a r t o . a r t i a n

musika txikien katalogoa / catálogo de musicas mínimas

1. .

   MANGENERATED by Wim Van Gelder

   “Máscara de Sangre” (translated: “Mask of Blood”) is according to the letter that came with this CDr the first solo-album of Miguel Prado [website] - It’s released on the equally Spanish label Ozono Kids [website] (based in Barcelono) - In that letter Miguel Prado is more or less described as a guitar improviser, or “rudimentary frequency builder of the six strings”. The first track, “Ruinas de la no-acción“, reminds me a bit of some of the live recordings that I’ve heard of Diskoster when he’s doing guitar, maybe not quite as deep and pounding in the basses, but indeed quite rudimentary, not to say broken, with a certain metaldrone feel in it that at one moment gets lost in a good deal of ampnoise - I’ve seen Diskoster loose himself (and other stuff) on stage so many times that I can almost picture him doing it. After drowning his six string machine in a pool of noise Miguel Prado sets off for another 7 minutes (total running time of the first track is 14 minutes) on a more drone-oriented trail, pushing effects and playing around with feedback and long sustained shrieks ‘n drones. Track 2, “Vacilación y Traba” at first reminded me a bit of that other Belgian improv-hero with whom Diskoster teamed up a couple of times, Shattered Minds: this track aims at frequencies a bit higher than in the previous one, with less effects, hence approaching a more natural guitarsound (”pure”), with lots of random fingerpicking: stick a fork in a guitar and turn it around, to give you an idea of what it sounds like. Track 3, “Maniobra contra los límites irrebatibles“, is a painful 8 minute excursion through all possible ear-damaging frequencies that one can get out of a guitar, worthy of Neubauten’s early credo “Listen with pain” (the sound itself has nothing to do with Neubauten): loud shrieks, hefty feedback, ripping frequencies, turn this all the way to the right and enjoy the trip. You can get this wonderfully done CDr from Ozono Kids (limited to 90 copies), or you can download them from Miguel Prado’s website - Look for “Do whatever the fuck you want this files” - I like that attitude.
2. .

   BAGATELLEN by Brian Olewnick

   Storming in from the rain-swept forests of Galicia is Miguel Prado, wielding a fuzz-drenched guitar with near reckless abandon. Think unhinged Caspar Brötzmann without the rock referents. Prado opens the assault from the get-go, “Ruinas de la No-Accion” incorporating walls of feedback that crumble into harsh granularity only to coalesce back into towering moans. There’s a kind of tidal sense, an entropic erosion to the back and forth, the squalls corroding any solid material left untouched by the prior wave. At its best, the music contains this kind of elemental feeling though later on in the 14-minute piece, there’s a certain amount of slippage back into more standard noise-guitar wailing. Still, he closes it effectively with a series of staccato scratches and blasts. “Vacilacion y Traba” demonstrates that Prado can’t be pigeonholed as a pure noise-ster, however. It’s a strong combination of resonant plucks and controlled feedback that’s a bit reminiscent of early Frith (circa “Guitar Solos”) and shows a fine sense of dynamics, textural awareness and even drama. The third and final track from this short (28-minute) disc combines the harsh, grainy textures of the opening piece with spacier, even loopy, effects. There are moments when the juxtaposition works quite well, others when it feels a bit forced. Interesting, though, and intriguingly hard to get a grip on for much of its duration. I get the feeling Prado would be very enjoyable to experience live. But you can check it out for yourself as it’s available for free download (or purchase) here. I’ll be curious to hear what direction his future work takes.
3. .

   VITAL WEEKLY 594 by Frans de Waard

   From the shores of Northern Spain, the area called Galicia, comes Miguel Prado who is a guitar player, playing improvised music. Three pieces are presented here. The first ‘Ruinas De La No-Accion’ is the most noisy, feedback outing he has to offer, and it’s, as far as I’m concerned the weakest brother here. The way he improvises on his guitar in combination with feedback on the closing ‘Maniobra Contra Los Limites Irrebatibles’ is of much interest. Loud but intense, interesting moves, shapes and colors. In between there is short ‘Vacilacion Y Traba’, which is the most solo improvisation on the guitar, an investigation of strings. Perhaps the best piece for its concentration and its brief character. Nice one this, fine combination of pure improvisation and noise.
4. .

   [...] Al mismo tiempo a ozonokids y a mi mismo ya no nos quedan copias de “Máscara de Sangre” , podeís pedirlo aquí mismo, junto con otras muchas maravillas . [...]

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