di anni fa, la visione sonora del portoghese é un continuum senza soluzione in cui le origini lontane -l'esperienza Osso Exotico, il solo album Circunscrita - non sono poi così lontane.

Sentireascoltare

Stefano Pifferi

Portuguese David Maranha is one of our “protected ones”. An artist that we often review and always respected for his ability to combine avant-garde forms with a sophisticated rock-structure, as in the excellent Marches of the New World or the subsequent Antarctica. In those cases, the”Velvet Underground-rock' was the departure point to a process that resulted in longer pieces and modified the canon of this darken rock matter, that was handled through a obsessive capacity typical of the less heterodox minimalism and of the deepest timbric experimentation.

In this “A Fonte De Aretusa” -a tribute to a mythic reflecting pool in Syracuse that always inspired many poets from Pindaro to D'Annunzio, from Milton to Pope- the Portuguese join his talent with the young and brilliant drummer, Gabriel Ferrandini, and move their vision over the most dark and limping avant rock. The combination hammond/drums do not lose obsessiveness, but the addition of a drumming so rich and pulsating make the droney flood of Maranha's organ even more free to explore the most obsessive twists and turns of his musical inspiration, that is developed as more vital and incisive, hypnotic and cerebral than before.

The record comes from a single live session at the ZDB in Lisbon and after divided in two cuts, one for each side of the vinyl that clarify, even if it was not necessary, the depth of the Maranha's idea. In fact, he explained it in the special issue "Ad Libitum" a few years ago: his musical vision is a continuum without interruption that cames -the “osso exótico” experience and his solo album “circunscrita”- are two faces of the same coin.

Sentireascoltare

Stefano Pifferi

Sur le noir de couverture du 33 tours apparaissent en blanc son titre (A fonte da Aretusa) et les noms des musiciens qu’on y entend : David Maranha (orgue Hammond) et Gabriel Ferrandini (batterie, percussions) – le premier est un élément d’Osso Exótico et de Bowline, le second est membre du RED Trio et partenaire occasionnel de Rodrigo Amado.

Souvenir d’un des concerts que Maranha et Ferrandini ont donnés ensemble depuis 2010, A fonte da Aretusa tremble puis oscille sous les effets d’un orgue à drone et de coups donnés au loin sur un kit de batterie. L’exercice est de domptage : Ferrandini claquant sec pour ramener Maranha sur ligne droite.

Comme attendu, l’opposition affichée mène au grondement : la vingtaine de minutes de la seconde face augmentant d’un peu de noise l’exercice instrumental qui balançait jusque-là entre ambient inquiète et post-rock dernier. Mais à la sortie, voici Maranha recadré : le drone fin dans lequel il a trouvé refuge est ainsi de conclusion.

Le son du grisly

Guillaume Belhomme

Latest collaboration of the acclaimed minimalist portuguese musician David Maranha with the talented free-form drummer Gabriel Ferrandini in a 42 minutes of a virulent organ+drums out-jazz drone improvisation. “A fonte de Aretusa” is the convergence between the legendary organist David Maranha and the free-form young revelation drummer Gabriel Ferrandini. Based in Lisbon, Portugal this duo started in 2010, with regular rehearsals and concerts that lead to this first album that captures a bloody free live act where the music is pulsing and vibrating over a droning flow of sound. 42 minutes (here divided in two, due to vinyl restrictions) of a massive attack to the listener among free percussive frames and brutal organic drone merging together into a powerful and permanent movement of vivid music captured in one of their first live performances at ZDB venue.

Portuguese composer David Maranha has always had an ear for knotty, unlikely textures, combinations of timbre of timbre that raise the eyebrow and pucker the mouth. Previous releases have seen him match unorthodox instrumental combinations with a love of steady state persistence. His brittle, bonescraping minimalism faintly nods to the likes of Phill Niblock or Arnold Dreyblatt but remains essentially Maranha’s own. Drummer Gabriel Ferrandini mixes extremes of space, density, momentum and gesture in his thoughtful dialogues with Maranha organ, always displaying impeccable taste and timing.
Fabio Carboni
Soundohm

D'un côté David Maranha à l'orgue hammond, de l'autre Gabriel Ferrandini à la batterie et percussion. Duo enregistré live au ZDB de Lisbonne en novembre 2010. Long mouvement interrompu par le changement de face d'un flux de vibrations free et hypnotique. Cela s'inscrit parfaitement dans le travail de David Maranha et ravira autant les amateurs de drone que de free !
Metamkine

Osso Exótico - Sablier

2010-04-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

patrícia machás, andré maranha, francisco tropa, manuel mota e david maranha
LP+DVD, 2010 ed. Serralves (Portugal) MACS-DVD01 and MACS-LP01

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
Osso exótico - sablier by davidmaranha
Oustanding new release!! Although with irregular appearances in recent years, Osso Exotico is by far one of the most consistent music projects in Portuguese experimental music. "Sablier" is their ninth album,, and the band includes André e David as well, Francisco Tropa, Patrícia Machás e Manuel Mota. Truly deluxe LP edition, gatefold cover, with and additional DVD.
Fabio Carboni
Soundohm

In a plain virgin, nice cardboard sleeve with a small die cut, we find a LP and a DVD by my all time favorite Portuguese band Osso Exotico. Perhaps Osso Exotico shifted to the back of my memory, seeing David Maranha, at least in the last decade, more and more active as a solo performer and improviser. But 'his' band still exists and consists of his brother Andre Maranha, Francisco Tropa, Patricia Machas and Manuel Moto. The website of the label (which seems more like a prestigious art institute) doesn't seem have any information regarding this release, or the performance connected to it. It seems to be some kind of performance, which the band performed a few times, the DVD was shot on March 15th 2009 and the LP recorded a week later. I started with the DVD, in which I see two hands with paint or chalk performing some kind of action painting, but almost in slow motion. It also seems if the sounds of the underground on which this action is performed, is amplified. Slowly it is revealed
what the underground is and what the objects are, which are in the hands. I won't spoil that. There is also music in the background, organ perhaps, guitar maybe, but it stays in the background, and seems to be filling in the gaps. On the one sided LP the music is more in balance with the action, which involves, it seems, the same action but here the music is more upfront, which is quite nice. A similar, minimal approach which regards to organs and guitar, as well as the scrapping of the surface. The music is very gentle, unlike some of the more demanding solo music of David Maranha (which is more like Velvet Underground), and also, it seems, more loosely improvised than some of the more tighter composed pieces of the older Osso Exotico. Throughout however, in all its briefness (two pieces of twenty minutes), a more than excellent product. Osso Exotico never lets me down.
Frans de Waard
Vital Weekly

Forget "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and "Savoy Truffle" – this is the white album that's been getting the airplay round these parts recently. Not just a single-sided LP either, but also a DVD, which explains the curious instrumentation: André Maranha and Francisco Tropa "play" bottles and sand, Patrícia Machás is on copper pot, Manuel Mota is on electric guitar and OE founding father (has it really been 21 years?) David Maranha is organ. The strange haphazard creaks and cracks come from the bottles being rolled sideways across grains of sand on a hard (amplified?) surface – though unless you pop the DVD in and see how it's done you'd probably never guess – its austere friction recalls Raymond Dijkstra's work, but unlike his stuff this is eminently listenable. Asssuming, that is, you feel at home in the murky twilight of, say, Miles Davis's "He Loved Him Madly", or the numerous Loren Connors outings that particular piece inspired. Delicate, haunting, mysterious stuff.
Dan Warburton
The Paris Transatlantic Magazine

500 copie per il nuovo álbum degli Osso Exótico di David (organo) e André Maranha (sabbia e bottiglia) con Francisco Tropa (sabbia e bottiglia), Patrícia Machás (bicchiere di rame) e Manuel Mota (chitarra elettrica). Un’uscita originale com un folder bianco immacolato in ogni sua parte - a eccezione di una minuscola indicazione di responsabilità – che contiene un DVD e un LP inciso in un solo lato, il primo registrato il 15 marzo 2009, il secondo una settimana più tardi. Anche la strumentazione dei cinque esula dall’usuale, come già indicato; la lunga improvvisazione dell’LP è realizzata su una distesa di suoni minimali e ovattati forniti dai due strumenti ‘classici’ (la chitarra di Mota è come sempre una meraviglia assoluta) sopra i quali si muovono i rumorismi accidentali, i colpi, i movimenti di bottiglia, sabbia, bicchiere. Gli stessi strumenti ‘organici’ sono gli attori principali del DVD, che svela quindi la natura dei rumori presenti nell’LP: il semplice rotolare dei vetri sui granelli, l’accarezzamento con le mani, ogni piccolo movimento crea suoni che si accostano al resto. Operazione squisitamente concettuale (il DVD è a camera fissa e con unici protagonisti gli oggetti e le mani), “Sablier” ha comunque valore anche dal punto di vista strettamente sonoro.
Stefano I. Bianchi
Blow Up Magazine

Formados em 1989, na altura com André e David Maranha, Bernardo Devlin e António Forte, os Osso Exótico editaram até ao momento oito álbuns. Embora com aparições irregulares nos últimos anos (principalmente em actuações ao vivo), mantêm-se como um dos projectos mais duradouros e consequentes na música experimental portuguesa. “Sablier” é o nono álbum e é uma peça ensaiada ao longo do ano passado com o propósito desta edição para Serralves, com formação constituída por André e David, Francisco Tropa, Patrícia Machás e Manuel Mota. Ganha maior relevância ouvida ao vivo, pelo trabalho percurssivo de André Maranha e Francisco Tropa, conseguido apenas pelo deslizar de uma garrafa de vidro sobre grãos (o som do vinil está óptimo e dá uma dimensão incrível a este trabalho). Sendo impossível de o fazer em casa, o DVD capta bem a experiência e é essencial para compreender e usufruir a peça.
Pedro Santos
Flur

David Maranha - Antarctica

2010-03-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

david maranha, riccardo dillon wanke, joão milagre, stefano pilia, patrícia machás e afonso simões
LP, 2010 ed. Roaratorio (USA) ROAR 18 LP
http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

david maranha - antarctica by davidmaranha

Record of the year (2010) by the charts of The Wire, Dusted and Blow Up

David Maranha is a luminary of the Portuguese underground. The two tracks of Antarctica fall into the space between dirge and drone opened up by the Velvet Underground and Tony Conrad’s recordings with Faust. The drums of Afonso Simões and tambourine of Patrícia Machás provide the solemn beat, slow and heavy as an execucion procession, over which Maranha’s violin and Riccardo Dillon Wanke’s guitar build a steel-walled wail. They enclose the sound in a bleak coruscating drone anchored by the leaden bass of João Milagre or Stefano Pilia (side A and Side B respectively). Favouring intensity over sheer volume, Maranha and co achieve a focused minimalism that riff based drone rockers aspire to but cannot reach.
Nick Southgate
The Wire

The new Maranha’s album is advertised as a continuation of the magnificent "March of the New World" published three years ago, and indeed the points of contact are many though the band is not the same. From the previous line-up remains only David Maranha (organ, violin) and João Milagre (bass on side A), joined here by Stefano Pilia (bass on the second side), Riccardo Dillon Wanke (electric guitar), Patricia Machás (tambourine) and Afonso Simões (drums). The music is also overwhelming: two long pieces in which the neominimalism distinctive of the author are combined with a strong, obsessive-suffering rock feeling brings inevitably to memory "venus in furs" of Velvet Underground, and even La Monte Young or Tony Conrad that delineated with Faust "Outside the dream syndicate".
Subtle variations are present on both tracks of the album: the battery propagates a slow and mournful 4/4, a bubbling sailing organ, a dissonant violin that draws, extends and expands repeated cycles; a sound that surrounds and deceives the senses reaching the heart with movements of hopeless nostalgia (splendid work on bass and guitar by Pilia and Wanke on side B, a true masterpiece) that outline scenarios of static ice, loneliness - bright white. Hurry up, it's an edition of only 300 copies! (8)
Stefano I. Bianchi
Blow Up

O novo álbum de Maranha é anunciado como a continuação do magnífico "marches of the new world" editado há três anos, e com efeito os pontos de contacto são muitos embora a formação não seja a mesma. Da formação anterior resta apenas David Maranha (órgão e violino) e João Milagre (baixo no lado a), aos quais se juntam Stefano Pilia (baixo no segundo lado), Riccardo Dillon Wanke (guitarra eléctrica), Patrícia Machás (pandeireta) e Afonso Simões (bateria). A música é igualmente formidável: dois longos temas nos quais o neominimalismo típico do autor se combinam com um forte, obsessivo e sofrido sentimento rock que nos traz inevitavelmente à memoria "venus in furs" dos Velvet Underground, e ainda La Monte Young ou Tony Conrad que com os Faust delinearam "Outside the dream syndicate".
São subtis as variações de ambas as faixas do álbum: a bateria que propaga um 4/4 lento e fúnebre, o orgão que navega e borbulha, o violino dissonante que desenha, estende e amplia insistentes ciclos; um som que envolve e ilude os sentidos atingindo ao coração com movimentos de irremediável nostalgia (esplêndido o trabalho de Pilia no baixo e a guitarra de Wanke no lado b, uma verdadeira obra-prima) que delineiam cenários de gelo imóvel, solidão - branquíssimos. Despachem-se, é uma edição de apenas 300 cópias! (8)
Stefano I. Bianchi
Blow Up

A limited LP of which I sadly only got a digital version of, but by exception I am accepting this. Partly because I know David Maranha for a long time, having reviewed a lot of his work, which I like a lot, and partly to tell about the great solo performance he gave a while back in Extrapool, here in Nijmegen. Sitting behind his organ he played power chords at full volume, for maybe, forty minutes. It could have easily been an hour, and wasn't easily digested by some, save me and a few others. Here he assembled a group, with himself on organ and violin, Riccardo Dillon Wanke on electric guitar, Patricia Machas on tambourine, Afonso Simoes on drums, Joao Milagre and Stefano Pilia (each on one side with the bass). I heard this one extensively yesterday, but today I started with some ancient popmusic and when that record was over, I simply thought some other popmusic would come in. Oh yes, was that Nico? Or perhaps Velvet Underground's 'Venus In Furs'? But hold on, I never had that in
my
playlist. Oh its Maranha and his crew. The start is very much the same, but then what ever comes next is more like Faust's early drone rock. Pounding drums, glissandi on the guitar, tambourine and bass pinning the lines down. Its a great record, especially if you were too young for the early Faust, or even going back further down the road: LaMonte Young's Theatre Of Eternal Music, Tony Conrad or even Glass's early electric violin piece. Two slabs of excellent minimal music that breathe sixties all over. (FdW)
Frans de Waard
Vital Weekly

Portuguese multi-instrumentalist and composer David Maranha isn't exactly well-known in the States, though his work in drone-rock ensemble Osso Exótico has spanned the better part of twenty years. Cue Minneapolis's Roaratorio (Paul Metzger, Pauline Oliveros, and Joe McPhee) to bring a snippet of Maranha's work to broader attention. Maranha's violin and organ are joined by guitarist Riccardo Dillon Wanke, drummer Alfonso Simões, percussionist Patricia Machás and bassists João Milagre and Stefano Pilia on two variants on the Antarctica theme, each taking up a side of this beautifully rendered silkscreen-jacket LP. Antarctica is a plodding funereal march, drums and tambourine in lockstep as guitar feedback and violin saw and moan over the top. But this music isn't nearly as harsh as a John Cale or Angus MacLise minimal piece, despite some similarities; the edges are just rounded enough to set it apart from the harsh caterwaul of 1960s New York minimalism. Perhaps it's a geographic thing, too, and the Mediterranean approach to drone music has a more delicate disposition, enveloping rather than confrontational, a slow sunrise rather than a sonic slab; things get positively rocking by the second side of this excellent and no-frills recording.
Clifford Allen
Paris Transatlantic Magazine

David Maranha’s recordings stretch back over 20 years with the Portuguese avant trio Osso Exótico, as well as collaborations with Z’ev and Minit. A followup to Marches Of The New World (2007), Antarctica is made up of two side-long excursions into monolithic drone-rock. In the vein of Tony Conrad & Faust, “Venus In Furs,” La Monte Young and Terry Riley, Maranha’s ensemble is driven by keyboards, strings, and hypnotized-heartbeat percussion. Like the great white expanse of the titular continent, it can be taken in simply as a glorious wash of sound; listen to it closely, however, and you’ll hear the smallest details jump out in high relief: a feather can move a mountain. An edition of 300 copies in silkscreened covers. Digital download coupon included.
James Lindbloom
Press Release

Monolithic new ensemble recording led by organist/violinist David Maranha a key player in the contemporary Portugese underground alongside Manuel Mota, Margarida Garcia et al. Featuring Riccardo Dillon Wanke on electric guitar, Joao Milagre and Stefano Pilia on bass, Patricia Machas on tambourine and Afonso Simoes on drums, Antartica consists of two sidelong works based on the blueprint of Tony Conrad and Faust’s martial minimalist classic, Outside The Dream Syndicate with heavens of organ, strings and percussion crashing peak after flatlined peak. Edition of 300 copies with silkscreened sleeves and download coupon.
David Keenan
Volcanic Tongue

This LP sounds great. The keening violin nicely shorts out most higher thought, the buzzing organ evaporates the rest, and the music’s stolid trudge will lure your pulse into locked step. The textures are raw, the sound hypnotic, the effect nicely time-stopping.
Bill Meyer
Dusted

Primeiro com os Osso Exótico, a solo, e mais recentemente com os Curia, David Maranha é seguramente um dos músicos portugueses mais importantes nos últimos vinte anos. “Antarctica” é um seguimento natural de “Marches Of The New World”, um dos grandes discos editados em Portugal na década passada. Segue portanto uma linhagem de drone-rock, mas enquanto “Marches” soava a um disco de maior progressão, “Antarctica” é mais estático e de pequenas nuances. Da escola de Tony Conrad, La Monte Young e Terry Riley, os dois lados do LP soam a mantras que se retêm em loop mental durante mais tempo do que a sua duração. Há uma vertente quase interminável nestes dois actos, bem demonstrada no concerto de apresentação deste disco há umas semanas na Zé dos Bois. Espécie de actos contínuos que vale a pena absorver dentro e fora da música. Edição limitada e numerada a 300 exemplares.
Pedro Santos
Flur

Arriva, a tre anni di distanza dal precedente “Marches Of The New World”, il nuovo disco di David Maranha, tra i rappresentanti più in vista nel campo del neo-minimalismo.
Con un occhio puntato verso le esperienze fondamentali del Teatro della Musica Eterna, di Tony Conrad e, va da sé, dei Velvet Underground, il musicista portoghese offre, in quaranta minuti e rotti, altri saggi della sua visione sonora. Due lunghe tracce (venti minuti ciascuna) dove organo, violino, basso (il “nostro” Stefano Pilia), tambourine, chitarra e batteria imbastiscono avvolgenti ipnosi dal cuore tetro e dall’anima angosciata.
I due brani si assomigliano moltissimo: portamento depresso della batteria, violino intento ad arabescare con ispide dissonanze la marea montante di algida rassegnazione, organo che scivola sornione e onnipresente, basso e chitarra che completano il quadro con tocchi sparsi, sfumature sommesse, accenti sfuggenti. Esperienza di abbandono, come al solito. Ma “Antarctica”, con il suo sottotesto di solitudine e malinconia, sembra soltanto un modo come un altro per consentire a Maranha di ripresentarsi sulle scene.
Poco da dire, insomma, anche se i fan gradiranno, ne sono sicuro.
Francesco Nunziata
Ondarock

David Maranha torna al suo solo-project in cui unisce la fascinazione per il minimalismo e l’indubbio retroterra rock. Un po’ come succedeva per Marches Of The New World, di cui questo Antarctica è ideale prosecuzione, le lande toccate dal compositore portoghese sono quelle di confine tra i “generi” citati sopra: da un lato il minimalismo più rock-oriented che prende le mosse dal Dream Syndicate di LaMonte Young, passa per Terry Riley e arriva all’Outside The Dream Syndicate della premiata ditta Conrad/Faust; dall’altro l’insanabile amore per i Velvet più dilatati e trancey, tutti pelle, depravazioni e reiterazione.
Ad accompagnare Maranha (a organo e violino) troviamo Riccardo Dillon Wanke alla chitarra elettrica, Joao Milagre e Stefano Pilia al basso, Patricia Machàs al tambourine e Afonso Simoes alla batteria. Dunque una grande band d’appoggio dalla notevole coesione e forza evocativa, per un suono reiterato che non si limita a disegnare nuovi paesaggi sonori nella coscienza alterata dell’ascoltatore, ma si offre corposo e ipnotico come non mai.
Meritoria, in questo senso, la scelta del vinile: nelle facciate del disco le due suite untitled da 20 minuti l’una spalmano la catalessi sonora su un tempo in apparenza immoto, ma in cui le minime variazioni cromatiche sprigionano una agonizzante e monolitica versione drone-rock dell’ottimo e screziato predecessore.
Lande distanti, malinconicamente solitarie e gelide vengono evocate attraverso un ossessivo lavorio di cesello sui timbri di violino, organo e chitarre che pone Maranha ai vertici del genere per ricercatezza e risultati.
Stefano Pifferi
Sentireascoltare

