improbable transgressions pedro carneiro | sirr0028

Wire Magazine

Tokafi
It isn’t easy reaching out beyond your niche when you’re as nichy as a marimba player. But Pedro Carneiro has done more than that: Documentaries have been shot about him (“Détacher le grain de l'épi” by French cineaste Hélène Bouquin), he has reinvigorated the commissioning of works in his field and appeared on classical labels as well as experimental samplers. Carneiro has therefore, without a single doubt, transcended the fact that he’s a percussionist and risen to the position of one of Portugal’s brightest musical stars, a status further solidified with his release on the renowned ECM label in March of this year. So if there is a man who can make a meeting berween his instrument and a top notch ensemble of sound artists work, then it must surely be him – these transgressions were not that improbable from the outset.

Especially since Carneiro has found the perfect partner for this endeavour while browsing the internet: Compatriot Paulo Raposo of Portuguese imprint Sirr Ecords shares his passion for continually expanding one’s horizon and has built up an extensive backcatalogue of releases which have always been in close contact to other forms of art: Sculpting, modern art, ballet – taking the step into classical concert halls was almost a logical conclusion. What has made this step even more easy, of course, is that Pedro is neither a total newbie in the contemporary music scene, nor a household name: His ideas with regards to collaborating with electronic musicians are fresh, yet never naive and his way of thinking implies a much more personal interaction than the often completely anonymous filesharing process of the “scene”. “Improbable Transgressions” has subsequently turned out a work of dialogues, instead of egoistic interpretations and the end result can justly be called a “cross-synthesis of musical minds” (Cristian Vogel). Carneiro’s marimba improvisations are not just raw material for further sonic treatment, they are dedications, performed with the remixer in mind and can also be considered “assignments”. All of the composers involved have subsequently left much more of the original source intact than would usually be the case, often opting to build their input around it, ornamenting its silhouette or deepening its texture. Their methods are colourful – Ivan Franco has used bots who “listen” to the marimba tracks and play along with it, while Stephan Mathieu copied his improvisation from one cheap tape recorder to another, manipulating it merely with fast forward and play-button effects.

The typical marimba sound has remained recognisable throughout, which lends an air of closeness to the renderings despite their technical differences, but also means that almost all action takes place in the upper frequential spectrum – a treat one has to get used to. Especially the first tracks on the remix disc of this 2CD set are of a slightly nervous and agitated nature, which means they require concentrated listening. But the more your body acclimates itself, the more the uniqueness of this world shines through, the more you recognise that you can use both versions of the pieces as the starting point for further discoveries. An edgey case of cross fertilsation, but a rewarding one.

SmallFish
Sirr-ecords is a fabulous label and with this release they are once again firmly in their stride. Classical and contemporay percussionist Pedro Carneiro performs 9 superb solo marimba pieces on the first disc. The works are improvsed and specifically aimed at the resulting artists that have undertaken the reinterpretations. Along with the work an amusing note was sent to each musician saying 'Please hack me'. The pieces themselves are lively, funny, serious and at times defiantly tongue in cheek. They're instantly likeable as the marimba has such a warm sound that it's hard not to be charmed. From there we arrive at the second disc where artists such as Stephan Mathieu, Cristian Vogel, Brandon Labelle, Chris Brown, Convolution Brothers and more all deliver interesting meditations on the original work. The range of styles and interpretations is truly impressive and we're treated to tense, drone and manipulation works, freeform takes on the skittish percussive sound of the original and heavily structured arrangements. Experimental music of the highest calibre from a consistently excellent label. Bravo!

Touching Extremes
The Imperial Grand Marimba is a five-octave monster that percussionist and composer Pedro Carneiro uses as his main expressive means. The artistic intention of "Improbable transgressions" is pretty easy to decode, but also quite demanding for the listeners, articulated as it is over two long CDs that could probably be too much to swallow in a single session without suffering a few cases of dwindling attention, unless you're properly trained. In fact, Carneiro recorded nine solo improvisations, using the many techniques at his disposal to show every nuance, noise, resonance and protruberance to conjure up fascinating dissonant networks and pronounced rarefactions. He then asked nine contemporary sound manglers (Convolution Brothers, Chris Brown, Ivan Franco, Brandon Labelle, Stephan Mathieu, João Pedro Oliveira, André Sier, Christian Vogel and Ralf Wehowsky) to "hack" his instantaneous compositions. The results born from these processes sound pretty serious (not that one would ever dare to think differently) yet we should stress once again that this music should be enjoyed in small doses, because both Carneiro's original improvisations and their reworkings need intense concentration to truly penetrate their significance. Obliqueness, correspondence of intents, disintegrating relations and unrecognizable projections are at the basis of sound fields that allude to many different reality modifications. On the one hand, the author maintains the physical structures of his playing in obvious evidence, given also the absence of any overdub or edit; contrariwise, several of the "hackers" determine a thorough disembodiment of his tones, most notably Convolution Brothers, Wehowsky and Mathieu. And, naturally, it was meant that way - or was it? All in all, this is a conceptually important, though not steadfastly ear-pleasing release, certainly a different step in Sirr's usual path.

E|i Magazine
Improbable Transgressions, a collection from contemporary percussionist Pedro Carneiro, deals in solo five-octave marimba pieces—or tokens, to use Carneiro’s term—which were passed along to the artists whom they were created in thought of, each marked by the tempting offer or, better, challenge—hack me. So, to name a few, Ralf Wehowsky, Stephan Mathieu, Brandon Labelle, and Andre Sier took to it, mixing and rearranging the data they were confronted with, scrubbing them with subjectivity, and otherwise infecting them with traumatic traces whose ensuing series of failures spells strange developments in composition. Put differently, in not trying to ferret out crisis, in, quite the contrary, turning these vices into its splendor, these are works that, like cities, feed off their own hubbub. Teeming energies abound—Wehowsky guides one through delirious sonic clusters and swarms; Mathieu erects a piece of enhanced atmospherics and cavalier cadences; and Chris Brown merges rough tonalities with smooth glissandi. Such a restless succession of technically challenging and advanced works betokens rigorous, rewarding participation on behalf of all those who lend an ear.