And here we have it. The latest release by fellow Dutchman Orphax is a double one, making fans of drone and ambient music even happier. One massive drone per CD, and I have the pleasure and privilege to review this beauty.
Sietse van Erve doesn’t need any introduction, I suppose, yet here it is. Owner of and managing the Moving Furniture label, proud dad, musically active as Orphax, bearded, cat owner (or owned by cats) and a generally great person to hang out with. Not many people are aware of the existence of the sublabels of Moving Furniture, including Eliane Tapes and the Contemporary Series. With the Eliane Tapes, a place was created to pay tribute to sounds and compositions inspired by the amazing Eliane Radigue, and I think that is one of the strongest connections in taste between Sietse and me. The difference is that Sietse discovered her quite early and was inspired ever since, and I only got to know the beauty of true minimalism after a long search.
Why am I emphasising Eliane Radigue? Easy, because this album shows the same depth and emotion I hear in her music. The sound as object, or better yet, the sound as goal of a quest. And while the result – the sound, the drone, the composition – must be beautiful and worth listening to, the quest or search is at least as necessary. Tolkien’s books could have been a lot thinner, the accompanying movies by Peter Jackson could have been a bit shorter too, but it wouldn’t have been the same. The quest IS the story.
Painter Bob Ross (also bearded – coincidence?) created landscapes in his own distinctive way. Lots of technique but always kinda ‘the same’ if you are not a fan. But fans will tell you that each work is unique in its own way; each work tells a different story or enables you to dream away in the landscape he created. And when something went wrong, he always spoke of happy little accidents. He didn’t start over; he used them and incorporated them into the artwork. Improvisation on a different level. Working with what you have. When life gives you lemons … Embracing imperfections …
Now back to Orphax and his “Embraced Imperfections”. The two drones are live performances recorded during a live video streaming event in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been released before, yet through remastering and the CD format (as opposed to a download), it can be considered a new release altogether. I’ve reviewed more Orphax releases, but never before has the description of his art as written on his website been more fitting. I quote: ‘In the music there is a development towards microtonal sounds, where time and spatiality are important factors. In this form of working, the eventual result can be a static form of sound where development in the music becomes subordinate to the listener, losing any sense of time, and that is spot on. Especially with the second part, you lose every sense of your surroundings as well as time. Which I always love and use as a guideline for my own work as well.
My review could have been shorter as well. “Sietse made two amazing, beautiful drones of isolationist landscapes triggered by the lockdown during the Covid pandemic. You have to buy it and support him.” The limited edition is already sold out, but standard editions are still available. But while listening, I got into a warped space/time loop, and my mind got the better of me. So I wrote a bit more. Hope you don’t mind …
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