O tão aguardado segundo álbum…
David Maranha é um dos músicos mais interessantes do experimentalismo português. Muitos de vocês estão neste momento a ter o primeiro contacto com o seu nome pois é daqueles que não dá nas vistas, a música fala por si. Marches of the New World (2007) foi o primeiro disco em nome próprio (não entender como a solo) depois de nos oitentas ter iniciado uma marcha brilhante com os Osso Exótico. Também faz parte de projectos como os Curia e inclusive já colaborou com Z'EV ou Ben Frost mas na minha opinião o seu auge musical encontra-se nestas explorações hipnóticas. Drone de topo, estes temas são viagens imperdíveis, são das melhores coisas que alguma vez se fez neste canto à beira-mar.
Antarctica, o segundo, sai hoje via Roaratorio que é casa de mestres como Joe McPhee, Ben Chasny ou Corsano e é aqui que quero chegar: malta do sul, se aí estivesse não perdia este momento por nada deste mundo. Antarctica é hoje apresentado no palco da ZDB pelo próprio Maranha, Bernardo Devlin, Manuel Mota, Riccardo Wanke e Afonso Simões.
André Mendes
Amplificasom

Faz sentido que "Antarctica" seja editado pela Roaratorio, editora norte-americana que já lançou discos de gente como Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance), Vibracathedral Orchestra, autores de longas "jams" hipnóticas e psicadélicas, e Pauline Oliveros, experimentalista interessada em atributos do som como a reverberação e a ressonância. Faz sentido porque "Antarctica" está algures entre o lado mais rock e o mais "académico", à falta de melhor expressão, da música experimental.
Neste disco, Maranha, que pertence aos Osso Exótico, volta ao território de "Marches of the New World". Editado em vinil, com uma peça de cada lado, "Antarctica" pode mesmo ser visto como uma sequela daquele disco de 2007.
A colaboração de Tony Conrad com os Faust e os Velvet Underground quando se desligavam das canções e se entregavam ao transe continuam a ser pontos de referência, algo sobretudo visível no lado A. Há um violino aos círculos, que remete para "Venus in Furs" dos Velvet, sobre o ruminar do órgão, a bateria e a pandeireta, precisas e repetitivas, como o bater do coração. Estas características mantêm-se no lado B, em que frases de órgão infinitas ganham preponderância no embalo hipnótico.
A formação de luxo, composta por Maranha (órgão e violino), Riccardo Dillon Wanke (guitarra eléctrica), João Milagre e Stefano Pilia (baixo, no lado A e B, respectivamente), Afonso Simões (bateria) e Patrícia Machás (pandeireta), soube criar uma música que acumula, em vez de explodir, que se enrola sobre si mesma, na qual que as variações estão, sobretudo, nos detalhes e no espaço que o colectivo dá para um dado instrumento num dado momento.
Pela proximidade estética, é inevitável a comparação com "Marches of the New World", disco brilhante que este não ultrapassa. "Antarctica" é, contudo, um território que vale a pena explorar: é música para respirar e absorver, o que, nestes tempos agitados, não é pouco.
Pedro Rios
Ípsilon

Hipnose por via da repetição que transparece em toda a plenitude nesse magnífico corpo de obra de David Maranha (casos mais recentes em Marches of the New World ou na mítica actuação no Out.fest em 2008). Em apresentação ao novíssimo Antartica e fazendo-se acompanhar por um dream team das músicas mais livres em Portugal, que importa referenciar. Maranha, Bernardo Devlin e Ricardo Wanke nos teclados, Afonso Simões na bateria e Manuel Mota numa surpreendente prestação no baixo (alguém disse que se tornou automaticamente o melhor baixista da actualidade, e não andou muito distante da verdade). Ao início a mistura estava estranha, com a secção rítmica a sobrepor-se aos drones de teclado para um sentimento de incompletude. Ao longo da actuação, o colosso foi-se compondo, com Maranha a conduzir as operações para ligeiros devaneios de um activo Wanke e a maior subtileza de Devlin. Alicerçados na batida ritualista/marcial de Simões e numa nota de baixo incessante em pequenas variações de grande impacto corpóreo. Peça longa, rastejava no éter sem nunca se deter em fórmulas, numa transversalidade entre o minimalismo de La Monte Young ou Terry Riley, o peso do metal mais esotérico ou as viagens cósmicas do Kraut, numa singular identidade Maranha que há muito se lhe reconhece. E reverencia com justiça.
Bruno Silva
Bodyspace

Antarctica não é o sobressalto chamado Marches of The New Word. Apresenta outra forma, outra natureza. Para já, trata-se de um vinil feito de dois temas com estruturas e tempos muito semelhantes. A outra razão é de ordem estética: certa experimentação que caracterizou o rock ouve-se agora mais nítida. Seria difícil, portanto, escutar os veios sonoros (e a diversidade) que caracterizaram o primeiro disco a solo de David Maranha: não há faixas como “Oil Crows” ou “Virgins Visons” em Antarctica.
O que domina é a repetição, o trabalho musical do e com o órgão Hammond sobre os outros instrumentos. Os dois temas – sem título, ambos de 20 minutos – são como blocos sonoros alimentadas pelo ritmo. Neste movimento, cada instrumento tem o (seu) grande plano, a sua acção. A pandeireta torna o ambiente mais chão ou “lírico”; o violino colore a constância da música; os acordes da guitarra ameaçam criar algo próximo da linguagem do rock.
O rock. Pois é o rock que respira em Antárctica. Não o convencional, mas o heterodoxo, de um respeitável linhagem que começa nos Velvets e arriba algures entre os No Neck Blues Band e os Jackie-O Motherfucker (dos primeiros anos). Música do passado ao presente, ligada pelas possibilidades do órgão Hammond. Nem por acaso, o disco tem edição da Roaratorio, selo americano que lançou coisas de Ben Chasny, Knife World e Vibracathedral Orchestra, bem como de compositores mais “experimentais”. Um encontro feliz e que demonstra a versatilidade da música de David Maranha sem a limitar a classificações e categorias.
Menção final para a mão cheia de colaboradores (a maioria inéditos): Afonso Simões, Patrícia Machás, Ricardo Dillon Wanke, João Milagre, Stefano Pilia. Porque esta música também nasce de uma comunidade.
José Marmeleira
Time Out

Curia II - 15th December 2007 - Edição Limitada

2009-07-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Afonso Simões, David maranha, Manuel Mota e Margarida Garcia
LP, 2009 ed. Headlights (Portugal) LPH12
http://www.myspace.com/curiapalace
curia - paris by davidmaranha
Beautiful new hand-numbered edition of 100 copies private press LP in black printed wraparound sleeves from a group that brings together the cream of the Portuguese underground, with both Manuel Mota and Margardia Garcia on electric guitars, David Maranha on organ and Afonso Simoes on drums. This is free music that draws inspiration equally from the gradual projection style of Masayuki Takayanagi’s New Direction Unit, the communal afro-futurism of the Sun Ra Arkestra, St Louis’ Black Artists Group and the AACM big bands, wastoid wah heavy psychedelic freeform and the keyboard and F/X funk swamp of the late Miles Davis groups, Love Cry Want et al. Mota’s recent experiments with wah-wah have launched his solo guitar thought into a whole new rock/jazz zone but until now there has been virtually nada in terms of audio documentation. The pairing with Garcia’s heavy bottom end bowing and sudden sputtering tone explosions is an absolute beauty, with Garcia providing a monstrous backbone from which Mota shoots spurts of quicksilver electricity that explode like fireworks all over Maranha’s gorgeous organ patterns. A fantastic release from a bunch of major thinkers who shoot holes in easy free music strategies. Highly recommended.
David Keenan
Volcanic Tongue

Afonso Simões, David Maranha, Margarida Garcia e Manuel Mota formam os Curia. É na editora deste último, a Headlights, que sai o seu segundo registo, depois da estreia muito bem sucedida na Fire Museum com “Curia”, em inícios de 2008. “II – 15th December 2007″ é um registo ao vivo, não editado (apenas com o corte para a troca de lado do vinil), de um projecto que une alguns dos melhores nomes da música improvisada – e não só – portuguesa. O que aqui se encontra é, de facto, o melhor destes mundos: a candura de Margarida, a voz única de Mota, o controlo, domínio e espaço de Afonso e os vôos contínuos no órgão de David Maranha. Como aqui é registado, há uma harmonia incrível quando os quatro se encontram na mesma sala. Uma espécie de compromisso próximo de Morton Feldman ou William Basinski, sem o objectivo de uma forma concreta, mas algo que se deixa respirar e deseja que respire. Algo espiritual sem as cenas new age. Edição limitada a 100 cópias.
Flur

dru

2008-07-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

David maranha, Manuel Mota e Riccardo Dillon wanke
CD, 2008 ed. Headlights (Portugal) CDH10
http://www.myspace.com/granddru
Excerpt 2 Nov 2008 2 by davidmaranha
Não é de estranhar que os Dru lancem o seu disco de estreia com pouco mais de dois meses volvidos sobre a conversa que fundaria o trio.
"L'Aiguille", que é apresentado no próximo dia 10 no lisboeta Maxime, é resultado da cumplicidade entre David Maranha (dos Osso Exótico), Manuel Mota e Riccardo Dillon Wanke (Maranha e Mota, por exemplo, partilham outro projecto, os Curia). As improvisações que deram origem a "L'Aiguille" são enformadas por conversas prévias, que dão à música, gravada em apenas uma semana, uma linha coerente e extremamente focada. As sete peças viajam pacientemente por entre fios do órgão Hammond de Maranha (que parece ruminar constantemente) e do piano eléctrico de Wanke e evocações de baladas jazz pela guitarra de Manuel Mota, a meio caminho entre a melodia e a desconstrução. Elíptica, a música dos Dru decorre rente à superfície, sem picos de intensidade e praticamente sem tensão, tornando-se interessante pelos detalhes e texturas que se vão desenhando nas camadas de som. Na sexta peça, em que os músicos investem mais na criação de dinâmicas, impressiona a fluidez dos três discursos, que se encaixam sem atropelos. "L'Aiguille" é mais um sinal da boa saúde da música experimental portuguesa, que nos últimos anos tem dado muitos motivos para sorrir.
Pedro Rios
ípsilon 5-12-2008

Curia

2007-07-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Afonso Simões, David maranha, Manuel Mota e Margarida Garcia

CD, 2007 ed. Fire Museum (USA) FM15

http://www.myspace.com/curiapalace
Fire Museum 4 Maio 2007 Curia by davidmaranha

"Fire Museum Records presents the eponymous debut release by the Portuguese molten music masters, Curia. Forged in the fertile grounds of the Lisbon music underground, each member an established musician in their own right, what each brings to the new project is a commitment to sonic exploration that builds on their individual histories while creating a collective identity that is uniquely Curia. The alchemy here is stunning, as bowed and wah guitars, Hammond organ and percussion intertwine and fade out to create a soundscape that is not only unique, but a high point for the fascinating Portuguese experimental music scene (Special guest on track 3: Helena Espvall). David Maranha: started his work in music in 1986, both solo and with the group Osso Exótico. Manuel Mota: from the late '80s to 1997 studied and experimented with prepared guitar (mainly acoustic) and focused his work on drone music; influenced by Phill Niblock and La Monte Young. Margarida Garcia: Margarida collaborates regularly with Manuel Mota. Afonso Simões: he has performed with the likes of Mayo Thompson, Rafael Toral, Helena Espvall, and Mean Motion."
Steven Tobin, press release

Always providing for space for each other while still bringing the heat poignantly, the members of the Curia manage to walk that fine line between under and over playing, with deliberate indulgence, creating a scape as odd and alien that is difficult to box. With various outstanding personal works, the members of curia, Afonso Simões, David Maranha, Manuel Mota and Margarida Garcia, share a common ground- the lisbon´s underground- but each has a very personal history and their music clearly reflects that - everyone there feels free to play whatever they like but the result has an unique character even being free from style barriers. Together they shaped a space of continuity and at the same time re-write the territory of their approach to music. Formed in February of 2007, their sound comes through the layering and gathering of each individual's unique personal language. These cat's work also fruited in two releases in the same year, namely the eponymous curia CD on Fire Museum Records and LP curia II on Ruby Red Records.

Curia could be one of those bands coined with that horrible definition of "supergroup".
Curia´s line-up consists of an all-star quartet of portugal best players in the fields of improvised and free music, including of Manuel Mota, David Maranha (also Osso Exótico and Organ Eye), Margarida Garcia and Afonso Simões (half of the free-rock group Fish & Sheep). Furthermore there´s Helena Espvall ( from the band Espers ) making a punctual apparition as a guest .

There´s not one linear definition of what this music might be : only a sense of urge and dialogue that transcends the mundane ground. Having not found a proper definition to describe this music one should focus on what really matters, and that is sound. It´s a music of ghosts, of evocation, constantly habited with a swirling and often perverse sense of crescendo, going from some really abrasive sonic explorations to atmospheric passages of pure psychedelia. The words "form" and "regularity" have new meanings in Curia´s lexical, still one can´t deny there´s a kind cohesion , a clearly noticeable guideline that runs trough all the music.

What could easily turn into a battles of egos is instead a statement of freedom, mutual respect and creativity.
Here as the cliché goes the whole is not equal to the sum of the parts. No. Here the whole it´s something dazzling and new.
O Bom Garfo

Min kännedom om portugisisk musik har under lång tid inte sträckt sig mycket längre än till minimalisten Rafael Toral. Under senare år har dock en våg av underjordisk aktivitet fullkomligt sköljt ut över världen på såväl små inhemska bolag som utländska dito. Även om det här är Curias debutskiva är bandets medlemmar i allra högsta grad delaktiga i denna utveckling då de såväl solo som i andra konstellationer har bidragit till scenens vitalitet och goda renommé.

David Maranha, Manuel Mota, Margarida Garcia och Afonso Simões skapar som Curia en sorts genreöverskridande improvisationer som på det stora hela är lågmälda i sitt uttryck men som likväl är förhållandevis svårforcerade. Bearbetade gitarrljud, genomskärande övertoner och bisarra bakgrundsljud möter släpande orgelfigurer och fragmentarisk percussion i en helhet som är krävande men också synnerligen givande. Kanske inte på det där omedelbara sättet utan snarare en känsla som kommer smygande ju mer man tar sig tid att stanna upp och fascineras av alla detaljer och den komplexitet som karaktäriserar denna kvartetts musicerande.

Mats Gustafsson
Sound of Music

Tirando partido da imobilidade da sua plateia, alguém tentava convencer os especados diante de um televisor de que dado território era um deserto. Como quem ensaia um ritual de hipnose, esse alguém gesticulava e repetia sem, sem, sem emparelhando a palavra com cada um dos elementos (casas, hotéis, etc.) que deviam preencher tal área para que não fosse um ermo onde nada se passa. A crer que é longa a distância entre o suposto deserto e quem apenas ouvir falar acerca do mesmo, não será de todo surpreendente dar conta de que alguns receptores passivos da mensagem possam, na necessidade de ter uma qualquer opinião em vez de nenhuma, consentir que o lugar em questão era, de facto, um vácuo, e isto sem nunca o terem sequer farejado.

Não se conhece a mesma tendência manhosa e ludibriante ao colectivo Curia, cujos integrantes já vão dispensando apresentações, mas confirma-se que também este seu primeiro disco é feito sem evidentes crescendos ou decrescendos, sem aparente necessidade de virtuosismos, sem estruturas imediatamente reconhecíveis nos seus quatro movimentos (é livre, sem ser promíscuo). Conforme as perspectivas, dir-se-ia sobre o trabalho lançado pela Fire Museum que o mesmo obedece às premissas de um protótipo de deserto ou, a partir de um ângulo mais construtivo, à disciplina da música que faz categórico uso da elipse e silêncio. Acontece que, mesmo sem largar ao ar um espectáculo de pirotecnia, Curia consegue arrancar reacções de pasmo por meio do avultado número de fenómenos que produzem, por aproximação (na eminência da fricção), os quatro elementos armazenados em sarcófagos separados: a bateria e percussão de Afonso Simões, o calejado órgão Hammond de David Maranha, a guitarra eléctrica wah de Manuel Mota e a guitarra eléctrica tocada com arco por Margarida Garcia (sendo o violoncelo de Helena Espvall, parte dos Espers, o quinto elemento convidado para valiosa participação pontual).

Sendo também por si só um novo mundo paralelo, Curia, ergue-se naturalmente sobre estratos que frisam as capacidades dos executantes, em vez de anulá-las por batalha de sobrevivência entre egos. Em certa medida, é disco onde a peregrinação dos instrumentos favorece um acompanhamento igualmente peregrino de quem escuta (mais abençoado, se movido por uma fé cega). Singra também enquanto conjunto de testemunhos registados no epicentro exacto de um diversificado sismo conspirado por quatro células que simularam um adormecimento faquir, mas que sorrateiramente foram palmilhando toda a dimensão dos seus respectivos espectros sonoros e, por arrasto, a avultada quantidade de recursos que esses oferecem, mais nitidamente quando respeitada a peculiar logística Curia.

Afinal, a progressão dos Curia desenvolve-se um pouco como a que separava Indiana Jones do Santo Graal n’A Grande Cruzada: sucede-se atenta ao soletrar pedonal das coordenadas que os seus membros têm como religiosas (tal como Indy tentava a palavra Jeová/Iehova) e manifesta-se mais repleta de ideias espontâneas quando sente o seu equilíbrio ameaçado (um pouco como o aventureiro, quando pisava em falso). Curia é disco de revelações a ter por perto daqui em diante. A estagnação é a doença, eles são a Curia.

Miguel Arsénio
bodyspace 08/01/2008

A música experimental portuguesa continua a dar cartas. Lá fora, cá dentro, em registo discográfico ou ao vivo. Não há grandes mistérios por trás deste facto. Apenas a qualidade do trabalho de uma série razoável de artistas que, de forma natural e teimosa, se limitam a tocar música. David Maranha, Manuel Mota, Margarida Garcia e Afonso Simões fazem parte desse conjunto mais ou menos informal, mas quem, de facto, quiser confirmar esta asserção não deve perder o concerto que os reúne no Maxime, sob a forma do quarteto baptizado com o nome de Curia.

O mote é a apresentação do homónimo disco de estreia (com a edição portuguesa da Ruby Red e nos Estados Unidos pela Fire Museum Records) e vale, definitivamente, a deslocação. Os quatro temas de Curia são um encontro fantástico de timbres, ritmos, frases, ruídos e pausas que insinuam conversas com as histórias e as linguagens do jazz, do rock, do blues e da música improvisada, sem que umas se imponham às outras. Mais: sugere uma dimensão alucinatória que confunde sentidos.

Da guitarra wah de Manuel Mota até ao teclado Hammond de David Maranha (dos Osso Exótico), passando pela bateria de Afonso Simões (dos Phoebus), cada instrumento tem tal força expressiva que deixa ouvir, aqui e ali, a presença de uma voz. Mas isto é o disco. Já o concerto, para lá das histórias e dos delírios sonoros que proporcionará, assinala também o encontro de músicos de diferentes tempos e gerações (Manuel Mota e Margarida Garcia surgiram nos anos 1990, Afonso Martins nesta década e David Maranha há cerca de 20 anos).

Comunicação, portanto. E comunhão. Eis um concerto dos Curia. Na primeira parte actua um duo formado por Barry Weisblat e Patrícia Machás.

