Vicente Atria // Orlando Furioso LP

This is a review record released by Vicente Atria, a percussionist/multi-instrumentalist born in Santiago, Chile and currently living in New York, USA, on Belgian experimental label Aguirre in September 2023.

Contains 10 songs from spiritual jazz to free jazz.

Below is a commentary by the label.

"With the opening phrase of the first song, ``En Tornasol," an invisible barrier dissolves and an exotic landscape appears.

Early European composers felt that their works reflected the divinity of the material world in their structure.Through tuning, form, and contrapuntal alchemy, these musicians sought to illuminate and enlighten the complex and perfect order of existence.The music here also reflects the contours of an orderly world, a place none of us have ever been. By assembling building blocks far removed from the detritus of 21st century musical terminology, Orlando Furioso transports listeners to a strange new universe.The result is expressive music that speaks not in the voice of a storyteller or memoirist, but in the voice of a cartographer. Like the Dante of science fiction, the listener is taken on a tour of the diverse and colorful regions of another world.Each piece references a real-world musical location, from the Andes to Indonesia to Italy to New Orleans, but they are tied together by stylistic coherence into a coherent, continuous geography.What runs through this world is an uncompromising commitment to microtonal harmony, rhythmic intensity, both the esoteric (Nicola Vicentino's infamous 31-tone temperament) and the hauntingly obvious (the astonishing Gento・Breakdown) is the ability to deploy them equally convincingly. Although Vicente's songwriting is at the helm, all the players on this album deserve praise for their ability to perform to the fullest.

The omnivorous musical diet is truly rich.You will be able to learn from so many great masters, absorb their traditions, and hone your techniques in a way that you will never experience again in your lifetime.It can also impose a heavy and often contradictory burden of influence.Once every corner of the map has been drawn, it becomes difficult to find a new direction.One of the solutions I hope to see more often is the one explored on this album.When completed with precision and without cutting corners, the seams between pieces disappear, leaving the listener somewhere beautiful and strange, assigning their own meaning to their own sensations. "

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12 "black vinyl. 

Tracklist: 

1. En Tornasol 04:17
2. Raso, Sarga, Tafetán (I) 02:01
3. Raso, Sarga, Tafetán (II) 02:19
4. Raso, Sarga, Tafetán (III) 01:31
5. Raso, Sarga, Tafetán (IV) 02:00
6. Raso, Sarga, Tafetán (V) 01:36
7. Raso, Sarga, Tafetán (VI) 01:40
8. Galliard 06:50
9. Bootstrap Bernie 07:56
10. Antiqueca N.6 10:50

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Text by Mat Muntz via the label:

With the opening phrase of “En Tornasol,” an unseen barrier melts away to reveal an alien landscape.

Early European composers felt that their work reflected in its structure the divine nature of the material world. Via tuning, form, and contrapuntal alchemy, these musicians sought to illuminate and edify the complex and perfect order of existence. The music recorded here also the contours of an ordered world, but it is no place any of us has ever visited. By assembling far-flung building blocks from the detritus of a 21st-century musical vocabulary, Orlando Furioso brings the listener into a bizarre new cosmos. The result is deeply expressive music that speaks not with the voice of a narrator or memoirist, but with that of a cartographer. Like a science-fiction Dante, the listener is taken on a tour of many diverse and colorful provinces of an alien world. Though each composition references its own set of real-world musical locales (from the Andes to Indonesia to Italy to New Orleans), they are bound by stylistic consistency into a coherent, continuous geography. Permeating this world is an uncompromising commitment to microtonal harmony, rhythmic intensity, and an ability to deploy the esoteric (Nicola Vicentino's notorious 31-tone temperament) and the head-smackingly obvious (a surprise djent breakdown) with equal conviction. Though Vicente's compositions are steering the ship, serious recognition is due to all the players on the record for their ability to meet these demands. 

Our omnivorous musical diets offer real abundance. They enrich our craft by providing access to limitless approaches from which to choose - more masters to study, traditions to absorb, and techniques to hone than is possible in multiple lifetimes. They can also inflict heavy and often contradictory burdens of influence. When every corner of the map has been charted, it becomes difficult to find a new direction in which to travel. One solution I hope to see more often is the one pursued on this record: breaking down distinct musical worlds into component parts and reassembling them into a language. When completed with precision and with no stone left unturned, the seams between the pieces vanish and the listener is deposited somewhere beautiful and strange, left to assign their sensations meanings of their own."

Artist: Orlando Furioso

Label: Aguirre