Bartolo – Six Improvisations for Creatures and Machines
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What is it like to be human in an electronic world?
Bartolo is a Lisbon-based guitarist, composer, producer and sound artist who has worked with artists including Miguel Rio Branco, Damo Suzuki, M. Takara, Paal Nilssen-Love and Thomas Rohrer. His second album, “Six Improvisations for Creatures and Machines” is a series of instrumental improvisations along with a modular synthesizer programmed with random parameters. The unique set of unpredictable harmonies, rhythms and forms make the synthesizer a quasi-improviser, providing a musical foundation for spontaneous musical interaction and composition. As Bartolo describes it, “I chose musical partners who I have an affection for and with whom I share a rapport. In one track I play alone, a man-machine duet. In other tracks, I also have a human partner or two to interact with the machine. Analog programming carries an imprecise delicacy where it is difficult to retain absolute precision. There is something human about it, but at the same time it is the very opposite of anything human.’’ Recorded live in studio with no overdubs and complete spontaneity, the resulting album is a deep exploration of what it means to be human in an electronic world.
Tracks:
- Cibernética
- Sthira-Sukha
- Além Elétrico
- Nerves and Wires
- Zaatari
- Mars Mantras
Bartolo: modular synth programming and guitar on all tracks
Alberto Continentino: double bass on ‘Zaatari’
Gabriel Ferrandini: drums on ‘Cibernética’
Leo Monteiro: drums on ‘Nerves and Wires’
Pedro Sá: guitar on ‘Além Elétrico’
Renato Godoy: drums on ‘Zaatari’
Thiago Oliveira: alto sax on ‘Nerves and Wires’
Thomas Harres: drums on ‘Sthira-Sukha’
Jonas Sá appears as a voice sample on ‘Zaatari’
Composed and directed by Bartolo
Recorded at Namouche studios and Iá Studios, Lisbon, Portugal, February and March 2016.
Recorded at Rock-it studios and Casinha Studios, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, April and May 2016.
Tracks 1, 3, 6 produced by Bartolo
Tracks 2, 4, 5 produced by Bartolo and Estevão Casé.
Recorded by Quim Monte, Bartolo, Estevão Casé and Ricardo Riquier
Mixed and mastered by Gil Fortes
Cover art by Lê Almeida.
Catalog Number CR2006BA
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