José Marmeleira
Time Out, 8 de Janeiro de 2008

Bowline

2007-07-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

David maranha &Francesco Dillon
CD, 2007 ed. Sonoris (France) SNS-04

http://www.myspace.com/bowlinelisbon

bowline by davidmaranha

"Behind Bowline we find the more and more present musician David Maranha, who was once best known as Osso Exotico, and these days also works as a solo musician and one Francesco Dillon. He is from Italy and studied the cello. These days he is a member of Alter-Ego (see Vital Weekly 602 for their work with Gavin Bryars) as well as playing with people like Matmos, Pan Sonic and Scanner. A man of many talents. Here too Dillon plays cello, whereas Maranha gets credit for 'hammond organ, violin, vox amplifier (with Francesco cello signal), glass harmonica, tremolo and distortion pedals'. Of the four tracks , the first is the most silent one, taking several minutes to get started. Like with so many other projects of David Maranha, in which ever form it takes, this is a work of minimalism. Of sheer, utter minimalism and what beauty, once again. The careful strumming of various string instruments, the drones added, sparsely of course, from the other instruments. Three short tracks which eventually culminate in the fourth track, which takes up about two-third of the CD and in which the three previous excursions return but glorified. Everything comes together here. If you love Osso Exotico or any of the works Maranha did after that, this is will be a most welcome addition. Also fans of traditional minimal music, especially Lamonte Young will find this a great release, I'm sure of that."
Frans de Waard
Vital, number 605

Bowline is the project of David Maranha joined by Francesco Dillon,italian cellist member of the group Alter Ego.The first thing that comes to mind is: if you love harsh and painful minimalism, made up of long eternal-like phrases, which are typical of the portuguese musician, run to buy this Bowline release because the two musicians, together,give us 30 minutes of music that you won’t forget.
With Dillon on the cello, and Maranha on hammond,violin,glassharmonica and effects, more than just creating a dialogue , they mix ,melt and create an austere sound,almost religious, wich tastes like late autumn ,like rocks and stones,like dust fallen from an ancient era.
Imprisoned in this digital grooves are ecstatic notes, constantly pelting down (hammering) in long, frightening spirals, only now and then illuminated by flashes of gentle light, and in the last track,22 minutes wich in reality represent the whole album,we reach the highest pinnacles of absolute beauty

We hope the project will continue, because Bowline, despite its brevity and its many high moments, leaves still the desire for more.
Blow Up

After three years of silence, Sonoris is back in 2007 with two releases: a Kozo Inada’s work and this CD, titled “Bowline” as well as those who conceived it.
Bowline is a duo of musicians: David Maranha (Osso Exótico, plus a soloist activity) who plays hammond organ, violin and electronics whereas Francesco Dillon (firstly member of Alter Ego group) deals with the cello.
Based on four tracks, it's a work of absolute uniformity and simplicity (these elements make it beautiful) that would not disfigure if compared with other illustrious pieces of minimalistic tradition.
The first three tracks are linked in a continuous progression, dominated by a melodic flow, that generates a crepuscular atmosphere. The fourth is almost similar, but more structured, with a variety of resonant textures and incidental drones, hypnotic fluctuations, cello vibrations.
Undoubtedly a successful interaction between these two artists.

Formation réunissant Francisco Dillon (violoncelle) et David Maranha (orgue Hammond, violon, électroniques et traitement du signal), Bowline livre avec cet album éponyme quatre pièces d’un minimalisme exquis, propre à ravir les amateurs de l’école new yorkaise, Lamonte Young en particulier. Il faut dire que Dillon, membre d’Alter-Ego, a déjà collaboré avec Matmos, Pan Sonic, Scanner ou encore Gavin Bryars, tandis que Maranha évolue au sein d’Osso Exotico.
Entre drones, bourdonnements et harmonies évanescentes, le duo joue subtilement de l’accumulation des textures pour aboutir à une réelle puissance portée par un crescendo toute en nuance. Les trois premiers mouvements distillent une atmosphère obsédante atteignant sans ostentation son point culminant dans l’amplitude extatique du dernier. Comme une espèce de ruban de Moëbius à la grâce fragile, Bowline est une véritable réussite signant le retour de l’exigeant label bordelais, qui avait publié le remarquable Piano Suspenso de Maranha.
Ulrich Schnauss
SPIR!T

Bowline è il progetto che vede David Maranha (anche Osso Exotico col fratello) unire le forze conFrancesco Dillon di Alter Ego. Qui la materia si fa latentemente “rock”, reiterando per certi versi quella ossessione velvetiana di Maranha ben evidenziata in Marches Of The New World. Qui però il connubio con Dillon dilata ancor più il raga eterno del portoghese rendendolo più stranito e straniante, accentuando il minimalismo di base verso forme altamente visionarie.

Le tre relativamente brevi tracce in crescendo, le cui minime variazioni passano dalla stasi silente #1 ai riverberi di corde di #3, introducono l’ultima traccia, vero asse portante dell’albo in virtù dei 20 e più minuti di durata. Una incessante ed estatica alternanza tra il violoncello di Dillon e la usuale strumentazione di Maranha (glass harmonica, violino, hammond), un incontro docile e stordente piuttosto che uno scontro aspro che ha il pregio di disegnare diafani paesaggi e spirali ondivaghe di suoni talmente instabili da creare una sorta di trance riduzionista.
Sentireascoltare
Stefano Pifferi

Bowline : Francisco Dillon, violoncelle, et David Maranha, orgue hammond, violon, électroniques et traitement du signal. Le premier joue dans l'ensemble Alter Ego (voir leur travail récent avec Gavin Bryars), le second au sein de Osso Exotico, et de plus en plus actif aujourd'hui sous son nom ou dans d'autres projets (voir catalogue). Encore une fois, il s'agit de minimalisme dans la grande tradition états-unienne, bourdonnements et nuages d'harmoniques, accumulations et textures résonantes, sans nier la puissance du sonore et l'expression du musical.

Metamkine

Organ Eye

2007-07-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

eponymous
david maranha, jasmine guffond, patrícia machás e torben tilly
CD/LP, 2007 ed. Staubgold 74 (germany)

http://www.myspace.com/organeye
Tema2 excerpt MP3 7minutos PROMO Mastered by davidmaranha
Recorded & produced in Lisbon during 2005.
Mastered at Calyx, Berlin 2006

Organ Eye is a supergroup of sorts. Not in a “let´s take the drummer of Yes and team him up with the first keyboarder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and the singer of Foreigner” kind of way, but because it brings two of today´s more interesting drone bands together. Organ Eye consists of Jasmine Guffond and Torben Tilly of Australia´s Minit and David Maranha and Patricia Machas of Osso Exotíco from Portugal. Their self-titled debut album features two lengthy tracks that are perfectly designed for the also available LP format, each clocking in at just over 20 minutes.

The first tune builds up really slowly. In the beginning the electronic elements prevail. I felt strongly reminded of the recording of a live set from Kendrick McDowell, Christopher Willits and Dan Ambrams from 2001. Clicks and electronically generated hiss form the backbone of the mighty drone lingering in the background and just waiting to be unleashed. In the end, Organ Eye still keep the bottleneck tight, so that the drone can only creep out bit by bit. The result is more ambient than noisy, but certainly not boring at all and well worth listening through its entire 24 minutes. The second track shows some abrasive moments right in its beginning. All the while, it takes a few minutes until you see more clearly in which direction Organ Eye are facing. “Tema #2“ is a big pleasure to listen to. The promo sheet speaks of references to LaMonte Young, Terry Riley and Tony Conrad and on here, those references are hard to overhear. In a classic psychedelic minimalist mode, an organ is played over electronic drones, which take over towards the end of the tune.

While it sometimes seems as if Organ Eye are holding something back, their debut is still drone music at its finest and shows all the elements of a transcendent and meditative exercise. It never sounds like any of the players doesn´t fit in at any certain moment. And in that way, Organ Eye don´t sound like members of two separate groups, but like one entity.
Stephan Bauer (17 April, 2007)
Foxy Digitalis

It’s tempting to view Organ Eye as an electronic-acoustic drone summit. The quartet comprises David Maranha and Patricia Machás of Osso Exótico, a long-lived Portuguese outfit with minimalist tendencies and a fondness for organs and acoustic strings, and New Zealand-born world travelers Jasmine Guffond and Torben Tilly of Minit, who quite sensibly confine their instrumentation to easily packed electronic gear.

But the production of their collective sound is less important than its arrangement and manipulation. The album features two tracks whose duration in the lower 20s suggests that someone in Organ Eye fondly remembers the LP; there is, in fact, a small vinyl pressing of this record available to those who are well connected and fast acting. Each progresses slowly, and if regarded from a distance seems as blank and unyielding as the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Close listening reveals a different story; this music actually teams with detail, it’s apparent solidity the result of glare thrown off by agitated activity. But the detail comes on slowly, accumulating density like a swiffer plowing across some cat lady’s long-unswept wooden floor. “Tema #1” opens serenely enough, with tiny consonant tones stitched around a swell of bowed piano strings. But then some looped clatter — a cassette deck kicking into action, perhaps? — pokes out of the dronescape and the music banks left and up, ascending towards a big beam of feedback.

On “Tema #2,” the sounds really begin to dance. Overdriven organ and harmonium wheeze in and out of phase with each other like a couple early Terry Riley recordings, around which layers of pixilated sonic glitter flicker like an aura around some celestial body. Like a long look at the sun, the longer you squint, the less clear it all becomes.
By Bill Meyer
Dusted

The term “drone” has really become passé. Now linked to the likes of metal artisans such as Sunn O))) and Earth, it is now almost synonymous with massive sustained guitar riffs and overly processed vocals. Organ Eye, a four-person improvisation group featuring members of Portugal’s Osso Exotico and New Zealand’s Minit are also in the business of doing drone, but more in the classic sense. You won’t find any Sunn amps or smashed guitars here, but you will find classic Spacemen 3 guitar feedback drones and Velvet Underground inspired violin work.

The band cites the aforementioned VU's "Sister Ray" (17 of the greatest minutes in rock history), Buddhism, and Albert Ayler as some of their major influences, and it’s pretty transparent in their work. It’s drone more in the sense of dwelling in feedback and exploring the nuances of the tape loop as an instrument. The two massive tracks are based on live improvisations, and like the giants of free jazz, the players reflect off each other and create something that sounds like it was carefully planned and choreographed long before any gear was turned on.

"Tema #1" opens like the Spacemen 3 cats, all loops of guitar feedback and odd percussive found sounds here and there. The wall of feedback continues to build throughout the entire work, never really getting into the realms of harsh noise or the like, but does become progressively dissonant as the track wears on. Later, John Cale is channeled through David Maranha's violin work, reminscent of some old record with a banana on the cover. The piece finally ends with gentle electronics slowly fading away.

Where "Tema #1" opened with the organic feel of six strings resonating, "Tema #2" takes the bionic approach and begins with grating high pitched tones, like a telephone call on a busy signal slowly being shredded by a blender. Scrapes and other odd percussive textures are promenant as well, until the electronics build more and more through the first half, to the point that listening becomes difficult (in the “ow my ears are starting to ring” sense) before dropping a few notes in the scale and settling in at a more mid range set of electronic loops and harmonium drone. At the end it creeps up to tinnitus level once again before ending abruptly.

Being that this is drone based (in the La Monte Young sense, not in the black metallist sipping a chai latte sense), it can’t really be deemed “easy” listening. However, the players seem to be a natural fit with each other, and have made an improvisation that just feels natural, and right and leads to a very compelling debut work.
Written by Creaig Dunton 23 April 2007
Brainwashed

Say what you will about the New Zealand-via-Australia duo of Minit, at least they're smart enough to do everything slowly. It took them a several years to follow their debut album, Music, with 2006's Now Right Here; the relatively swift appearance of Organ Eye on its heels is one of 2007's more welcome surprises, all the better for being a new quartet with David Maranha and Patricia Machás of Osso Exótico, Portugal's premiere slow-moving, rarefied drone outfit. Organ Eye wraps the quartet in the cloaking veil of blurred, shape-shifting dronology prevalent among many artists working within their field, but there's something about these performances – perhaps the intimation of chance that comes from their live improvised settings – that transcends the rote-ness of so many of their peers. And while the drone is an underlying structure for "TEMA #1", Minit's oscillating electronics scratch livid patterns in the sidelines, scraping away like bolts of light underneath your eyelids, or etched bursts of denuded filmstock in the hand-crafted films of Stan Brakhage. The quartet work in loosely episodic fashion: "TEMA #1" moves from tentative beginnings to an engorged rush of fizzling noise at about the fourteen minute mark, which recedes into insectile near-silence. This may imply a tension-release structure that's not exactly under-represented in the field of modern improvised electronics, but Organ Eye's attention to texture becomes the scaffold upon which their improvisations build. Or, in the case of "TEMA #2", it becomes the uncarved block around which all manner of rangy, hissing noises skirl. This is a staggeringly confident recording that transcends the genre through its attention to the genre's detail.
Jon Dale
May 2007
Paris Transatlantic Magazine

As guiding hand behind Portugal’s Osso Exótico, David Maranha has long bowed his way towards the heart of “eternal music.” Drawing inspiration from the ’60s experiments that eventually birthed the Velvet Underground, Maranha enlists long-time collaborator Patricia Machás, as well as like-minded New Zealanders Jasmine Guffond and Torben Tilly, to explore two long, detail-rich drone excursions. While earlier recordings, such as the excellent 2000 release Circunscrita on Namskeio records, delved exclusively into the dense properties of acoustic instruments, Organ Eye open the door to the electronics provided by the NZ invitees. The results are phenomenal. On “Tema #1,” Maranha and Machás’ slowly breathe through their Hammond airways, adding little pockets of violin, drums and bowed piano as time passes. The electronics are so gradual, transparent and integrated that they never really reveal themselves until the piece concludes. “Tema #2,” however, picks up at that spot, with the modem squelch of digital noise transmitting its signal into both the past and future. Building these pieces through improvisation, the players are skilled listeners, preferring to cooperate on completely filling the cavity of listening gracefully rather than overwhelming with over-amplification and feedback.
By Eric Hill
September 2007
Exclaim!

Born out of creative empathy and chance, Organ Eye were formed out of a live triple-bill comprised of David Maranha, Minit and the Staubgold Sound System, that played at the ZDB Gallery in Lisbon, Portugal, at the end of February 2005. With the addition of Patrícia Machás, a member of Osso Exótico alongside Maranha, the quartet that now forms Organ Eye was completed. The recording of this eponymous debut album then took place in March and December of 2006. A cumulative effort in several senses, Organ Eye assembles some of Maranha's and Machás's work in Osso Exótico exploring hypnotic, repetitive & ritualistic properties found in the use of several acoustic and electrical devices. Minit's previous output, as can be observed in their 2003 Staubgold release «Now Right Here», is a mind-expanding/soul-mellowing exercise of drone music, processed and designed via digital media. The intersection and addition to this sum, is the fully-formed patchwork of eternal sound vibration they manage to generate in unison, taking from the seminal teachings of the Young/Conrad/Riley axis, and deconstructing the spiritual trip as to be able to reposess it and make it their own. Throughout the record's two tracks (both over the 20 minute mark), circular fuzzed out Hammond riffs keep realigning the same fragments as they change throughout the jams, while delicate violin sweeps draw up the soundspace. Digital treatment, processed acoustic sources & a number of precise sonic particles are constantly thrown onto the ululating harmonic lines, until they unlock the grooves, and revelation times occurs. Organ Eye is drone music in modern forms as spiritual alignment in crescendo, like constellations drawing themselves up, finding an opening for the infinite, blasting away, seeing it manifest itself and being a part of it, then walking away from it, simultaneously observing and generating its disintegration. At the end of the day it's beautiful irony that some truly cosmic experience and a secular ritual can be reinvented and still manifest itself with clarity while undergoing scalpelization. The rest is just down to taking it into the outer regions and sharing the trip once again, to reenter the holy channels of ineffable feeling, to forget and relearn, forever.
Pedro Gomes

OK so David Maranha is back. After Osso Exotico's collaboration with Verre Enharmoniques (see Vital Weekly 557), and a re-issue of 'Piano Suspenso', he now pops up as Organ Eye, together with Patracia Machas and Jasmine Guffond and Torben Tilly, otherwise known as Mimit. In February both Maranha and Mimit played at ZDB in Lisbon and later Machas came along and in between March and December 2006 they made the two pieces that form the self-titled debut album. Maranha plays hammond organ, violin, Guffond electronics, Machas harmonium, bass drum and bowed piano and Tilly electronics. If one is a bit acquainted with both Osso Exotico and Mimit, it would be no surprise that drones play an important role here, but it's quite violent ones. More say Tony Conrad & John Cale than Mirror or Monos. Highly improvised it seems to me, with lots of small strange sounds shivering below the surface: the electro-acoustic component of this music. The meeting of the acoustic instruments by the Portuguese, versus the electro-acoustic, loop based Australians. It's quite a tour de force this one. Loud, but not too much noise, present and clear, rather than lulling the listener into sleep. Very intense music and perhaps for all four involved a break with what they have been doing so far. For me the best of the these three. (FdW)
Frans de Waard
Vital, number 567

As guiding hand behind Portugal’s Osso Exótico David Maranha has long bowed his way towards the heart of Eternal Music. Drawing inspiration from the 60s experiments that eventually birthed Velvet Underground, Maranha enlists longtime collaborator Patricia Machás as well as like-minded New Zealanders Jasmine Guffond and Torben Tilly to explore two long and detail-rich drone excursions. While earlier recordings, such as excellent 2000 release Circunscrita on Namskeio records, delved exclusively into the dense properties of acoustic instruments, Organ Eye opens the door to the electronics provided by the NZ invitees. The results are phenomenal. On “Tema #1” Maranha and Machás’ slowly breath through their Hammond airways adding little pockets of violin, drum and bowed piano as time passes. The electronics here are so gradual, transparent and integrated they never really reveal themselves until the piece concludes. “Tema #2” however picks up at that spot with the modem squelch of digital noise transmitting its signal into both past and future. Building these pieces through improvisation, the players are skilled listeners, preferring to cooperate on completely filling the cavity of listening gracefully rather than overwhelming with over-amplification and feedback.
Eric Hill
SURGERY

Born in 2005 from the people involved with Osso Exótico and Minit because of a live concert, Organ Eye found their definitive organic with the successive help of Patricia Machás (also a member of Osso Exótico). Their first homonymous album contains two long untitled experimental suites which seem composed in trance. This "brain music" ideally link the experimental field with Krautrock thanks to the lysergic approach to sounds. The suites form an unique mutating work of the length of 45 minutes which like a snake who changes his skin, slowly crawls between the sounds. On the background the organ loops create a sort of liquid background while casual beaten objects duet with feedbacks. The tension and the noise level increase and when the organ become the main sound it seems agonizing, spreading its sound like blood. The second suite is based on the same approach but the sounds change a little (there are more bass sounds and the organ remember me the 70's improvisations). I appreciated the attitude but I wasn't that much on the same frequency...
30 April 2007
Maurizio Pustianaz
Chain D.L.K.

