CD – Cronica Electronica

Roha is the first solo album by Andreas Trobollowitsch, ex member of the duo Nörz and Acker Velvet, a musician and Vienna-based composer, performer and sound artist that, in collaboration with David Schweighart, composed the soundtrack for the 1920’s cinema series Digi Wave for the Filmarchiv, Austria. Compared with its past works the free form patterns now seem to undergo a meticulous process of manipulation, a wider combination and overlapping, following cryptic trajectories made vivid by sophisticated chords and carefully studied harmonies. Trobollowitsch is accustomed to sound installations in which the auditory process is much more ‘mechanical’, simply recall “Sambas De Uma Só Note,” “Acoustic Turntables” or “Santa Melodica,” of which we hear excerpts during the eight tracks of Roha. Finally, any digitally produced sound is included even though a sound-source can originate from a single source, from feedback produced by a electric bass, from a double bass, from a piano loop that gradually transforms until it almost dissolves into a wall of sound. There is no shortage of more intricately structured textures which follow changes in pitches, grinding noises, hinted at melodies: all in a very organic context, built with plenty of sonic substance and with a densely textural patchwork. Even the artwork made by Miguel Carvalhais – one of the masterminds of the Cronica Electronica ­– is impeccable, designed with the same organic-mechanical fascination that permeates the entire album.

 

Andreas Trobollowitsch – Roha