Federico Durand - la siesta del ciprés (2010, Spekk)

Siesta : “An afternoon rest or nap, esp. one taken during the hottest hours of the day in a hot climate”.

Between awakening and sleep, not in deep sleep but with a dissolved consciousness, listening to “La Siesta del Ciprés” is like walking through a deep fog, unsure if it's a dream or the reality, but without losing track, keeping alert while almost weightless.

It reminds me of the dreamier instants of artists like Sawako, Chihei Hatakeyama, Harold Budd, The Green Kindgom or RF but simply even more volatile or evanescent.

It's the second album of an Argentinian musician, Federico Durand, exploring his own form of ambient music whis he resumes as “the sensations produced by listening to music while falling asleep”. At times his music seems to disappear in limbo through residual tape hiss but there is always a feeble glowing light that appears then and keep us alert.

It starts like a tale, with “El mundo secreto de la montana”, stepping up the hill through this foggy tape hiss which make me wonder to what kind of beauty Federico will capture once he will have access to better recording material. “Mi pequeno mundo de papel
” is already about contemplation of the infinite unfolding of landscape in dreams, like imagining forms in the clouds while the sun is rising and slowly. And progressively floods us with light. “La siesta del cipres” is this state of weightlessness, laying on the ground, eyes closed, losing conscience with the sound of the wind through leaves in our ears.

“El increible altillo de Lili y Sebastian” is a pure dream, floating into water in a wordless environment, with just mouths moving slowly without a sound, creating air bubbles. On “Nos alejamos de la casa, sobre la nieve joven” we find shelter under a duvet, asleep, protected by curtains, while the sun is high in the sky.

Suddenly we are in the middle of the night, under a vast moonless with a few palpitating stars appearing episodically through a thin layer of fog. The moon is back with “Luna” and envelops trees and hills with milky light. Federico ends his album on a strong note with the intimate and moving “Pudu, tu nombre es Tobias?”

As a whole “La siesta del ciprés” is an impressive and promising work, even if blurry and almost transparent at times the clarity and the nuances of this album prove that Federico Durand is now someone to follow attentively.





http://www.spekk.net/

http://www.myspace.com/federicodurand