Organ Eye is a momentary collaboration between Portugal’s Osso Exótico and Minit of New Zealand. The quartet of experimental musicians here present a Spartan document of two tracks totalling 46 minutes, improvised, indebted to early minimalism and its binocular gaze toward medieval drone and eastern raga. The first segment, “Tema #1”, opens on sharp, electro-acoustic drones, and the timely arrival of snippets of organic sampling, meted-out into loose beats. However, shying away from the blip-blop of To Rococo Rot, Ui, or any number of Staubgold sympathizers, Organ Eye restricts its focus to the colour and texture of a handful of tones, with each of the four band-members inhabiting a place in the ear where they carefully vibrate a strand. The acidity of the central drone recalls the restless sustain of La Monte Young in Growing’s ‘The Sky’s Run Into The Sea’, evoking the same natural harmonics, coupling these with a swarming of noise like fired synapses suggesting the pantheism of life in micro and macro. Succeeding the entropy of the first, “Tema #2” appears more focused, layering bolts of high-end drone atop one another with an almost algebraic rhythm, noise ornaments and a Terry Riley organ drone issuing forth over bass-drum punctuations; as if magnetized, the lingering elements realign to give the panther robot definition as a Krautrock wall of sound. Ecstatic, complete exhilaration. Jewel-cased, with cool metallic-ink design.
17 Apr 07
Animal Psi

Organ Eye's Self titled debut servers up two long form satisfying and detailed drone based pieces from this Australia/ New Zealand four piece.
They Utilizes a mix of electronics, hammond organ, violin, processed harmonium, minimal percussion and guitar elements to create their richly detailed and growing sound worlds. Tema # 1 is the first track, It's starts off with grey first morning light drones that are met by circling string harmonics. the picec slow grows and develops with One of the most rewarding elements been this wonderful repeated sound that brings to mind the slow pumping of aged hospital ventilation system. The picec builds to wonderful powerful end with eerier marching bass drum behind the shifting yet dronig sound elements. Tema # 2 is the second track and starts up in a more hectic and busy feel, with layers of different instrumentals drone/stuck patterns over laying and scuttling around eachs. As the track develops the hectic-ness seems to grow in volume and depth. There’s also a nice throbbing bass line added in too, that really builds to quite a rocking and beautiful hectic crescendo, before like the first track finishing off with the eerier and atmospheric bass drum elements.
An original, atmospheric and dense take on drone music, which really rewards repeated listening as new sound details and textural elements seem to come to the surface.
Roger Batty
Musique Machine

Da membri di Osso Exòtico (David Maranha e Patrìcha Machàs) e Minit (Jasmine Guffond e Torbert Tilly), ecco due improvvisazioni di circa venti minuti ciascuna tra organo hammond, violino, harmonium, piano ed elettronica, dove è certo quest'ultimo elemento, visti anche i pesanti trattamenti riservati agli altri strumenti, ad emergere. Free jazz forse, nell'attitudine più che nella forma che poi assumono i suoni, che fanno pensare al Jim O'Rourke di "I'm Happy and I'm singing..." e anche al Fennez più estremo. Come in loro, anche qui però la componente melodica, emotiva, sentimentale addirittura, emerge e si fa sentire. Nessun tecnicismo fine a sé stesso, nessuna autoindulgenza: ogni singolo suono è sparato fuori con carica emotiva e pathos degno dell'opera. Un primo brano più sommesso, ed un secondo più lirico e denso accompagnano per quarantaquattro intensissimi minuti giocati sugli intrecci di frequenze medie ed alte, con qualche diradato profondissimo basso a fare talvolta capolino. Il flusso è ininterrotto, densissimo, continuo e teso, ma mai estenuante, ovviamente per chi è abituato a questo genere di musica sperimentale. Ma per chi invece in questo ambito è stufo di sperimentalismi sterili che lasciano quasi del tutto da parte il lato emotivo di questa che è pur sempre musica, Organ Eye è un disco da avere a tutti i costi.
Matteo Uggeri
sands-zine

La sigla è nuova ma la musica e i personaggi no. Gli Organ Eye nascono infatti dalla fusione di due delle più interessanti drone bands in circolazione: i portoghesi Osso Exòtico (David Maranha e Patricia Machas) e gli australiani Minit (Jasmine Guffond e Torben Tilly). L’album di debutto, omonimo, rappresenta la perfetta fusione tra l’approccio dei primi e lo stile dei secondi, tra la plasticità dei portoghesi e la ripetitività degli australiani. Le due tracce di cui si compone il disco, intitolate programmaticamente Tema #1 e Tema #2, riassumono l’estetica di una drone music classica, che lavora in crescendo, passando dal minimalismo della prima parte al rumorismo della seconda.

L’introduzione lentissima e statica che pigramente si sostanzia in un drone. Il crescendo sinistro delle interferenze. Lo sciamare elettronico che, alla maniera dei Growing, si incastra in blocchi di frequenze interrotte. Un habitat di microsuoni mandati in loop e messi in circolo dal suono reiterato di uno psichedelico organo hammond. Il marziale panorama noisy alla Fullerton Whitman, in cui si sfocia nell’ultima parte di Tema #2 prima di annichilirsi nell’apocalittico finale. Per essere drone music, quella degli Organ Eye si mantiene meritoriamente lontana dai classici momenti di noia che affliggono il genere. Un nome da segnarsi per gli estimatori di queste sonorità.
Antonello Comunale
sentireascoltare

Wie ein leises Glimmen schwelen die von Harmonium und Hammond Organ geloopten Morsecodes in der Nacht. Zwei lange Stücke, Tema #1 und #2, beinhaltet das Album Organ Eye um David Maranha (Osso Exotico), Jasmine Gufford, Patricia Machas und Torben Tilly. Die Aufnahmen enstanden live in der ZDB Galerie in Lissabon ende Februar 2005 und wurden im letzten Dezember in Berlin abgeschlossen. Raga-eske Intonierungen werden subtil aufgebaut, verwandeln sich in 22 Minuten zum sphärischen Monument eines statisch geformten Augenblicks. Wie Oren Ambarchi auf seinem bezaubernd melancholischen Album Triste von 2005 oder bei Charlemagne Palestines minimalistisch-reduziertem Werk Strumming Music von 1975 werden die mikrotonalen Zwischentöne bei Organ Eye verlangsamt, geloopt, gedehnt und gleichzeitig in repetitive Pattern umgesetzt, die fast zwingend magnetisieren. Mag sein, dass die elektro-akustische Dronemusik etwas en vogue kommen wird in sagen wir, 160 Jahren, als eigenständiges Genre jedenfalls existiert sie relativ erfolgreich und kontinuierlich seit Young/Conrad/Riley in den späten fünfziger Jahren die minimalistische Komponente der jeweiligen und gemeinsamen indischen Lehrmeister wie Pandit Pran Nath aufregend und inspirierend fanden.
Peter Kaemmerer
Hair Entertainment

Seit geradezu undenkbar langer Zeit sorgt David Maranha dafür, dass Portugal nicht als leerer Fleck auf der Landkarte für experimentelle Musik wahrgenommen wird. In schön regelmäßigen Abständen, mal unter dem Projektnamen Osso Exótico, mal unter eigenem Namen, arbeitet Maranha an der Schnittstelle von Post-Psychedelic, Musique Conrète und Soundscapes lange bevor Psychedelisches eine Renaissance erfahren hat. 1997 war beispielsweise auf dem kleinen französischen Sonoris-Label mit Osso Exótico VI – Church Organ Works eine ungemein intensive CD mit Minimal Music an der Kirchenorgel entstanden, die diesem im Pop-Kontext doch eher selten gehörten Instrument zu einem ganz neuen Image verhalf. Die Orgel, diesmal eine Hammondorgel, steht auch im Mittelpunkt der Aufnahmen zu Organ Eye, ein Name, in dem das Instrument ebenso steckt wir das Organische, mit dem sich diese pulsierenden Aufnahmen assoziieren lassen. Zusammen mit Jasmine Guffond (Electronics) und Torben Tilly (Electronics) von Minit sowie Osso-Exótico-Mitstreiterin Patricia Machás (Harmonium, Bass Drum, Piano) sind hier im Quartett strudelnde Soundscapes aufgenommen worden, die eine geradezu orgiastische Intensität entfalten. Auf zwei langen Nummern laufen die fuzz-verstärkten Orgeln heiß und rekapitulieren noch einmal die musikalischen Visionen eines La Monte Young und Tony Conrad, ohne diesen ›Originalen‹ gegenüber irgendeinen Schritt zurück zu fallen bzw. sie nur wieder neu aufleben zu lassen. Die auf Improvisations-Basis eingespielten Stücke steigern sich langsam, bis der Raum kurz vorm Platzen mit Schwingungen erfüllt ist und die geradezu physische Kraft dieser Klänge ein verwirrendes Gefühl von Freude und stockendem Atem zugleich bereitet. Schönheit hat einen neuen Namen und ist wie immer zu überwältigend, um länger als die hier präsentierten 44 Minuten ertragen zu werden.

Test Card

David Maranha - Marches of the New World

2007-07-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

marches of the new world
david maranha, helena espvall, joão milagre, antónio forte e tiago miranda
CD, 2007 ed. Grain of sound (portugal) GOS21

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
5 infinite march MYSPACE excerpt 2 by davidmaranha

After some years of absence, David Maranha, erstwhile of Osso Exotico then drone meister in his own right, is now back. Recently he released a CD with Minit under the banner of Organ Eye, and there he showed a changing interest in the drone field. It incorporated drones from instruments as well as electronics and had a edge to it which could be classified as 'rock'. This is continued on this new CD, under his name, but most certainly more a rock band then a solo effort. Maranha plays hammond organ, violin and dobro/resophonic guitar. João Milagre (bass) and António Forte (drums), Tiago Miranda (percussion) form the back bone while Helena Espvall playing the cello. The drone music played by this group is one that stands in a long tradition: from Yves Klein, Tony Conrad, LaMonte Young and Velvet Underground. Ongoing, banging rhythm features, with a dominant role for organ and cello, but, certainly in 'Infinity March' also for the rhythm section, which placed at the end makes a beautiful grand finale. The four preceding tracks are quieter, certainly 'Virgins Visions' (which is the only solo piece by Maranha here), but in the other three tracks things already rock like hell or drone like heaven. It moves away from the previous works by Maranha, which was the more classical overtone pieces of resonating strings and beautiful humming wave fields. The music is harsher, grittier, more angular, and I must admit very nice, because it goes back to a tradition which is not copied these days very much, and certainly not as nice. Its a great thing to see this done here, moving away from his earlier work, but still re-inventing drone music. Great stuff.
Frans de Waard
Vital, number 582

Der Sound auf Portugals David Maranhas Album Marches Of The New World glimmt und fluoresziert, die resonanten Zwischentöne schwirren und klirren in halbleitern, repetititve Muster werden mittels Hammond Organ, Violin und Dobro eingeflochten. Orientalische Strukturen werden minimiert, halbiert und gestreckt, um sie zu einem magnetisch vibrierenden Blues aus Ton zu formen wie bei „Infinite March“, dem 22minütigen Closer. Fast scheint es, als wäre dies hier das verlorengegangene große Stück zu Velvet Undergrounds Debut, gedacht im Anschluss an All Tomorrows Parties oder European Son, und tja, Tony Conrad und Terry Riley schauen sanft lächelnd über die Schulter, mit einem bedächtigem Kopfnicken. Mit Partner Patrícia Machás wirkt Maranha in seiner anderen Formation Organ Eye (Album auf Staubgold/Indigo) - deren Mikrosound noch minimaler, noch schwelender gehalten ist. Die sehr transfigurativ hypnotisierenden Klanglandschaften aber finden sich auf beiden Alben. Resonanzkluster fliessen als Soundtrack, der - ob im Garten sitzend oder auf dem Balkon weilend - wie geschaffen ist für nächtliche Sitzungen an der Peripherie der Metropole, wo flimmernde Glühwürmchenarmeen in der Luft zirkulieren oder auf vier Rädern über die Strassen schwirren. Dabei tauchen metrisch verkeilte Landschaften und Gebäude funkelnd auf, kinetisch zirkulierend, in oszillierender Transparenz. Espers Helena Espvall leiht Maranha das Cello in Marches Of The New World, welches den tranceartigen Dronecharakter der fünf Tracks noch explizit verstärkt. Würde sich Maranha, Tadshikistans Aum Sahib mit Axolotl Karl Bauer für eine Session am Taj Mahal treffen, wäre dies die nächste Stufe hinein in den Metabolismus transfigurativ fliessender Energie.
Peter Kaemmerer
Hair Entertainment15 Jul 2007

As something of a vestigial relic, the appealing quality of Marches Of The New World opens up when it is perceived in its historical context: the drone music featured on this recording, unlike much of what is presently made readily available, extends from both instruments and electronics, which afford it a freshness and sharp sense of rhythmic drive. David Maranha’s work with Minit under the moniker of Organ bore the first fruits of such an approach, and now, with the assistance of Joao Milagre (bass), Antonio Forte (drums), Tiago Miranda (percussion), and Helena Espvall (cello), this album sees to its further development. In the tradition of artists such as La Monte Young, Tony Conrad, and even the Velvet Underground, the dexterously delivered textures, reverberating, tangential electronics, and, at times, ferocious velocity of the rhythmic elements demonstrate turbulent yet poised emotions that play a syntactical function in the music. A great deal of emphasis is placed on tension and resolution in these works, and these cadences, whether temporary or permanent, are focal points in the sonic pattern of this album. In many pieces, ample room is provided for organ and cello, and violin. These spaces are generally quieter, and serve as resting places. They are also more malleable, however, and pieces such as ˇDemocracyˇ, although relaxed and convivial, gradually have their crystalline edges morphed into moldy, indistinct forms, around which gathers a swarm of grimy digital clicks and shivers. On a work like ˇInfinity Marchˇ, furthermore, the harsh, angular drum pounding that closes the piece tears the beatific beam right off the face of the proceeding moments with a sumptuous finale. With some credit to Maranha, the contrasts never prove garish, nor does the synergy amount to allergy on the part of the listener. Throughout, the exploration of juxtaposition and reconfigurations of sound remains bold-faced owing to the episodic, chapter-like structuring, which colours the work with a methodological yet ritualistic feel of ideas being explored and ceremoniously sacrificed for the continuation and furtherance of the work. All of this presses various hints of violence, be they implicit or explicit, deeply into the thick, aged skin of this work. Review by Max Schaefer furthernoise.org A fog continuously rising up and up, scraping the pinnacling edge of a steamy avalanche made by computers. A droning accordion-simulator was created by a mountain-dwelling universe culture of drug-rug clad androids who accidentally spilt goats milk into it and are now rushing around, nervous about who will be punished, trying to sop it up with paper towels from the staff bathroom. Their bolts bustle in their nuts, clocking and clanking around to Tibetan lowland heights, Helena running a snow-cat over the Himalayas so that the wondrous cave organ created there in the 3rd century AD can be brought down to sea-level on a complex trading-off between Sherpas and a grizzly android ski-patrol. It whirls and whirls, short of breath and choking at the high altitude, carefully guided on straps held tightly by the guilty robots who wish it back to health, their circuit beards frozen with tears, though the milk inside of the organ won't freeze, like old old vodka. Also, the vodka is stoned and from Portugal. And the goat's milk is fairly old, imported by boat from the former Danish empire to other colonial banks. From sea-level all that you can really catch of the radio transmissions up on the stormy mountain is collected here on compact disc.
Chris Kline
Hair Entertainment12 Jul 2007

'Marches of the new World', new record by legendary Portuguese underground figure David Maranha, who has also been putting out music with the mythical Osso Exótico unit for almost 20 years (his previous release was with Patrícia Machás and drone duo Minit as Organ Eye, who put out a self-titled album on the Staubgold label), is his more recent study & advancement in exploring, witnessing and generating new slices of blissful, savaged drone music. Coming from the higher education of minimalist pioneer Yves Klein, with his 'Monotone Symphony' from the late forties, while also being informed by the Tony Conrad/Theatre of Eternal Music-Terry Riley axis, he mainly works with Hammond organ going through various tone & texture altering devices, until he reaches the raw keyboard sound put on tape here. In this record his continuous sound science is given wider possibilities, with the aid of a backing band and collaborators he's invited for the release. Besides the Hammond, Maranha also uses violin and his dobro/resophonic guitar. His rhythm section of João Milagre (bass) and António Forte (drums) is augmented by contributions from cello virtuoso Helena Espvall (free improviser of merit, member of Philadelphia's most celebrated folk troupe in the last few years, the Espers) and Tiago Miranda (member of Lisbon's own current free expression kings, the Loosers, and owner of the awesome Ruby Red Label) on various minimal percussions. The result is a grandiose ensemble sound, intermingled with more sparse numbers, yet another travel into the infinite oscillation trip of pure drone, the admiration of its sound and ritual. With the rhythmic components able to draw up some lyricism that is seldom found in these molds, metrics and dynamics are opened up with some wonderfully disjointed gravitational balance. The keys and strings keep you gliding around the eternal line of infinity with perfect equilibrium and freedom, in these 'Marches' to which Mr. Maranha found the right pace for walking. Fists up, with a direct line to the cosmos, rooted below, forward as always.

Pedro Gomes

David Maranha (voir catalogue) à l'orgue Hammond, violon et dobro en compagnie de João Milagre à la guitare basse, d'António Forteaux aux tambours, Helena Espval au violoncelle et Tiago Miranda aux percussions. Du rock monoton saturé sous forte influence Tony Conrad-with-Faust-déjeune-avec-Terry Riley. Proche, en plus sale, de 'Circumscrita' paru chez Namskeio Records. On the road, again.

Metamkine

Quando m’ero ormai convinto che gli Osso Exotico erano scappati su Orione, a tener compagnia agli Egizi ed a Captain Beefheart, eccoteli spuntare da dietro l’angolo.E se un titolo come “Folk Cycles” può far pensare che nel frattempo si sono convertiti al nu-folk, non v’allarmate, ché il gruppo portoghese si conserva refrattario ad incanalarsi in correnti e piccoli trend, e tale proseguire imperturbabili su una pista da loro stessi tracciata è veramente un motivo di ‘grandeur’. Se mai, quel ‘folk’ può essere riferito ad un’attitudine genuinamente artigianale esaltata nell’occasione dalla collaborazione con i francesi Verres Enharmoniques, inventori dei propri strumenti oltre che musicisti. I calici enarmonici, in particolare, utilizzano il principio dei calici di cristallo sfregati con un dito sul bordo alla stessa maniera dell’armonica in vetro (o ‘a bicchieri’); tali calici sono però collegati tramite piccoli tubi a delle pompette, azionabili con i piedi, tramite le quali è possibile variare la tonalità del suono semplicemente variando il livello del liquido collocato al loro interno. A differenza dell’armonica in vetro che si compone di coppe già accordate, quindi, i calici enarmonici permettono infinite possibilità di modulazioni microtonali. Gli Osso Exotico, dal canto loro, mettono in campo flauto polifonico, harmonium, piano, chitarra resofonica, violino, chitarra elettrica, tamburo basso e shrutibox (strumento indiano simile all’harmonium) ma, quant’è vero il detto che è l’uso a fare l’organo, ne reinventano spesso il suono tramite l’uso di archetti, e-bow e risonanze, cosicché il flebile borbottio ritmico di fondo in #2 e #6 trova origine anche nell’harmonium tamburellato a mo’ di pelle d’asino. Ne nascono suoni raffinati e continui, fatti di inestricabili e sottili intrecci armonici, lontani dal gusto comune, ispirati dal minimalismo e comunque in possesso di una propria autonomia.Il disco di David Maranha, che giunge ben cinque anni dopo il poco riuscito “Noe’s Lullaby”, è più grossolanamente rock, fin dalla strumentazione, e si propone comunque quale lezione di minimalismo (secondo Maranha). Accanto all’organo hammond, violino e dobro del titolare sono schierati il violoncello di Helena Espvall (degli Espers), la batteria di Tó Forte (già con i primissimi Osso Exotico), le percussioni di Tiago Miranda (già con i Pop dell’Arte e al momento trascinatore dei Loosers, uno dei più interessanti gruppi portoghesi di avant-rock) ed il basso di João Milagre, ed è strano come una formazione priva di chitarra finisca con il produrre un suono intensamente chitarristico, tanto da far pensare alle sinfonie di Glenn Branca. I riferimenti vanno dal Theater Of Eternal Music di La Monte Young alla musica ‘metallica’ di Lou Reed, e prestando fede a quanto è scritto nel sito della SIRR.ecords affondano le radici fin nella “Monotone Symphony” composta alla fine degli anni Quaranta dal francese Yves Klein e consistente in un’unica nota. Cinquanta minuti e cinque brani, per una media di dieci minuti l’uno, se non che venti minuti se li pappa l’interminabile marcia finale, una sinfonia astrale che finisce con il rappresentare un po’ il clou ed il succo dell’intero disco.Due CD assolutamente da avere, anche se trovo che alcune soluzioni di “Marches Of The New World” (come la coda di Redemption Torture e l’introduzione a Virgins Visions) potevano essere rese con più sintesi. Ma si tratta di un’opinione assolutamente personale, e non sono certo in grado di dare consigli sulla strutturazione di un brano a quelli che sono letteralmente, e qui scopro veramente l’acqua calda, dei grandissimi musicisti.Vi sento già mormorare Non fare il furbo, hai scritto nell’occhiello di ‘tre’ dischi?, e quindi devo ricordarvi di non dimenticare l’altrettanto riuscito “Organ Eye” (David Maranha, Patricia Machas & Minit) già magnificato su queste stesse pagine dall’Uggeri.

