CD – Crónica

For the second release in the Textuur series, Jos Smolders questions the processes surrounding the contextual deprivation – or hijacking – of sounds, cutting them into small pieces and infusing them with an estrangement that modifies the perception of musical texture. If sounds are separated from their source and consequently separated from what they originally represented, what remains that can adequately express a sense of quality? Textuur 2 continues the investigation that Smolders has previously undertaken, deepening the themes of fragmentation and removal, working meticulously on a type of sonic dismantling, a process in which the original sources become increasingly difficult to distinguish. This intentional and detailed process creates a sense of emptiness and what is listened to becomes almost anonymous yet at the same time endowed with a new expressive capacity. The absence of reference to the original source transforms each sound into an autonomous unit, free from the constraints of previous meaning. Smolders explores the possibilities offered by this condition of suspension, creating sonic palettes that not only challenge the concept of music as narration, but also place the listener in front of an even more abstract and purely perceptive experience. The result is a work in which silence and empty space play a crucial role, allowing the listener to directly confront sound as an isolated event. The most fascinating aspect is how through fragmentation new expressive possibilities are created – what has been stripped of its context becomes a blank canvas on which Smolders paints a new sensorial experience. The result is not only a conceptual abstraction but a perceptive challenge that leaves the listener with the task of reinterpreting and reconsidering the role and meaning of sound itself. With this second collection, Smolders further refines his technique, delivering an enigmatic, radical and fascinating work, where two groups of sounds are compared – the samples of the original material and the permutations – and resynthesized in a new texture. Therefore, each permutation is the result of a new approach, and listeners can investigate at what point the source, and the meaning of that source, disappear into the sonic surface in which it is interwoven. They are also invited to design their own permutation, or permutation of the permutation, in an exhilarating and endless game of reference.

 

Jos Smolders – Textuur 2 [ |​|​|​| – – – – ]