Machinefabriek – Sol Sketches
It’s pretty hard to keep up with Machinefabriek’s output. It seems that not a single month passes by without him releasing a new piece of music. So I’m pretty sure i missed a couple of his last releases. But that’s not really a problem, because even if you missed out on a couple of his works, the moment you dive into this stream of releases, you are very likely to find yourself in a beautiful bath of sounds.
This time it’s sketches for a soundtrack of a documentary about the american artist Sol Le Witt. While Rutger Zuyderwelt’s music always has a leaning towards soundtrack-y, score like pieces, Sol Sketches explores the field even more focussed as usual. The music is even more restrained; cut to the bare minimum: Based on piano improvisations, the pieces consist of introverted piano fragments, tiny feedback sounds circling just right above the hearing threshold. There is a lot of room in this 21 pieces. Machinefabriek shows a great attention to detail and pace. With the minimalistic approach in regards to progression, these pieces have a lot in common with Satie’s Gymnopédies or Alva Noto’s collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto – though with a less electronic focus.
Sol Sketches might sound a little too low-key at first, but grows tremendously, as it leaves so much space for everything else that it blends perfectly into listener’s room. This is way more than just a simple soundtrack.