Etero Genio

Sands-Zine7/8/2007

A David Maranha não falta história: para além dos celebrados Osso Exótico - ainda uma das mais importantes instituições sonoras em Portugal nos últimos 20 anos -, o músico tem sabido desenvolver, mesmo que sem a devida visibilidade, um discurso de forte idiossincrasia. Tem colaborado com inúmeros músicos portugueses e estrangeiros, é membro de Curia (um recente e fantástico quarteto, com Manuel Mota, Margarida Garcia e Afonso Simões) e Organ Eye (com Patrícia Machás, Jasmine Guffond e Torben Tilly) e recentemente reapareceu numa possível ideia de cena lisboeta experimental que gravita em torno das propostas que a galeria Zé Dos Bois vai apresentando. É aí que temos tido mais contacto com os seus múltiplos desdobramentos. Por isso, e por sabermos que Tony Conrad ainda é uma das suas maiores influências, é que «Marches Of The New World» poderá não soar a uma verdadeira surpresa. Mas a surpresa é ouvirmos o modo quase definitivo como se unem as pontas do minimalismo americano tão caro a Maranha e a nova folk moderna, com o músico a estender as suas riquíssimas texturas e drones para os terrenos da weird america, onde a presença de Tiago Miranda (Loosers) ou Helena Espvall (Espers) poderá não ser de todo acidental. Os movimentos cíclicos tão característicos de David Maranha têm agora uma dimensão ritualística adicional, de alta tensão eléctrica, super detalhada e super alimentícia, simulando na perfeição um largo ensemble em ascencional comunhão. David Maranha marcha a passo firme e certo para o seu novo mundo.FlurPedro Santos Prólogo Quem, no anterior dia 13 de Julho, gozou do privilégio de assistir, num readaptado e espaçoso primeiro andar da Avenida de Liberdade, a uma das mais reveladoras noites musicais ocorridas em Lisboa recentemente, sabe bem os riscos que correram as fundações do prédio com o decorrer das trezes prestações alinhadas por doze divisões diferentes. Quem, na esperança de variar a colheita auditiva, transitou entre concertos ocorridos simultaneamente aos pares, sabe que o corredor entre os quartos era terra de ninguém – e de toda a gente – onde se ouviam misturados os ecos a duas frentes de batalha distintas. A certa altura, quase podia o ouvido esquerdo espiar a impaciência eléctrica de uns Frango reduzidos (de três) a dois e o ouvido direito interceptar a moral alta que impulsionava o maravilhar em delay dos Gala Drop, duo inversamente expandido a trio. Por recusa ou apenas por fadiga, o também participante David Maranha contrastava do cenário de guerra pelo aspecto espiritual que conferia ao bunker que lhe tinha sido estipulado para tocar o órgão Hammond. A aparência de veterano de guerra em momento de introspecção pós-guerra mais pesa por efeito da escassa luz reflectida na pinha depilada de Maranha a fazer lembrar Marlon Brando, que, em Apocalypse Now assumiu a interpretação lendária de um desertor – Coronel Kurtz - entregue a uma filosofia de reclusão algo demente imposta pelo meio selvagem. I Para chegar ao ponto em que se encontrava na ocasião acima descrita, David Maranha teria já acumulado cicatrizes e superado o seu próprio apocalipse, conforme se prova de seguida, além de bem entranhadas a habilidade e erudição próprias do veterano que fez dos Osso Exótico um nome a ter em consideração quando se recapitula a música experimental produzida em Portugal nos últimos 20 anos. Com um arrojo esclarecedor, Marches of the New World dita que as cinzas passadas podem bem ser azul calcetado a ouro, quando são abençoados com o dom de Midas os instrumentistas convidados a contribuir para o disco que agora edita a Grain of Sound: Helena Espvall dos Espers (violoncelo), João Milagre (baixo), António Forte (hercúleo na bateria) e Tiago Miranda, vértice dos incansáveis Loosers (encarregue da precursão). O elmo de liderança, contudo, ajusta-se perfeitamente à cabeça de David Maranha que aguça a ponta à lança formada por um Marches of the New World que é, ao mesmo tempo, colossal na transformação do menos em mais (muito mais), atormentadamente narrativo, quixotesco por obra dos desafios que imagina para si (conseguir manter o interesse climático de “Infinite March” durante 22 minutos é tão difícil como resgatar Sancho Pança ao pensar mundano). É disco de brio e alma ao qual se percebe inequivocamente a entrega a cada um dos participantes. II Pode até ser Marches of the New World um manifesto tacticamente balanceado para um ataque que se serve de pretexto ideal a um efervescente e fértil drone todo-o-terreno na sua colonização do imenso silêncio que, aos olhos da armada liderada por Maranha, é sempre terreno virgem digno de ser ocupado. E o que é “Virgin Visions” senão um inabitado paraíso rodeado pelos hesitantes e abafados violino e violoncelo que ainda só discursam através das suas cordas os sonhos de virem a fertilizar e, por conseguinte, anular por completo o silêncio? A resposta a esta e outras perguntas encontram-se num disco que oferece algumas das mais cruciais e grandiosas sensações do pós-rock e folk mais espectral, sem nunca se submeter a determinados mandamentos protocolares desses géneros. III Talvez seja a ponderada estratégia de avanço assumida por Marches of the New World a estabelecê-lo no campo do esplêndido e não do espalhafatoso, a colocá-lo mais próximo do sublime do cinema de Terrence Malick do que do folclórico Alexandre de Oliver Stone. É de louvar que um disco onde chegam a ser tirânicas as distorções e ressonâncias abertas do órgão Hammond e da guitarra dobro - missionariamente vocacionada para isso - também se preste a delegar tarefas singulares a soldados que oferecem garantias ao triunfo colectivo. Num ponto madrugador em que o disco ainda se dá a conspirações, “Democracy” confia na exactidão sincronizada do baixo e percussão para descobrir antecipadamente as minas que devem evitar os muito mais impulsivos (ou apavorados) restantes instrumentos. Assim deve ser o comportamento do general decidido: orientar a sua gestão bélica entre o maximizar do seu poder de fogo (tudo aquilo que torna abundante e indomável o drone) e equilibrar isso com a precisão de alguns atiradores solitários (por aqui, recrutados à ala rítmica). Nenhum outro disco este ano faz melhor uso desse posicionamento que Marches of the New World. Depois de ter todas as batalhas ganhas, vence merecidamente a guerra.

Miguel Arsénio

Bodyspace05/09/2007

Un disco di una bellezza atroce e lancinante questo Marches Of The New World.Cinque pezzi che (ri)propongono David Maranha, multistrumentista portoghese, come uno dei più validi neo-minimalisti rock del continente. Molto più focalizzato intorno ad una propria visione del rock minimalista rispetto al precedente Noe’s Lullaby ma inferiore prospetticamente alle esperienze come Osso Exotico, Marches Of The New World è una vera e propria discesa negli inferi del rock nero-pece.Ma per fare un po’ d’ordine, dobbiamo partire giocoforza dalla fine. Da quella Infinite March che con i suoi quasi 22 minuti occupa la bellezza di metà album. Una lunga, incessante marcia di rock ridotto ai minimi termini come se i migliori e più acidi Velvet Underground avessero deciso di dilatare Venus In Furs screziandola di umori sperimentali e da minimalismo d’avanguardia. Oppure, per converso, come un Riley biondo platino, vestito di pelle nera e con una siringa nel braccio che avesse voluto disseccare Sister Ray riducendola all’osso.In soldoni, una ritmica marziale ed elementare che è quella di Moe Tucker, le lancinanti stratificazioni tra Hammond, violino e la dobro/rezophonic guitar di David, una sfibrante e maestosa frattura nella parte centrale che scioglie il rock nell’acido dell’improvvisazione colta e incolta. Su tutto, un’ancestrale senso di sublimazione da reiterazione. Ovvero, la ripetizione come mezzo per la purificazione.Il resto non è ovviamente da meno. Ossessivo e ripetitivo, nero come la pece, stordente nel suo flusso onirico, Marches Of The New World è quanto di più rock si sia ascoltato nel campo del minimalismo raga. È la formazione stessa che accompagna David (dobro/rezophonic guitar) ad essere di impostazione classicamente rock: João Milagre al basso, António Forte alla batteria, il degno sodale Tiago Miranda dei Loosers alle percussioni e infine la Espers Helena Espyall al contrabbasso.Le screziature avant di Virgins Visions, la circolarità psichedelica di Oil Crows, il finale in disgregazione sonica della vibrante Redemption Torture fanno manifestare in lontananza i rimasugli di quel mondo oscuro a metà tra rock e musica colta che ha visto germogliare fiori diversi come le sinfonie di Glenn Branca, i deliri noise di Lou Reed, il rituale droning di Outside The Dream Syndicate. Ma l’innegabile capacità di Maranha è quella di saper sapientemente lavorare di cesello, intagliando suoni apparentemente statici ma in realtà in perenne movimento e mutazione. Per chi scrive uno dei dischi dell’anno appena passato.

di Stefano Pifferi

Storia della Musica

David Maranha - Piano Suspenso

2007-07-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

piano suspenso
CD, 2007 ed. Sonoris (france) SON21 CD 2nd edition with new cover

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
david maranha - piano suspenso by davidmaranha

Osso Exótico + Z’EV

2007-07-23T03:50:00.000-07:00

“s/t”
patrícia machás, andré maranha, david maranha and z’ev
CD, 2007 Crouton (USA) crou039

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
excerpt1 by davidmaranha

Performers, album, and song all bear the same name in this beautiful, long-form exploration/meditation. If this means it's a one-time arrangement, too bad. The musicians have found a common space and focus that results in psychic harmony, if dissonant sound.
Both elements of the collaboration have been recording for decades. Z'EV began his experimental percussion work in the '70s and along the way has played with pretty much everyone in the downtown scene. He performs mostly on instruments he makes himself and is heavily influenced by Kabbalah, though this is not obvious in his instrumental work. Osso Exotico is a Portuguese trio whose membership has changed over time. They have been performing composed music on unusual instruments since 1989. The current lineup is André Maranha, David Maranha and Patricia Machás.
Few instruments used are recognizable. Z'EV sometimes uses conventional technique, smacking cymbals and gongs, but when he doesn't, his contribution melds with the eddying feedback drones of the others. Sometimes one hears a manipulated spinning CD, perhaps. Other elements resemble distant animal calls or warbles, but their origin does not ring a bell. The result is a coherent flow of short, treble drones highlighted with metallic jabs and underscored by resonant bass breaths. This is punctuated by interludes of rough, digital noise, orchestral feedback, and solo cymbal washes.
Perhaps the best element of this music is the way it feels both composed and improvised. Z'EV's contribution, often bowed and banged cymbal, seems certain to have been improvised, while Osso Exotico may be playing composed music, as is their history. One isn't sure this is the case, but their playing seems too measured and structured to be pure improvisation. Of course, many years playing together may mean they can tap into each other's souls to produce a self-organizing musical plot. In any event, the course the music takes is stimulating and absorbing. Without words, a story, or perhaps a landscape, develops.
Josie Clowney
Dusted Jul. 25, 2008

Since 1989, the Portugal avant garde ensemble Osso Exótico have created a stunning body of work. Current members are André Maranha, David Maranha and Patricia Machás, but besides the recordings, very little historical information can be found about the group. Rather, the music speaks for itself. Percussionist Z’EV, who has spent the better part of 40 years finding ways to coax sound out of material, and then creating a mystic cacaphony out of it, also uses sound as communication. Together, this grouping produces quite a statement, as sound becomes something unexplained by words, yet shared as an experience. Here, long stretches of rhythmic and bubbling organ are matched by large bass drum patterns that culminate in an expansive psychedelic pool of sound. This isn’t glassine drone music. It spews the grit of Tony Conrad and the trance of Terry Riley, while radiating the experience of a sweat lodge in a behemoth explosion of tribal minimalism; only digressing for a segment of spatial hums and large frequencies rubbed from the surfaces of metal, before it dives back into oblivion. With no sound processing, the result is a highly natural, grossly enigmatic, and deeply energized recording. The power is yours for the taking.
Released in an edition of 500 and packaged in an offset printed chipboard envelope.
Jon Mueller
Press release

Curious. Just curious. A collaboration between Z'EV, legendary player of percussion and tape-manipulator (among many qualities) and the Portuguese trio of Osso Exotico (Andre Maranha, David Maranha and Patricia Machas), the little chamber orchestra of all things minimalist? Maybe it's less of a mystery than it seems. This release lacks any information besides artist names and label's website (unless some insert is missing), so we have to be guessing (again). Unlike some of his previous collaborations I think it's not the result of some postal exchange of sound material, but the actual playing together of these four musicians. When you hear it than the unlikeliness of the recording seems to vanish - this is music that actually sounds like it belongs together. The drones of Osso Exotico, tight, layered, minimalist fits actually very well with Z'EV tribalesque percussion work here. It's a jam, that seems a sure thing. No editing or overdubbing has been used here, which is a pity, since
as a whole thing it is somewhat too loosely played. Certainly when the four players are 'searching' for a sound. Once the ball gets rolling, it rolls, it makes ripples becoming waves, waves becoming thunder storm. It's in these moments when the true power of the music comes alive. A tribal version of LaMonte Young, the grittiness of Tony Conrad on a multiple instruments and the psychedelic power that is found in more of the recent Osso Exotico recordings. Despite a few flaws in the recording, and the fact that it sounds a bit muffled, this is a very nice work. Get them in a proper studio and let them work on it more extensively.
Frans de Waard
Vital, number 613

Great collaborative piece between two historic entities, the ever-morphing Portuguese collective - here represented by André and David Maranha plus Patricia Machás - and the only percussionist (I believe) who, among many partnerships, has played with both nuclear master Glenn Branca and dancer Simone Forti. The balance of the album is evidently shifted towards the hypnotic dimension of the music: it’s been years now that Z’EV moves frequently within structures that don’t really belong to that freeform way of hitting metals which had become a trademark in the past, privileging “composed” settings where his extended technical approaches work wonders even if a little restricted. Those who are more familiar with Maranha’s crackling and howling organ will find this CD suitable to their taste, yet the special ritualistic concoction to which the players gave birth in this occasion reminded me most of all of John Cale’s triptych on Table Of The Elements: distortion and trance, percussive groove, a sense of potentially explosive tension that, on the contrary, leaves room to a total abandon of defensive postures. No gnashing teeth, no stricken nerves, just a few touches of feedback, whispers of wooden flute, some bouncing mallet, rarefied gong waves. Z’EV’s instrumentation appears somehow filtered, although we’re told that no processing is involved. Mystery. Channels are finally wide open, the quartet reached its goal: a transcendental improvisation that nevertheless sounds as fascinatingly emaciated as a grim harvester who comes creeping, knocking at the door when least expected, delivering the ones who presumed to be enlightened from that illusion.
Massimo Ricci
Touching Extremes

Fans absolus de musique industrielle, auditeurs assidus de sonorités hors du commun et attentifs aux mouvements culturellement déstabilisants, il n'est pas besoin de vous présenter Stefan Joel Weisser, plus connu sous le nom de Z'ev. Pour les autres, il suffira de fouiller dans une discographie plus que fournie que l'on retrouve sur des labels à sa mesure tels que Die Stadt, Touch, Staalplaat, Cold Springs ou Soleilmoon. Par contre, Osso Exotico est sans doute moins connu, plus confidentiel, malgré des parutions régulières depuis 1989. Groupe avant-gardiste portugais, Osso Exotico n'a certes pas la notoriété de Z'ev, mais son travail est loin d'être négligeable. Un travail qui, en tout cas, a suffisamment retenu l'attention de Stefan Weisser pour que leur association se fasse. Son aboutissement est cette longue pièce de quarante-cinq minutes où les percussions abstraites de Z'ev rencontrent les épanchements noise de Osso Exotico et s'y imbriquent parfaitement. Du moins, cela reste à nuancer car ce disque n'est pas qu'une longue litanie bruitiste qui ne saurait s'arrêter par manque de solutions de rechange. Tout au contraire, chacun, a tour de rôle, prend le dessus sur l'autre pour, au final, avoir une combinaison égalisée des deux univers.
Un disque, donc, en trois parties qui trouve son unité dans une mise en relation subtile des séquences. Evidemment, cette longue pièce ne peut se contenter d'une écoute succincte ou aléatoire. Ce n'est qu'en étant en immersion totale qu'on pourra appréhender toute la profondeur de l'œuvre. Un disque exigeant pour des personnes qui ne le sont pas moins. Si le premier quart d'heure est d'une rudesse absolue, le reste de l'album est plus à l'apaisement mais avec ce sentiment que ce calme n'est que précaire et que le vent peut tourner à tout moment. Même si cette association n'apporte pas grand chose aux musiques avant-gardistes, on se contentera de nos impressions sur la beauté sonore et musicale de l'objet. On ne pourra pas enlever à cet effort de Osso Exotico et de Z'ev ce sentiment d'intensité, de prise en tenaille de l'auditeur qui vous font plonger dans des eaux qui, tour à tour, passent du trouble à la plus grande clarté. L'expérience est donc concluante sans que l'on soit surpris outre mesure.
Fabien, 04-07-2008
Liability

Entender que os nomes que ocupam a esfera David Maranha servem para descrever a sua produção musical, pode até resultar de mera coincidência, é certo, mas não deixa, mesmo assim, de espicaçar a que se estabeleçam paralelos vários que aproximem ambas as partes. Até porque, ao abrigo de trabalhos recentes, dois dos quais considerados aqui, a noção de que existe de facto uma terminologia útil ao entendimento do todo Maranha ganha reforçado sentido e nitidez por efeito da transversalidade que tem vindo a assumir órgão Hammond na criação recente do autor do soberbo Marches of the New World. Perseguir e absorver as manifestações de um Hammond incessante nas suas revelações condiz inevitavelmente com o traçar do perfil de quem o toca.
A partir daqui, os significados que oferecem os dicionários para a palavra que serve de apelido a David (e ao irmão André) variam um pouco, sem nunca se afastarem por completo de possíveis definições para o som que o próprio arranca ao Hammond e a outros instrumentos: maranha s.f. 1. fios enredados, assunto intricado; 2. mistura, confusão, intriga, pacto; 3. enredo. Se não confundirmos “mistura” com “salganhada” ou “confusão” com “descuido”, servirão os significados alinhados como termos que reflectem parte considerável do espectro sonoro pertencente a alguém que, por imposição do nome de baptismo, parece ainda mais predestinado à vocação que o levou a manter – com notória visão e perseverança - os Osso Exótico, colectivo formalmente flexível mas de cerne imperturbável, desde 1989 até aos dias de hoje.
A conspiração não se fica por aí - estende-se também à morada lisboeta que consta de vários dos últimos discos que conheceram a mão de David Maranha: (Rua) Violante do Céu (onde a estreia de Bowline foi gravada e produzida em 2006), perpendicular discreta da Avenida de Roma. Quando se recebe nas mãos um envelope remetido de Violante do Céu, há nisso algum daquele misticismo que provavelmente se abateu sobre quem, em determinada altura, recebeu discos do obscuro Jandek enviados a partir de Corwood. Violante do Céu é, de resto, o nome de uma poetisa portuguesa muito aclamada no século XVIII. Acerca da mesma, atrevo-me a parafrasear: Ao gosto do seu tempo, preferiu temas como o amor, o temor de Deus e da eternidade, e o sentimento da vaidade das coisas humanas. Cultivou uma poesia que foi considerada sábia, intelectualizante e rica de hábeis jogos. A última dessas suas características, assim como a contemplação dedicada a elementos imensuráveis como Deus e a eternidade, são alíneas (ou pistas) que se encaixam também facilmente no cânone Maranha, principalmente no álbum partilhado com o venerável percussionista Z’ev (Stefan Weisser), em que David é obrigado a agigantar o seu órgão Hammond ao ponto de este não ser eclipsado pela mais disseminada e calejada autoridade de um instrumentista que praticamente nasceu com uma bateria nas mãos (sendo também ele um predestinado).
Sobre os dilemas do amor e a tirania de Cupido, Violante do Céu escreveu um soneto que tem o seguinte como primeiro verso: Que suspensão, que enleio, que cuidado. Estava provavelmente escrito que variantes da mesma “suspensão” e “enleio” servissem como impedimentos – quase magnéticos - para tudo aquilo que no disco de Bowline se fita e ameaça, sem nunca chegar a consumar um confronto. Em magnifica rota horizontal, Bownline efectua o registo dos despojos sobrantes de uma batalha cordialmente prometida, mas nunca cumprida, entre dois pólos – o violoncelista italiano Francesco Dillon e David Maranha – que, logicamente, libertam as suas próprias ressonâncias, tantas vezes circunspectas a um minimalismo crescente, e considerações referentes à ocasião sob a forma de discursos contínuos - drones - repletos de drama (sendo que a curta duração somada às quatro faixas veda o caminho à pretensão).
A dinâmica bipolar revela-se também no disco de colaboração com Z’ev que, mesmo assim, acumula qualidades e manobras interiores que o tornam completamente diferente do trabalho atribuído aos Bowline, sobretudo porque o primeiro se trata de um colossal tomo muito mais sujeito a desenvolver ciclos específicos que o aproximam talvez do que poderia ser o levantamento sonoro de Pompeia “antes”, “durante” e “depois” de estar coberta de cinzas (fases não necessariamente sucedidas pela mesma ordem no lançamento da Crouton). Enigmáticos são os passos tomados, nesse sentido, pelo órgão Hammond de David Maranha, que se supera a si mesmo nas proporções diabólicas que assume, Harmonium de Patrícia Machás e outros instrumentos de André Maranha, do lado dos Osso Exótico, e pela percussão assanhada à flor da pele escamada de Z’Ev, à medida que ambos avançam em toada de exorcismo mútuo que domina os primeiros quinze minutos da sua duração. Ultrapassada a precoce apoteose, Osso Exótico + Z’ev abre espaço para a reverberação própria da implosão (recolho zen?) a que é remetido o seu primeiro surto de febre primordial e cacofónica – que, até certo ponto, constitui também negação – algo pérfida, diga-se – do dilúvio de ruído que o disco antecipava inicialmente.
BodySpace
Miguel Arsénio, 09/07/2008

Osso Exótico & Verres Enharmoniques

2006-07-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

Folk Cycles
patrícia machás, Sophie Durrand, andré maranha, david maranha, Manu Holterbach
CD, 2006 Phonomena (USA/Japan) PAAM-030CD

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
folk cycles by davidmaranha

A few years ago, Manu Holterbach and Sophie Durrand (aka Verres Enharmoniques) released the their first recordings of Holterbach's 'enharmonic glass' instrument, a variation on the glass harmonica that allows for a smooth harmonic transitions between sustained notes. It's a perfect device for exploratory minimalism, and the two have returned to it for a brilliant collaboration with the likeminded Portuguese ensemble Osso Exótico. Given their mutual affinity for the acoustic phenomena of beating frequencies and harmonic glissandos, the collaboration between the two is a perfect match. Osso Exótico augment Verres Enharmoniques' circular drones with e-bowed guitar, harmonium, shrutibox, violin and even bowed piano, secret melodies whispering their tunes amidst a constant stream of acoustic dronings. Folk Cycles is a very powerful album, on a par with the finest work of Phill Niblock and Eliane Radigue.
The Wire, 275: January 2007
Jim Haynes

When I last reviewed something by David Maranha, I started with the words: 'After a period of silence, David Maranha comes along with a new CD'. That was Vital Weekly 327 (the one before that was VW 202), so how should I be calling the latest gap? A seemingly endless gap? Maranha returns here with what he started ages and ages ago: Osso Exotico, a group with him, his brother Andre and Patricia Machas. Active in Portugal since the early nineties, they have released some excellent CDs of minimal music, usually performed on violin, cello, flutes, glasses and all to create overtone, textured music. Whatever happened in the new millennium, but their activities, certainly in the area of releasing music on CD, fell back. Here they return with Verres Enharmoniques, the duo of Emmanuel Holterbach and Sophie Durand, who played harmonic music using glasses. Over a period of sixteen months, the two groups worked together on the eight pieces that are now covered on this CD. Unlike some of Osso Exotico's previous work, this is not one work in eight parts, but rather eight separate pieces. That is a pity. Even when there is a twelve minute piece, some of these pieces are just a bit too short for my taste. In each of the pieces however there is great organic beauty, and through it nowhere sounds the same. Per track the sound input changes, although glass is the constant factor. Sometimes flutes are added, a harmonium, a bowed piano, 'e-bowed resophonic guitar, or an electric guitar in feedback. The music seems to me generated through methods of improvisation, and in this case that is an affair not without risk. Their intent is to play some highly delicate music, and through improvisation (wether not with some post-recording editing), this can lead to some problems, as is shown on this CD. Not every track is likewise strong, however the majority of the pieces presented here are very good. Humming, sustained sounds, working the overtone area of the sound spectrum, with minimalist changes, make this a through delight to hear. As said, one could only wish some tracks to be longer, to let the full beauty come, but it's throughout a great CD. And let's hope this is a true come-back, and that there is more to come in a shorter time span.
Frans de Waard
Vital, number 557

Slowly evolving and minimal electro-acoustic work that focus on harmonics and overtones, using simple variations presented in a ritualist approach. David Maranha is the obsessive mind behind Osso Exotico, who have recorded together since 1990, based in Portugal but over the last few years receiving recognition throughout Europe. The main sonic source for this project uses glasses - tuned wine glasses, glass tables, etc, in harmony with "resophonic guitar," the "percuted and continuum harmonium", e-bowed guitar, &c. It makes for beautiful shimmering environments, finding rhythm from unlikely sources, even-tempered yet like a diamond: interesting to observe for extended periods. Stunningly beautiful.

Squidco

David Maranha - noe’s lullaby

2002-07-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

noe’s lullaby
andré maranha, bernardo devlin, david maranha, luís desirat, manuel mota, patrícia machás e rodrigo amado
CD, 2002 ed. Rossbin (Italy) RS004

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
noes lullaby by davidmaranha

Portuguese composer David Maranha has always had an ear for knotty, unlikely textures, combinations of timbre of timbre that raise the eyebrow and pucker the mouth. Previous releases have seen him match unorthodox instrumental combinations with a love of steady state persistence. His brittle, bonescraping minimalism faintly nods to the likes of Phill Niblock or Arnold Dreyblatt but remains essentially Maranha’s own.
Noe’s Lullaby adopts the same modus operandi as Maranha’s previous albums (all hard to find but well worth seeking out). Here he explores a haunted house empty except for what sound like percussive scrapers, fluttering cymbals, guitars, bowed metal and violin. High frequency ambience ensures it never lives up to its title, and it varies throughout from edgily serene to scuzzily ominous.
It departs from previous efforts by intermittently foregrounding an asphyxiated and funereal rock rhythm, with shimmering cymbals accenting steady ripples of plucked bass. At first, I found the cymbals a real barrier to enjoying the music, which sounds quite fine enough without their brash presence. Repeated listenings diminished the problem, fortunately.
At times, Noe’s Lullaby has the glacial poise of gagaku music; at others, it’s the soundtrack to a David Lynch nightmare. Throughout its lengthy ebb and flow, the interest lies in the variations in its taut, fragile texture, like patterns of light at the bottom of a pool on a cloudy day. If it’s less successful than Maranha’s previous work, it’s no less worth hearing for that.
Brian Duguid
The Wire, issue 228

Maranha, a Portuguese musician best known from his group Osso Exotico, has created a powerful extended work here; a long march, a slow evolve, a non-drone (although it has a droning undertow). The layers recall the stately Japanese court music, gagaku, but there is absolutely no Japonaiserie here. The musicians are identified in the thin, elegant gatefold sleeve, but not their instruments. One can make connections with other slowly-unfolding music, but this sounds like neither Dreyblatt nor Bolero. What is remarkable about Noe’s Lullabye, clearly marked "play LOUD," is the interplay of the drone, which I tend to tag as continuo -- the intermittent splashes of what I perceive as bowed cymbal, bent guitar chords and percussive touches. The piece remains strong whether listened to attentively or while doing chores. The dynamic rises and fades are natural but not predictable.
Osso Exotico’s Musica #1 (Kormplastics KIP 004, 1993) lists Maranha and partners Patricia Machás and André Maranha, both part of the septet performing Noe’s Lullabye, playing violins, bowed mandolin, glass harmonicas, tubes, bowed xylophone, maranhophone, Chinese bells and other instruments. That piece is quite different from Noe, sectional and with prominent play to didgeridoo and other "solo" instruments. Both are composed, although I don’t how much (if any) improvisation is incorporated.
Maranha states, on Musica #1, that he wants "two parallel structures: one microtonal, produced by [random] instruments, and another one tonal... with the only concern of creating one macrostructure... bringing coherence to the whole." In that context, Noe’s Lullabye succeeds mightily, and is the stronger of the two works.
Steve Koenig
La Folia
David Maranha, known for his work with his brother Andre as the duo Osso Exotico, here presents a new composition that seems equally as informed by Swans and Godspeed You Black Emporer! as by minimalist classical music. Throughout the "Lullaby"s hour (nearly) of music, several patterns cycle over and around each other. The content of each is taken from (melo?)dramatic rock music; a steady bass drum kick, three succinct high-hat hits, a peel of guitar feedback. There's no mistaking the oppressive death-rock gloom that hangs over the work, with rhythmic bass thud anchoring it to an unchanging pace. Images of guitar distortion pedals (most notably a DOD pedal, conspicuously marked "Heavy Metal"), 1/4" guitar cables and a snare drum serve to hammer home the RAWK connotations. Yet, despite the many references to what might be perceived as an energetic or cathartic genre, the music does not evolve or build to any climactic noise; rather, all of the elements present at its beginning of the CD make appearances several times, and then "Noe's Lullaby" simply ends. The composer includes the phrase "to play LOUD" (caps are his) in the sleeve text, but the music isn't loud-sounding at all. So volume doesn't seem to affect the music very much (I resent a composer telling me how to listen to his or her music, anyway). Neither is it particularly narcotic, as its title implies. I tried going to sleep to it, but the threat of a big loud climax, while never actually arriving, seemed possible at every moment.
Howard Stelzer
Brainwashed
After a period of silence, David Maranha comes along with a new CD. In case you don't know: David Maranha was once a member of Osso Exotico, a Portugese trio that started out as a sort of ambient industrial group, but who quickly moved over to playing minimal music on a variety of sound sources, from guitars to glass harmonica. David went on to write pieces for small ensembles (sometimes the continuation of Osso Exotico) and further exploring the depths of minimalism and drones music. 'Noe's Lullaby' is one piece, of 52 minutes and played by Andre Maranha, Bernardo Devlin, David Maranha, Luis Desirat (the only one which says: plays with Paiste cymbals), Manuel Mota, Patricia Machas and Rordrigo Amado. From the instruments I could discover, I heard guitars, cello's and drums. The string instruments are bowed and produce small sounds too, but the leading part is played by the cymbals. It sounds like the score was a very limited one. "Play cymbals every now and then", "produce a drone note every now and then", and the intervals at which these happen are not clear. Although this release can indeed be classified as 'minimalism', I must say I am disapointed. It seems to me that there is a too limited score available, and it can't hold the tension/attention required. At the same time, the cymbals constantely crush by, thus preventing you from lulling asleep, which might have been the idea behind a lullaby as this is supposed to be. 'To Play Loud' the cover says... whoever goes to sleep with music on a loud volume...?

FDWVital

David Maranha - Circunscrita

1999-07-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

circunscrita
david maranha, manuel mota, patrícia machás, simão varela e joão lopes
CD, ed. Namskeio Records (1999)

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
david maranha circunscrita #1 6m57s by davidmaranha

Here’s an under promoted talent. David Maranha is one of three musicians behind Portuguese avant garde ensemble Osso Exótico, which I’ve always thought was Portugue for ‘we really should be much better known’.
Since 1989, Exótico have made a half-dozen increasingly impressive albums, while more recently Maranha has struck out with a series of ‘solo’ efforts, of which Circunscrita is the third. Quite why he now gets solo billing is hard to tell, since at least one Exótico disc contained only a single lengthy Maranha composition, while two out of the twelve pieces on Circunscrita are actually credited to Maranha’s mates.
Around 1994, Maranha brought out two splendid but very different albums, Musica #1 (Korm Plastics) and Musica #2 (Carbo). The first was an absolutely brilliant blend of tonal and microtonal drone minimalism, no doubt fated to become one of minimalism’s more obscure lost masterpieces, while the second offered a mixture of hesitant timbral experiments, tuneful sketches and one or two takes on Nyman-like rhythmic frivolity.
Circunscrita sees Maranha combine the multifaceted experimental approach of #2 with the -drones of #1. It is by no means a stunning success but it certainly deserves more listeners than it’s likely to get.
Maranha belongs to the same minimalist tradition as Paul Panhuysen and Arnold Dreyblatt. It is serious, deeply careful stuff (as anyone who has seen one of Maranha’s complex scores will attest), but informed throughout with a sense of practical experiment and discovery rather than the austere conceptualism or mathematical certainty that certain other minimalists adhere to. Like Panhuysen and Dreyblatt, Maranha pays a great deal of attention to instrumental timbre - he’s used the glass harmonica, didgeridoo and his own ‘maranhophone’ in the past – and his music is as much na opportunity for the sounds to illustrate their own character as it is for him to impose his own structure.
Circunscrita’s instrumentation (violin, double bass, bass drum, harmonium, Hammond organ and guitar) provides a steel wool, scratchily woven timbre. Many of the pieces have na on-edge texture that defies easy listening, the sort of unpleasant, teeth-grinding screech that more polite minimalists leave well alone. Initially, much of it is likely to set nerves jangling, and it may take a while to adjust to the music’s fairly unwelcoming vision. It can also be argued that these compositions generally just set up a texture and leave it to run – there’s less in the way of direction here than on previous Maranha recordings.
For my part, I’m just glad that Maranha has Kept at it for the last decade – the world needs more like him, finding idiosyncratic new sounds in old genres. It may be shrill at times, but Circunscrita is also rich and complex, perhaps even beautiful in its odd way. At its best, it has a poignant, tender edge that deserves to be treasured.
Brian Duguid
The Wire, 200

Some time ago I made the mistake of reviewing a CDR which was a demo of unreleased work by Portuguese composer David Maranha. This one is real. I thought this would contain the previously released CDR, but it's a different work (so whatever happened to the demo CDR, I don't know). The eleven tracks were written by David Maranha except one by Patricia Machás and one by Manuel Mota (whom we know from his own solo CD's). The music is scored for violin, guitar, harmonium, hammond organ, double bass and bass drum. The tone is set in the first piece, or that's what we are supposed to think... this piece is a continuation were previous Maranha (or those from his band Osso Exotico) left us: a beautiful flowing set of overtones of an acoustic nature. But right in track 2 (which is called "#2") something happens unusual. The double bass and bass drum start to kick in within with a beat and the band sounds like a fresh counterpart of Tony Conrad with his pals in the sixties (and hey, there is just a 30 minute retrospective CD out of those 1965 recordings, but if I had to choose for my money, I'd choose Maranha). Other tracks have also some sort of rhythm, like a badly cut tape-loop of some kind of a heavily delayed childrens toy, which gives the music an unusual, but certainly not unwanted bump. And then other tracks (like "#3") are simple, nice and beautiful, like the opening piece.It makes this into a highly varied CD in which many timbres, colours and moods can be heard.Maranha plays around with the ideas of minimal music, but entirely in his own way, taking the subject from various sides.
Frans de Waard
Vital

The "wow"-factor runs high in our new office: this is so amazingly brilliant. A Portugese quartet focussing on where Conrad's "Pythagoras" left off. High piched harmonium clashing into droning cello's, violins, double bassplays with even, mixed down in the background, a pulsing heartbeat surfacing here and there. Think, yes, Conrad, but also the likes of Rafael Toral (hey, isn't he Portugese too?) or even an ambient Hood/Boxhead Ensemble. Gatefold packaging completes this superb disc. Yep: recommended as hell.

circunscrita's black and white cover shows five folks comfortably set up on a small stage, playing their instruments (violin, guitar, harmonium, hammond organ, double bass & bass drum) in such a casually "normal" scene that I expected some kind of down-home improv hoedown music. I was wrong... david maranha leads his bandmates into extended instrumental drones from which slight variations seem to pop. The wheezing harmonium sound trickles a bit, the bass notes slowly register themselves as singular, but for the most part, everything just flows in a unidirectional slipstream. No track names (just numbers) keeps the dozen pieces free of any extraneous meaning... they simply are.
The pieces do vary from song to song (if you can properly call them "songs"), though mainly in timbre, force and density. Brassy waves and monotoned violin strands make #3 (composed (?) by harmonium-ist patricia machás) sounds like a tuning-up orchestra, frozen in time. #5 (4:01) resonates with feedback and softer swirls. Guitarist manuel m. mota contributes #7, a "chunkier" selection, its monochromatic soundforms broken into regularly spaced intervals.
A softly wafting sense of loveliness is discerned from #8's slight interplay of violin and keyboards. #10 (8:02) seems more tense, with darker undertones and paranoically scritching strings. While the sounds of ordinary instrumentation locked into obsessively single-minded drones (especially when following the liner notes' instructions "to play loud") could prove maddening to some, other, more intrepid listeners will allow themselves to be carried along, then be capable of enjoying the subtle fluctuations which emanate from these rivers of sound. Visit Namskeio for more.
David J Opdyke
AmbiEntrance

What a wonderful and moving album! David Maranha is not a newcomer. Portuguese violinist and composer of extreme experimental music, he releases with " Circunscrita " his third solo album for the excellent Swiss label Namskeio, and he also has a long experience with the project Osso Exótico, specialised in resonant manipulations on string instruments. The surprise is big when we realise which are the instruments used to lead to these troubling and superb atmospheres, magically decomposed with the help of a violin, a guitar, a harmonium, an organ and a bass. A hallucinating succession of drones, dark and bewitching, evolving quietly in linear structures, powerful and dangerous. The tracks stretch, in long and interminable notes, that follow themselves slowly, inexorably. The time seems suspended. These sounds, commonly regrouped under the appellation "sound art ", take all their strength on true instruments. An alchemy sometimes heavy and painful for earsthat are not accustomed to these treatments, but so delicate if one takes enough time to get closer to these structures. A rich and intense experience that we can't forget.
Indispensable and essential!

Quel album saisissant et poignant ! David Maranha n'en est pas à son coup d'essai. Violoniste et compositeur portugais de musique expérimentale extrême, il réalise avec "Circunscrita" son troisième album solo pour l'excellent label suisse Namskeio, ayant également une longue expérience avec le projet Osso Exotico, également spécialiste de manipulations sonores sur instruments à cordes. La surprise est de taille lorsqu'on réalise l'emploi réel des instruments utilisés pour aboutir à ces atmosphères inquiétantes et superbes, magiquement décomposées à l'aide d'un violon, d'une guitare, d'un harmonium, d'un orgue et d'une contrebasse. Une succession hallucinante de drones, sombres et envoûtants, évoluant calmement en des structures linéaires, d'une puissance pourtant redoutable. Les titres s'étirent, en de longues notes interminables, qui se suivent lentement,
inexorablement. Le temps semble suspendu. Ces prises de sons, plus communément regroupées sous l'appellation "sound art", prennent toute leur ampleur sur de vrais instruments. Une alchimie parfois pesante et douloureuse pour des oreilles peu habituées à ces traitements, pourtant si délicats si l'on tente tant soit peu de s'en approcher ouvertement. Une expérience riche et intense dont on ne ressort pas indemne.
Indispensable autant qu'essentiel !

Heimdallr
Stéphane Fivaz
July 2000

When held up against the Theatre of Eternal Music presentations of La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, and company, many minimalist drone efforts come across like supper-club productions. Eternal music requires patience. You have to be willing to surrender yourself to the almighty drone, a demanding mistress if ever there was one. David Maranha, along with brother André and Patricia Machiás, curates Osso Exótico, Portugal's long-running response to Young's New York-based MELA Foundation. OE has explored all manners of droneological implements, ranging from church organs to glass bottles, over the course numerous albums. David Maranha's last solo effort was an exceptional specimen of piano-string drone ("excited," a la Arnold Dreyblatt or Phil Niblock) that shimmered in timeless suspension. Circunscrita reunites Maranha and Machiás with guitarist Manuel M. Mota, João Lopes, and Simão Varela in a more multihued instrumental-drone communion. Maranha's violin and Machiás' harmonium are the basis for the disc's dozen numbered, otherwise untitled compositions. Their complementary hum-and-hover harmonics and overtones are all one hears in the opening piece and in Machiás' "#3." As the other instruments enter, the sound quickly thickens and broadens. Lopes' bass drum and double bass are surprisingly prominent, lending their lumbering pulse to the moire of meshed microtones in "#2," "#11," and "#6." Varela's Hammond organ is also a distinct color, with a vibrant electronic character quite discernable from Machiás' bellows-driven harmonium. Mota's rough strokes seem distracting when first encountered, imitating crude tape effects in "#4." Once integrated, however, his contributions do help to differentiate the tracks' timbral swirls without falling into predictable patterns. Mota's composition "#7" also stands out, breaking up the ensemble's massed overtones with rhythmic slashes of near minimal-techno deliberateness. The remaining compositions (all by Maranha) work fresh wrinkles into the fabric of Circunscrita's unifying drone, often with beautiful results. "#8" and "#10" are especially euphonious, while the Marnaha/Machiás interplay of "#9" is reminiscent of the Deep Listening Band's unique organic-acoustic alchemy.

fakejazz.com
Gil Gershman
9 feb 2001

David Maranha's third solo CD starts with a very Deep Listening Band-ish exercise, interwoven trebly microtonal drones, then scoots to an even more baroque construction of the same sounds woven around a pulse, using reedy instruments and suspended chords. Sure, it's been done before by Conrad, Toral, etc., but the shivering it induces is awfully friendly. Sounds like fourteen bagpipes trying (and failing) to hold the same note at once, nothing frantic, everything serene. With harmonium, cello, violin, and double bass. Noticeably linear and acoustic, it's not novel, but is a nice continuation of form. [RE]

Osso Exótico VIII

1999-07-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

imaginação morta
patrícia machás, andré maranha, david maranha, francisco tropa
CD, 1999 ed. To be released

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

André Maranha - Nacht und traume

1998-07-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Nacht und traume
por andré maranha
para patrícia machás, andré maranha e david maranha
CD, 1998 ed. Ananana (portugal)

André Maranha, membro fundador dos Osso Exótico, concebe "Nacht Und Träume" de uma forma singular. O disco compõe-se de três andamentos, muito diferentes entre si: no primeiro, um piano repete suavemente as mesmas notas, evocando o "Nacht Und Träume" de Schubert, intervaladas por períodos crescentes de silêncio. O efeito obtido oscila entre o repousante e o hipnótico; no segundo, duas vozes (masculina e feminina) procedem à leitura desencontrada de textos de Beckett, simplesmente acompanhados por um metrónomo; finalmente, no terceiro, repete-se o procedimento anterior, reforçando-se o acompanhamento instrumental com o piano e o saxofone barítono. A ilusão a que me referia no princípio deste texto reside na atitude despretensiosa, quase desprendida, com que este disco foi construído. De facto, a simplicida-de não pode ser confundida com superficialidade ou com o irrisório.Trata-se de uma pequena homenagem, embora profunda, a um dos mais significativos escritores deste século. A forma imaginativa como as palavras são veiculadas e a aparente reunião aleatória de Schubert e Beckett estabelecem uma significativa diferença com outras propostas afins marcadas pelo conformismo. Veja-se o caso do disco de Os Poetas, "Entre Nós e as Palavras", onde belíssimos poemas são "afogados" por um acompanha-mento musical delicodoce e acetinado, característico da actividade de Rodrigo Leão.Discos assim só fazem crescer o desejo de que experiências como esta se repitam. E, já agora, que durem um pouco mais... [Monitor]Of course we all remember Andre, member of Osso Exotico, who combine serious composing with maybe (but who knows, maybe not) electro-acoustic music derived from what could be vaguely identified as industrial music. But that's ancient theory, if we closely examine the three tracks on this CD. The first piece (hey, I hope you don't mind me not repeating the titles, which are way too long, and all in Portugese anyway) is the longest - a solo piano piece that, if I understand the cover correctly, is based on a title by Franz Schubert. But played slowly, withut much emotion. Very sober. Then the second piece is a woodblock kinda sound with spoken word - and then the third track combines what we heard before. This is probably crammed full with loads of metamorphical meaning which is well beyond me. To enjoy this is easy, as it's calm, relaxing, and Oh So Serious academically composed music.

Number 132
Frans de Waard

David Maranha - Piano Suspenso

1998-07-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

piano suspenso
CD, 1998 ed. Sonoris (france) SON21 CD

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
Fire Museum 4 Maio 2007 Curia by davidmaranha

The best of the three new CD's by Sonoris I'd saved for the last. David Maranha, one third of Osso Exotico, recorded a hauntingely beautiful piece in New York, using four motors and a violin bow to play the grandpiano. The motors create rich textures of overtones that slowly go in and out of phase and make unknown harmonies audible. The bow plays something like the melody off and on. There is a very special thanks to Phill Nilblock (sic) and if you know his music, then you know what to expect as it fits his tradition of minimal music very well.
Frans de Waard
Vital
Ever since American composer Henry Cowell first emptied a bag of screws into a piano, it has became de rigueur for cheapjack avant gardists to ‘treat’ instruments with lowly hausehold objects in pursuit of that wild, elusive sound. But David Maranha’s application of four motors and violin bow to a piano is motivated less by a desire for novelty than the internal needs of his music.
After a tentative opening consisting of damp harmonic scrapes, the piece takes off like a single-engined light aircraft when Maranha kickstarts his four-motored piano effect and then starts to tease single notes from the bubbling background with his bow. This is a great and physically affecting slab of sound, where the slightest minimal shift causes tectonic plates to groan. It’s gravy train stuff for fans of Maryanne Amacher, Arnold Dreyblatt and – perhaps Maranha’s major influence – Phill Niblock.
David Keenan
The Wire, August 1999

"David Maranha is the leader of Osso Exotico. This is his second solo CD. During his stay in NYC at the Intermedia Foundation, he has recorded live in excellent conditions a work for motor bowed piano and violin. As usual, it's a work on the exploration of the capacities of acoustic instruments. This CD can be considered as a long journey into sound inspired by Phill Niblock and other American minimalist artists."
Forced Exposure

Premier enregistrement d’une nouvelle collection du label Sonoris consacrée aux longues pièces sonores, “Piano Suspenso” de David Maranha (membre d’Osso Exótico) est une pièce de longue durée (71’31’’) pour piano, moteurs électriques et archet. Depuis Henri Cowell et John Cage le corps du piano (son anatomie) intéresse les avan-gardes musicales, dans l’approche iconoclaste, déconstructive, du geste fluxus (cf. le “Piano Activities” de Philip Corner), ici dans celle minimaliste d’un geste se dépliant sur un temps indéfini, rappelant “Five more Strigs Quartet” de Phill Niblock. Le piano quitte son statut de représentation social bourgeoise pour devenir ce curieux object détaché de ses rites liés à la performance technique, pour se transformer en générateur de durée, d’espace. Pratique de détournement d’un object Qui pourrait répondre à celui du tourn-disque des DJs, notre siècle aura redéfini l’utilité de ses objectes en lui inventant d’autres usages remettant en question la norme et la sclérose qu’elle induit.
Maranha développe une architecture harmonique très dense, vibratoire,loin d’installer un mur sonore statique, mono-tone, c’est un paysage déplié sur des ensembles fluides, vivantes, des champs sonores vibrants, craquants, avec ces bruits de moteurs Qui imprègnent le son. Cordes de piano frottés par l’archet qui prennent de l’ampleur, s’accumulent à la façon de masses nuageuses, l’orage ne viendra pas, tombera une légère pluie mécanique. La musique de David Maranha (tout au moins sur cet enregistrement live) emporte la conscience du temps, de l’être là dans l’occupation des sols, ramenant les différentes sphères de sensations et de consciences aux corps, corps ouverts sur l’espace intérieur. Un prochain enregistrement de In Be Tween Noise (a.k.a. Steve Roden) est annoncé pour la collection.
Michel Henritzi
Revue e Corrigée
Nº34

A single, one hour and twelve minute track by Portuguese composer David Maranha, performed live in New York in 1998. Using only a grand piano, four electric motors and a violin bow, Maranha "excites" the strings from within the piano to produce a beautiful, continuous drone that subtly shifts in emphasized overtones. The motors -- small, garden variety, electric motors -- are placed on the ends of microphone stands with what appear to be small brushes affixed to their business ends and set over the strings. Maranha adjusts the dynamics and pitches by the amount of pressure the motors apply to the strings and slowly moving the locations of the motors to the strings. On top of this Maranha adds various bowing techniques to augment the overall color. All in all this is an excellent cd, reminiscent of Coleclough & Chalk's "Sumac" or the works of Troum and other dronologists. Highly recommended.
Uno de los animadores detrás del notable colectivo portugués Osso Exotico, David Maranha es uno de los más destacados artistas dedicados al "sonido continuo" en los últimos años. En Piano Suspenso, Maranha explora la sonoridad continua extraída del interior del piano usando unos pequeños motores vibratorios de tal modo que el cordal es "tocado" en forma permanente. También usa como elemento adicional arcos de violín para accionar las cuerdas, generando una "nube" donde conviven los suaves sonidos del metal ( el piano originario) y la rugosidad propia de los motores. Disco de especial interés para aquellos que conozcan las experiencias del norteamericano Phill Niblock. En Circunscrita, David Maranha recurre al aporte de varios colegas, entre ellos la integrante de los exoticos, Patricia Machás y el gran guitarrista Manuel Mota. Armonio hindú, guitarras eléctricas frotadas con arco, contrabajo y violín para construir paredes sonoras de densidad y duración variable. Una búsqueda centrada en el color instrumental y –de acuerdo con lo que indica el propio Maranha– para ser escuchada a volumen muy alto.

Solo outing for Osso Exótico-affiliated mastermind David Maranha, or rather it's a mechanized quintet for piano with Maranha the sole living constituent. For his contribution to a Electronic Arts Performances Series in Troy, NY, Maranha with bow in hand and his four-strong fleet of motors took to the insides of a piano for some churning drone action. His motorized system maintains a delicate balance where even the slightest shift ushers in a dramatic change in timbrel activity, residing somewhere along the lines of Remko Scha's take on Lubomyr Melnyk's continuous or Charlemagne Palestine's strumming music.
Twice Zonked!

Osso Exótico 7’’

1998-07-23T02:49:00.000-07:00

patrícia machás, andré maranha, david maranha
7", 1998 ed. Drone Records (germany) DR-37

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
Osso Exotico (VII) [A1] by davidmaranha
And Drone? They just continue releasing 7"s with known and unknown bands with their ideas of drone music. They nowadays come in series of three. Osso Exotico I may rank among my favourite 'bands'. The Portugese trio, around their main composer David Maranha (except a great solo CD on Sonoris soon), come with off-shoot tracks of their CD on Sonoris. All church organ sounds, in long sustained tones. Even with my roman catholic background, but no longer a traditional religious person, I like to play this at a loud volume (without burning incense). Beautiful, and true drone music.
Frans de Waard
Vital

Created via an church organ this is not exactly how you would expect this to sound given the drawn out essence of the pieces, yet the aura of sound does retain a slight resemblance to its origin (fleeting sounds spark this recognition). Likewise there is an unavoidable religious flair to the sounds, mainly due to the conations associated with the instrument choice but this has more to do with preconceived notions than anything else.On both tracks a slow hazy warmth exudes from the grooves of the vinyl, with slow enveloping drones and deep cavernous sounds that rise and fall in volume during the slow journey of the two pieces. Essentially dark ambient pieces these sit well with the likes of Amon and the more minimalist school of sound. Interestingly the packing sees the music pressed on clear vinyl and comes with a small packet of spices. Very tasty!
Richard Stevenson
SPECTRUM MAGAZINE
AUSTRALIA

Osso Exótico VI

1998-07-23T02:46:00.000-07:00

church organ works
patrícia machás, andré maranha, david maranha
CD, 1998 ed. Sonoris (france) SON-03

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
church organ works 10 by davidmaranha

Sonoris is a brandnew french label which launces with three releases (hopefully more on the other two soon) and this one with one of my personal favourite bands. The three piece group from Portugal explore in ten tracks the possibilities of the church organ. The members play in various combinations on different organs. The outcome is very varied. The opening piece is barely audible, but the second piece is a loud, repitive, all register open one. Of course it's hard to see this music without any religious overtones, but Osso Exotico don't give a clue in that direction: all their pieces are untitled. Meditative pieces in most cases, but less minimal then the known minimalist who grew up with playing organ. This is a different approach then Charlemagne Palestine would do, but none the less this is quite interesting.
Frans de Waard
Vital number 124

"Osso Exótico is a Portuguese group formed in 1989 around André and David Maranha. Since their formation they have released 2 LPs and 3 CDs on their own label, Carbo Records, and on Staalplaat and Ananana. Since their first release, Osso Exótico follows a singular musical course. They always play with acoustic instruments with very few treatments or effects, in a personal way influenced by minimalism and American avant-garde. Church Organ Works gathers together 10 tracks for solo organ recorded in two churchs of Lisbon. This new work explores the range of an organ's sonorities without the help of electronic treatments or effects. Some tracks may remind of the early works by Glass or Riley for electrical organ, but the majority of the tracks is a continuation of works of some of American composers (Pauline Oliveros, Jon Gibson, Guy Klucevsek, Phill Niblock) or contemporary composers (Dumitrescu, Radulescu, Scelsi) who create experimental music with only some acoustic instruments."
Forced Exposure

Portuguese ensemble Osso Exótico’s Church organ Works is all about the beauty and grandeur of the pipe organ. Split equally between the Lisbon cathedral organ and the organ at the Marvila church, ten tracks explore some of the most powerful and significant aspects of these organs, not the least of which being the phenomenally resonant and live spaces they call home. This reverberant setting is as much a part of the instruments as their pipes and bellows, providing a meeting ground for the interactions of their complicated tonalities to take place, and giving Osso Exótico a wealth of sounds with which to play. Using a variety of composicional methods, including a score “written” by an archer on a target, over the course of Church Organ Works the musicians touch on the organ’s many moods – quiet passages of tonal subtleties; rich, dense magesty; quiet, slowly shifting melodies; and an unbelievable penchant for creating thickly – saturated overtone fields. Witnessing the performances live is the only improvement I can imagine for these works.
Halana #4

Osso Exótico appears to be a loose affiliation or collective of experimental music-makers, although David and Andre Maranha appear on all of their releases to date and Bernardo Devlin and Patrician Machas on most of them. They've been recording since 1990, demonstrating at the very least the willingness of their members to play a variety of instruments. Here, the Maranhas and Machas are let loose on two church organs, and they turn in pleasingly distinctive and interesting performances.
The overall feel is fairly minimal, though this is hardly minimalist, and the fact that most of the tracks are refreshingly shortish gives these improvisations and compositions (the balance is unclear) the quality of little studies, exercises which take small ideas and work them through with care and attention. Sometimes they make much use of repetition -- of which David Maranha seems particularly fond -- but at others they seem to simply allow the music to drift, in a measured and rather stately way, from one end of the church to the other.
Each half of the disc -- one from Lisbon, one from Marvila -- contains at least one solo by each participant (except Devlin, who provides vocals on one track only) plus one duet, with the disc climaxing with a six-handed piece which spends nearly quarter of an hour exploring slowly unfolding, often dissonant harmonies. This deliberate slowness is a big part of what this disc seems to be about, and it makes it a nicely ambient disc which, like all the best of that sort, repays closer listening as well.
On the strength of this release, the Osso Exotico ethos seems to place a high value on simplicity. These are rarely barnstorming performances, being rather egoless and being likeable for all that. The music is uncomplicated, unpreposessing and largely rather quiet, sometimes utilising ambient sounds which are just as prominent as the organ itself. They're not a well-known group (one release on Staalplaat seems their best shot at fame and fortune) but perhaps they deserve a little more recognition.
Richard Cochrane
RAMBLES
Cultural Arts Magazine

Grabado durante los meses de junio y julio de 1997, "Church organ works" examina, sin hacer uso de efectos o tratamientos electrónicos, el amplio abanico de sonoridades de este solemne instrumento. Para ello, Patrícia Machás, David Maranha y André Maranha utilizan variados métodos compositivos y de interpretación.
El resultado: un bello y misterioso compendio de composiciones influenciadas, en cierta medida, por el minimalismo y la vanguardia norteamericanos.
Las diez piezas contenidas en esta grabación exploran algunos de los aspectos más conmovedores y significativos de este instrumento...
Margen

We heard of the Portuguese duo Osso Exotico from the exceptional Drone Records 7” series (curated by Stefan of Troum / Maeror Tri). Their single was actually an out-take from the recording sessions for this album of lengthy church organ explorations. The sustained chords of the organs received no electronic treatment, showing Osso Exotico’s ties to the phenomological compositions of Alvin Lucier or Pauline Oliveros. Very nice work!
Sexto volumen del notable grupo de acción minimal portugués. André y David Maranha junto a Patricia Machás la emprenden con los órganos en las catedrales de Lisboa y Marvila, sin dudas un contexto propicio para amplificar resonancias y ecos diversos. Hay drones más "puros" junto a algún cluster sorpresivo. En otras piezas surgen insinuaciones modal-repetitivas que lentamente aparecen como un organum de la antigua polifonía gótica. Un disco para sumergirse en la espacialidad y extraer sustancias a partir de gestos sencillos, austeros y de gran efecto.

Osso exótico V

1997-01-12T02:42:00.000-08:00

patrícia machás, andré maranha, david maranha
CD, 1997 ed. Ananana (portugal) III001

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico
osso exotico V ciclo #2 by davidmaranha

My monolinguality often lets me down when approaching non-English releases, and the CD by and entitled “Osso Exótico” is no exception. Hailing from Portugal the sixteen tracks are the works of three composers, David Maranha, Patrícia Machás, and André Maranha. The main featured instrument is the bowed piano and that’s about as much as I can tell you from reading the cover. (As if to mock me, some of the sleevenotes on the handsome sleeve are not only in Portuguese but also printed in reversed ‘’mirror writing’’).
However the pleasure comes from listening. The center-piece of the album is Machás “Ciclo#1”-a quarter of na hour’s worth of bowed piano, a rich resonante sound somewhat reminiscent of viols. The music consists of circling drones- there is no development, just a sense of luxuriating in the unique timbre of the instrument- warm and defiantly non-electronic.
The first nine tracks – all but one under a minute – are composed by David Maranha. Each consists of a piano chord being struck and dying away, the decay lengthened by the bowed piano and other instruments. A combination of “melodic” chords and singular instrumentation (glass roulette anyone?) make these miniatures very attractive and the basic idea of elongating the natural decay of a piano chord artificially is one worth exploring further.
David Maranha’s other piece is the massive ”Fuga Domestica” clocking in at nearly twenty-eight minutes. It uses tape recorders, ”maranhophone” (a sort of Zither, I think) and the unique tones of the glass harmonica. The tape sounds are apparently domestic in origin and are cut in sparingly. These sounds are of running water and electrical devices and are unaltered. They remind me of the scissors and paste of early musique concrète, especially John Cage’s Fontana Mix. Cage is probably a valid reference point for this piece, not just in the use of space but also in the oriental feel of the instrumental sequences, at times reminiscent of Noh theatre. There are some beautiful textures, but it does go on a bit.
“Corrimão” by André Maranha completes the album. Basically a tape piece, the main angle is the use of “hand read” tape, i.e. the spools are manipulated by hand, resulting in the sounds of na extremely slowed down voice. Although the low tech approach appeals to me, the end results are pretty uninspiring monster noises.
“Osso Exótico” demonstrates some quite original sound producing methods and some fascinating compositions by three young (I’m going by the sleeve photos here ) Portuguese composers. Interestingly the release has a rather 1960’s feel to it which is quite refreshing. Recommended to those looking for composers who, unlike a lot of the Brits, aren’t trapped in post-serialist mathematics or odious “faith minimalism” . Worth a taste.
Richard Sanderson
Resonance

Travelling through some of the same territory as Church Organ Works, but employing piano as the chief instrument, is the self-titled release from Osso Exótico on Portuguese label AnAnAnA.The group spends a lot of time experimenting with time and space on the release, particularly on the first piece, ‘’9 esteiras para 1 acorde de piano.’’ It’s a series of nine single piano chords, each joined by any number of additional instruments to change the color of the sound, including bowed piano and bass, violin, electric guitar, glass harmonica, bass drum and organ – a brief, wonderful beginning to the collection. Next comes “ciclo” numbers 1 & 2, a pair of composicions for bowed piano that fully explore the instrument´s tremendous drone potential. This piece in particular has a quite beautiful score (all of which are included in the accompanying bbooklet) of concentric circles and many-sided angular figures – both perfect visual representations of the resulting music. “fuga doméstica”, the 28 minute centerpiece of the record, continues the overall concern with held tones, silence and the piano’s percussive nature, while adding tapes of various water sounds to break up the mix, presenting a slowly evolving series of sparse, overlapping events. Finally, the four-part “corrimão/comunidade das mãos” finishes the release´s general trend toward abstraction by concentrating on voice. 2hand read” magnetic tape, panoramic recordings and prepared piano. A decidedly less traditional close to Osso Exótico’s enriching exploration.
Halana #4

The career of Osso Exotico started years ago, but their output is not great. This is the fifth production: a beautiful digipack with book representing the scores of the various composition. If you would have a superficial look, then this could Edition RZs next release. Osso Exotico is a group with three members: Andre and David Maranha and Patricia Machas. When they start out to make music, they pick a piece of papers and write the score before they start to play the music (a rarity not often found inVital Weekly). There are 16 tracks on this CD, but in fact 4 main sections. The first 9 are very short, each track is one attack on an instrument.
Present in every piece is the piano, and in some also the clarinet or violin. Simple by its means but at the same time quite intense. The following two pieces are called "Ciclo' and the compositions are represented by a circle. Long stretched violins make the major part of this. The final two pieces on this (the 1 piece 'Fuga Domestica' and the 4 piece "Corrimao') include to a wider extent tape manipulations. In the fuga these are domestically recorded such as water sounds. The Corrimao piece is composed by Andre Maranha and is a strange low end mixture of collaged sounds. Overall a varied CD of truly modern classical music. (FdW)
Frans de Waard
Vital, nunber 73

Another indescribable piece of work: formal but often beautifully paced...abstract, minimal - maybe sometimes a little too extended.
Chris Cutler
ReR
Hoje, a vanguarda, tal como a conhecemos, tem cada vez menos sentido (é uma pseudo-vanguarda). Pelo contrário, o experimentalismo continua bem vivo e expressivo, assimilando as tendências ecléticas próprias dos anos noventa. O quinto álbum dos Osso Exótico (portugueses, prolíferos e... exóticos - se nunca deram por eles, que estação andam vocês a sintonizar?) é disso mesmo paradigma. Colectivo artístico formado por três forças criativas individuais (três arquitectos de formação), Osso Exótico move-se àparte do academismo - que em Portugal é particularmente conservador e castrador de novas tendências estéticas - e, por isso mesmo, mais livre e mais aberto ao experimentalismo.Em "9 esteiras para um acorde de piano", de David Maranha, presenciamos nove miniaturas (todas com cerca de trinta segundos, excepto a última, que tem cerca de um minuto) de construção horizontal, pautadas por um rigor tímbrico e textural quase aritmético. Uma possivel afluência, reservando uma considerável distância, especialmente ao nivel tímbrico, poderá ser o respirar espacial de Feldman, permitindo ouvir o som - ele mesmo - desses acordes. "Ciclo #1" e "Ciclo #2", de Patricia Machás, são duas peças (ou variações de uma mesma peça) para três intérpretes em piano com arco, de duração indeterminada. Tempo lento, lembra as "excited strings" de Dreyblatt ou as "string installations" de Panhuysen ou ainda o "Steel Cello" de Rutman. O desenho das partituras (o libreto do CD inclui as partituras de todas as músicas) lembra "Refrain", de Stockhausen. No entanto, o resultado final é suficientemente interessante para rapidamente nos esquecermos das possíveis referências. "Fuga doméstica", de David Maranha, é uma composição de pendor electroacústico para maranhofone (instrumento de cordas construído pelo jovem compositor), gravações e percussão. O jogo da colagem e do silêncio é uma constante, numa peça que prima pela organicidade da estrutura.Por último, "Corrimão/Comunidade das mãos" (em quatro partes), de André Maranha, para fita magnética "lida à mão", captações panorâmicas e piano percutido, onde a poesia concreta se mistura com o aleatório das gravações. Arte sonora ou o som visual de um instante, a partitura representa o que está para lá do imediato dessa realidade que presenciamos (as palavras que estão na fita magnética não são aquelas que ouvimos, pois elas são "distorcidas" pelo toque do intérprete).O projecto Osso Exótico não move fronteiras mas tambem não tem essa pretensão. Apesar de ter uma audiência maior no estrangeiro que no seu país natal. Mas esse parece ser o estigma dos artistas que em Portugal trabalham nas margens do que se quer como estabelecido. Não deixa de ser para lamentar o facto de o reconhecimento de uma certa cultura ter que vir primeiro do exterior para que, então, depois, a nossa "boa sociedade" demonstre o seu interesse. Osso Exótico comprova isso mesmo no título deste seu novo trabalho. [Expresso]Eis, finalmente, o tomo cinco do projecto mais radicalizado da música experimental portuguesa, e também o mais enigmático e despreocupado quanto à repercussão mediática do seu trabalho. Com a sua atitude distante e indiferente, os Osso Exótico ocuparam um lugar único na arte dos sons feita em Portugal, escolhendo sempre os seus "timings" e apresentando cada disco nas alturas que acharam por convenientes, deixando-os maturar e viver os seus ciclos naturais. Foi o que aconteceu agora. "V" é o regresso do grupo a uma existência enquanto tal, depois da passagem de David Maranha, talvez o seu elemento mais activo, pela etiqueta holandesa Staalplaat. E é, claramente, um disco dos Osso Exótico, bem diferente, pois, das recentes produções deste músico.A obra, editada em "digipack" com um libreto de luxo, é organizada segundo quatro situações bem distintas. A primeira são as nove "esteiras" com apenas um acorde de piano e menos de um minuto de duração cada (à excepção da última). A segunda é o par de "ciclos" em que o mesmo piano – instrumento preponderante em grande parte do CD – é tocado pelos três elementos, David, André Maranha e Patrícia Machás, com arcos de violino. A mais longa (quase 28 minutos) e mais interessante peça incluída, "Fuga Doméstica", caracteriza só por si o terceiro núcleo de "V", com a sua estranha beleza. A última situação ("Corrimão/Comunidade das Mãos") tem como meio a fita magnética e propósito a captação de panoramas auditivos.De imediato fica claro que o trio não abandonou o seu princípio básico desde o segundo título, em formato vinil, quando ainda era um quarteto com Bernardo Devlin: fazer uma música que, como em tempos disseram, "não seja o resultado de um condicionamento formal". Ou seja, uma música que poderia ser tocada por não-músicos, anterior a todas as suas padronizações e estilizações, o equivalente à "desaprendizagem" tentada pelas artes plásticas a partir dos exemplos do artesanato primitivo, da criação infantil e do imaginário visual dos loucos. O virtuosismo, entenda-se (e apesar de os Osso Exótico terem inventado um instrumento, o maranhofone), não tem lugar nestes temas. "Partilhamos uma visão mais poética do que técnica da música", avisam eles.E assim sendo, os Osso Exótico continuam a manter a mesma frescura de sempre, equilibrando-a agora com um maior apuro. A primeira boa nova do ano... [Monitor]

La musique que nous offrent ces Portugais s’apparente, par certains traits, à une forme extravertie de post-modernisme minimal traversé par des éléments plus electroacoustiques disjonctant ainsi, de manière fort salubre, une approche et une écoute souvent trop confortables dans ce genre musical. Ce 5eme enregistrement de la formation, nous offre tout d’abord «9 essais pour une accord de piano» (courts, seul le dernier dépasse, de peu, la minute!), chacun présentant une combinaison instrumentale différente. En contraste, David Maranha, qui en est l’auteur, propose par ailleurs une longue pièce (prés de 30 minutes), une «fugue domestique» pour laquelle il utilise des bandes magnétiques et un instrument «maison», le maranhophone: «Fugo domestico» alterne des séquences méditatives, faites d’accords ponctuels et obsédants, dont l’ordonnancement est rompu par des interventions bruitistes. Patricia Machas, dans ses deux «ciclo» aborde le piano en tant d’instrument à cordes, à l’aide d’un archet, créant ainsi un environnement sonore proche de ce que Radulescu appelle des «Sound Icons» (cf. LP «Clepsydra/Astray» RZ 1007). Andre Maranha est celui des trois musiciens qui est le plus impliqué dans la manipulation des phénomènes électr(on)iques. Quatre pièces concrètes, de durée moyenne, en témoignent. Mais son approche en reste feutrée, lointaine, comme s’il refusait à s’imposer brutalement. [Revue & Corrigée] (F)

For specialists. A curiosity from Portugal. 9 pieces pursuing unusual sound and odd structural arrangement. Half minimal, half beyond it. Unusual packaging. Very Limited [Chris Cutler in ReR Catalogue] (GB)
Ils utilisent des instruments acoustiques et électroniques et opèrent dans une démarche très avant garde. Mélange de pièces répétitives de type contemporain, et de mixages sonores et acoustiques et bruitages sont très intimement mêlés. C’est obsédant, même dérangeant par la lenteur de lécoulement musical. Pour conclure, ils utilisent des bruits de rue, mélangés à des effets électro acoustiques. Une volonté, semble-t-il, de continuer la démarche de la musique concrète. [Jazz Notes] (F)
Quant à Osso Exótico, il s’agit d’une oeuvre acoustique minimaliste dont la lente progression n’est pas sans évoquer Morton Feldman. Creusant les rapports entre acoustique et électroacoustique (lá, on songe plutôt au travail de Martin Archer pour le label Discus), celle-ci dégage dans l’ensemble une agréable impression sérénité. [Octupus] (F)
Vieles in Bad Alchemy vorgestellte ist merkwürdig und schön, manchmal auch nur merkwürdig, oder nur schön, wie die musik von Osso Exotico. Zuerst kommen «9 esteiras para 1 acorde de piano» von David Maranha, jeweils nur ein pianocluster als ausklingende tontraube, in neun Schritten gemischt mit gleichzeitig angestrichenen piano-saiten, violine, glasharmonika, gitarre, bass, basstrommel oder orgeln. Danach zwei piano con arcos - «ciclos» von Patricia Machás, sublim schimmernde stahlsaitenchromatik in mollpolyphonie. Darauf folgt die fast achtundzwanzigminütige «fuga domestica» von David Maranha, eine komposition für maranhaphon (d. i. eine art zither), tonband und percussion, die sehr minimalistisch mit ausschwingenden, einzelnoten, punktuellen notenballungen, wässrigen granulationen und stille eine contemplative stenographie aus klangkürzeln in die luft malt. Und schlieBlich folgen noch die vier ultra-reduzierten «corrimão/comunidade das mãos» von André Maranha. Er spielt tonbänder per hand und evoziert - etwa durch die aufnahme von schritten - gleichzeitig einen ort für seine nur knapp oberhalb der hörschwelle gurgelnden klangschlieren. Muzik wie nicht von dieser welt. [Bad Alchemy] (D)
Osso Exotico demonstrates some quite original sound production methods and some fascinating compositions by three young (I’m going by the sleeve photos here) portuguese composers. Interestingly the release has a rather 1960’s feel to it which is quite refreshing. Recommended to those looking for composers who, unlike a lot of the Brits, aren’t trapped in post-serialist mathematics or odious "faith minimalism». Worth a taste. [Resonance] (UK)

André Maranha

1994-07-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

) gárgula (gargalo )por andré maranhapara patrícia machás, andré maranha e david maranha
CD, 1994 ed. Carbo Records (Portugal) CR004

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

Syllabic voice tangent to the neck of bottle (andré maranha ) in the bath-room / slightly opened door/ feminine voice, circular friction of finger on glass of water ( patrícia machás) and oscillating friction of bow on cymbal and strings (david maranha) in the corridor. Recorded in January 1994 (david maranha)

Andre, of Osso Exotico, with a beautifully presented CD made from Bottle, Glass, Voice, Bowed Cymbal and Recorder, recorded in bathroom and corridor. Consistent and very consequent. For all friends of the monimal
Chris Cutler
ReR

Osso Exótico IV

1993-09-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

Musica #1
patrícia machás, andré maranha, david maranha
CD, 1993 ed. Staalplaat/Soleimoon (netherland) KIP 004

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

Just one lengthy, gradualy changing, cyclical, pulsing improvisation covers this CD by the Portuguese trio Osso Exótico. The character of the music is certainly minimalist and avant-garde, but also it blends in a great range of folk, ethnic, jazz and classical influences. Kind of the sort of thing I’d have expected on the italian Cranps label, or maybe what Musica Electronica Viva may have gone onto after their legendary LEAVE THE CITY. But, remarkably, this is all acoustic and so transparently atmospheric.
Not really possible to describe the music further. Well, what would you expect from clarinets, violins, didgeridoo, bowed percussives, jew’s harp, bells, tubes, etc? Excellent!
Alan Freeman
Audion #28 Spring 1994

Using acoustic sound sources only this three-person Portuguese group makes music that is generally quiet but also very poetic and rich. The soft shimmering timbres of a glass harmonica are accompanied by clarinets, didgeridoos, chinese bells, and an array of unorthodox instruments ranging from a percuted maranhophone (whatever that is?), to a bowed xylophone and mandolin. At just under 60 minutes the one piece offered is not really a song per se but rather a constantly moving sequence of refined and delicate tones.Improvisational brilliance.
J.M.
Audio

Since 5 years Osso Exótico have released 2 LP´s and 1 CD. Their music is rather moody and on this CD also rather minimal. One could easily use the term ritualistic, if it weren’t for the absolute absence of any reference towards anything spiritual.
Musica#1 is a piece lasting approximatly 60 minutes, performed with acoustic instruments. We hear a constant hum over which occasionally a very slow melody can be heard. Minimal, moody, introspective. Nice.
I.S.
Vital 36

Just one lengthy, gradually changing, cyclical, pulsing improvisation covers this CD by the Portuguese trio Osso Exótico. The character of the music is certainly minimalist and avant-garde, but also it blends in a great range of folk, ethnic, jazz and classical influences. Kind of the sort of thing I’d have expected on the Italian Cramps label, or maybe what Musica Elettronica Viva may have gone onto after their legendary LEAVE THE CITY. But, remarkably, this is all acoustic and so transparently atmospheric.
Not really possible to describe the music further. Well, what would you expect from clarinets, violins, didgeridoo, bowed percussives, jews harp, bells, tubes, etc? Excellent!
Alan Freeman
AUDION #28, Spring 1994.

Le 4ème disque de l’excellent série Korm Plastic est remarquable. Oui, sans
amplification ni manipulation électronique, il exalte les sources acoustiques d’instruments tels les guitares et cymbales ou plus simplement du frottement circulaire d’un doigt sur le rebord d’un verre à boire. Le trio portugais, conduit par David Maranha, aboutit à une musque minimale, au rythme changeant, du meilleur effet.
A.D.
Revue e Corrigée
Nº20 june 1994

David Maranha - Música #1

1993-07-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

musica #1
CD, 1993 ed. Carbo Records (Portugal) CR005

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

Also beautifully wrapped. Curious minimal pieces for unusual instruments.
Chris Cutler
ReR

Osso exótico III

1992-03-14T01:19:00.000-08:00

patrícia machás, andré maranha, bernardo devlin, david maranha
CD, 1992 ed. Carbo Records (portugal) CR003

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

For specialists. A curiosity from Portugal. 9 pieces pursuing unusual sound and odd structural arrangement. Half minimal, half beyond it. Unusual packaging. Very Limited.
Chris Cutler
ReR

Osso Exótico II

1991-05-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

patrícia machás, andré maranha, bernardo devlin, david maranha (sei miguel and fala mariam)
LP, 1991 ed. Carbo Records (portugal) CR002

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

07. The Mistery of Hours by davidmaranha
O xinfrim de percussão que abre este segundo LP dos Osso Exótico parece indicar que “II” seguiria os passos do seu antecessor, um disco que vagueava pelos territórios do pop industrial (se é que alguma vez houve disso em Portugal) carregado de experimentalismo e de uma boa dose de electricidade. Mas é sol de pouca dura, porque poucos segundos depois ficamos a saber que os meninos dos Osso Exótico estão a ficar crescidos: neste disco, recorrem exclusivamente a instrumentos acústicos, a uma maior economia de meios em cada tema, explorando com cuidado certos timbres e texturas e criando um ambiente geral mais discreto e intimista.
Bernardo Devlin continua a cantar, ora lembrando uma Linda Blair endemoninhada, ora assemelhando-se a um João Peste com qualquer coisa atravessada na garganta (de notar que nenhuma destas comparações é necessariamente negativa), tornando-se no principal elo de ligação com o disco anterior e no principal ponto de ruptura com a obra posterior da banda (Devlin deixaria os Osso Exótico após o terceiro disco). Este é também o disco que assinala a entrada de Patrícia Machás nos Osso Exótico, onde permanece até hoje juntamente com os irmãos Maranha.
“II” acaba por ser essencialmente um disco de transição, em que começamos a vislumbrar os caminhos que os Osso Exótico seguiriam no futuro, e a perceber que seria necessária muito atenção e paciência para apreciar a sua obra posterior, atenção e paciência que (dizem) acaba por ser largamente recompensada. É também, julgo eu, o disco com tiragem mais limitada, numa edição numerada de 350 exemplares. Daqui em diante, a edição em CD e a maior facilidade de distribuição no estrangeiro fez com que os Osso Exótico fossem das primeiras bandas portuguesas a ser reconhecida internacionalmente – uma espécie de Madredeus do drone lusitano, por assim dizer.
Discos com Sono

Osso Exótico I

1989-11-29T03:14:00.000-08:00

andré maranha, antónio forte, bernardo devlin,david maranha
LP, 1989 ed. Multinational (Portugal) MN1

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

Lunar Circus Maximus excerpt by davidmaranha
Excellent first vinyl released by this fantastic ensemble, mixed drones with experimental-avant garde. The album was recorded on the 18th June 1990 in a testing room of the Geotechnical Department by the occasion of the advanced study institute on rockfill structures organized by NATO ( NATO ASI on advances in Rockfil Structures) and sponsored by Laboratório Nacional Civil with the participation of scientists of nineteen countries. It was released on vinyl by Multinational (MN 1) in 1990.
The Thing on the Door Step

Dando seguimento à linha de orientação inaugurada no post anterior, os Discos Com Sono afastam-se ainda mais da luz e descem neste post ao inferno do cripto-industrial lusitano, com a primeira e misteriosa edição dos Osso Exótico. Para acentuar o lado subterrâneo de tudo isto, refira-se que o ripanço foi criminosamente roubado ao lovecraftiano blog The Thing on the Doorstep, que parece ter tido acesso a uma cópia deste disco fugidio.
Os Osso Exótico dos primórdios soarão atípicos aos fãs dos prolongados drones que a banda tem produzido nos últimos 15 anos. Mercê da porradaria metálica que António Forte dava nos bidões e da voz de mauzão de Bernardo Devlin, a coisa aproximava-se de uma versão mais contemplativa dos Neubauten ou dos Coil na época Scatology, comportando-se o colectivo ao vivo como uma banda quasi-rock, de guitarras em punho, baquetas na mão, microfone no tripé e outros maneirismos vergonhosamente ultrapassados para quem quer fazer música de vanguarda. Ainda assim, o disco aponta já noutras direcções e esforça-se por escapar ao previsível, abrindo com um instrumental que ocupa todo o lado A e por onde vai desfilando uma imensa panóplia de obscuras intervenções sonoras sobre um motivo em loop quase constante que lembra um comboio em andamento. Virando o disco, o registo muda para canção e o Devlin vocifera acerca da Nova Idade da Pedra ao ritmo de chicotadas e pancadaria metálica. Seguem-se quase dez minutos de guitarras em feedback sobre grilos em alegre cantoria, terminando com mais uma semi-canção que inclui Devlin aos berros + pancadaria em bidões + feedback & distorção.
Mas, se os clichés industriais da voz endemoninhada, percussão metálica e guitarras aos guinchos estão bem presentes, a verdade é que a banda tem o discernimento para fugir ao mau gosto reinante em 99% dos projectos tardo-industriais. A identidade ossoexótica, ainda que algo incipiente, mostra-se já ao mundo como uma unidade de música exploratória que escapa à catalogação fácil e que segue alegremente caminhos novos sem se preocupar demasiado com géneros ou rótulos.
Miguel Santos distribuiu eficazmente o disco pela Europa fora e os Osso Exótico tornam-se uma das primeiras bandas portuguesas com verdadeira (ainda que microscópica) projecção internacional. Dos poucos exemplares que por cá se venderam, nunca vi nenhum. Quem tenha e quiser vender é contactar-me nos comentários, pago o que quiserem até 10 euros.
Discos com Sono