FEEZE – Paulo J Ferreira Lopes
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1 eventualidade 2:50
2 feeze 2:33
3 dance 1:41
4 premonition 1:31
5 norte 6:19
6 capsule 0:55
7 recept 0:33
8 transeunt 16:50
9 destino 1:53
10 post 4:41
TOTAL TIME: 39:46
CATALOGUE #: atrito-afeito 001
ARTIST: PAULO J FERREIRA LOPES
ROLAND JUPITER4 ANALOG SYNTHESIZER /
REEL TO REEL RECORDERS / EFFECTS / DRUMS ON TITLE TRACK
TITLE: FEEZE
FORMAT: CD-R
JEWEL CASE
STAMPED CARDBOARD SLEEVE
STAMPED DISC
HAND NUMBERED INSERT
LIMITED EDITION OF 150
RECORDED: MONTREAL, 2000
MASTERED: MONTREAL, 2013
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 2013
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Chain D.L.K. (USA)
June 17 2014 by eskaton
Paulo J Ferreira Lopes- Feeze
I was unfamiliar with this Montreal-based Portuguese artist, but he has worked with a host of choreographers, multimedia artists, filmmakers, sound and visual artists, vocalists, and musicians. The label, which is run by Lopes and longtime collaborator pianist Karoline Leblanc, had little commentary on this disc, so let’s dive in to the music. This is some interesting electronic music that is difficult to classify. At times it is noisy (‘Recept’, Destino’), other times it relies on heavy, pulsating drone (‘Eventualidade’, ‘Norte’), and still other times it has a kind of glitchiness that is endearing (‘Premonition’, ‘Capsule’, ‘Post’). However, at other times it just went on a bit too long without really going anywhere (‘Transeunt’). Still, if you like your music with a lot of noisy electronic blips and bleeps, this is made just for you. I didn’t find this album to be something that would be too far out there for more mainstream listeners who are just getting into edgier music. It’s challenging, of course, but this isn’t an Ant-Zen release from Merzbow. Not a bad introduction to the artist or the label. This album weighs in at around 39 minutes and limited to 150 copies.
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Musicworks magazine (Canada)
Spring 2014 #118 by Lawrence Joseph
Paulo J Ferreira Lopes – Feeze
Paulo J Ferreira Lopes is a Montreal drummer and coconspirator behind Total Improvisation Troop. Feeze collects ten tracks for Roland Jupiter-4 analog synthesizer and reel-to-reel tape, thus revealing another side of Lopes, who has also worked with choreographers and visual artists and in sound theatre. It was recorded one bleak winter in 2000, and its cover art has a fuzzy white wave floating through a stark black background, an apt metaphor for this restless nocturnal music. Although most tracks are constructed around throbbing electronic motifs and burly textures, the lack of samplers and drum machines gives the music a decidedly human vibe. Careful layering of fresh material through time reveals true compositions, not just a collage of cyclic riffs. The longest track, at just under seventeen minutes, is ”transeunt”, a flickering hypnotic drone of snaps and pads. The title track is the only one with live percussion, conjuring up a gnarling swirl of menacing madness. Feeze skates the icy edge between dark industrial and avant-ambient, while paradoxically remaining warm and inviting.
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Revue & Corrigée (France)
Février 2014 par Cyrille Lanoë
Paulo J Ferreira Lopes – Feeze
PAULO J FERREIRA LOPES est un batteur portugais basé à Montréal. Il vient de fonder avec Karoline Leblanc le label Atrito-afeito. La première réalisation est un cd d’un de ses solo. Un essai daté de 2000 sur synthé analogique, bandes, effets et batterie, naviguant dans les sphères des musiques ambiant, vintage et forcément Kosmiche Muziek. Un peu à la manière de ce que l’on a pu entendre sur les K7 Kommanull d’Enregistrement Temporaire ou Häk. Le spectre des musiques électroniques est quant à lui bien présent et me permet de faire le parallèle avec Brou de Noix entre autres. Mais aussi pourquoi pas, avec celui des soundscapes de Rafael Anton Irisarri. Sachant aussi improviser, il n’en est pourtant pas question ici. La batterie quant à elle n’est présente que sur l’unique morceau éponyme, une forme courte de krautrock répétitif réussi. Il ouvre des espaces cotonneux, rassurants, sur la pièce centrale d’un gros quart d’heure “Transeunt”, une ritournelle minimale toute en lègéreté, proche de productions allemandes du label Kompakt, plutôt affilié à la techno minimale avec quelques excursions dans les musiques ambiant. Un label d’ailleurs référence à l’époque de l’enregistrement de ce “Feeze”.
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a closer listen (Canada)
November 28 2013 by Joseph Sannicandro
Paulo J Ferreira Lopes – Feeze
The inaugural release from Atrito-Afeito, a new Montreal-based label specializing in small runs of improvised music. For Feeze, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sound artist Paulo J Ferreira Lopes has crafted 10 compositions culled from synth explorations recorded in Montreal back in 2000. Ferreira Lopes began playing music over 30 years ago in his native Portugal, limiting his live performances to contexts that privilege the act of improvisation. That which works in a live ensemble might not always transfer well to a recording, but Ferreira Lopes is able to transfer his long experience into highly compelling electronic worlds.
Feeze presents a diverse series of sonic landscapes ranging from skittering rhythms to lumbering drones. The opening track “Eventualidade” builds gradually from a low flutter to a high-pitched whistle, fading out ever so gradually. I’m reminded a bit of Gas, though instead of encountering a rave in the forest, the muffled sounds recall something more like hearing an alarm from across a loft party while in a hazy state of inebriation. The eponymous track begins much more kinetically, and truly sounds like a percussionists sensibility behind the module. The underlying beat isn’t quite predictable but is regular enough to drive the track forward and ground the wanderings going on above, perhaps not unlike a freer, blurry version of Harmonia. In fact, much of the album recalls aspects of the proto-industrial work of Conrad Schnitzler, Klaus Schulze, even some Moebius & Plank… that is, the best of German kosmische music, though minus the discreet drum programming. Occasionally some of the pieces even suggest techno, such as the plodding “Dance,” though even these tracks are far too abstract for the dance floor. Rather the rhythmic elements give Ferreira Lopes an element to build tension against, and serve to structure the album as a whole. Many of the tracks, such as “Premonition, ” are quite short, around one to three minutes in length, though they seem even shorter. These compositions do not wear out their welcome, but rather leave the listener craving more. They drift slowly, establishing a sense of place but not lingering too long. “Premonition” paves the way for “Norte,” the second longest track at 6:19, lumbering unhurriedly, slow and arrhythmic but maintaining a quality of levity.
Under a low pulse, the high end flutters suggestively in “Capsule,” quickly transitioning into the lower tones, skimming the surface of “Recept” before crashing out. These imagist false starts were just setting the stage for the cornerstone of the album. At 16:50, “Transuent” occupies almost half the 40 minute disk. Whereas the previous tracks were content to fade back into the void after establishing a mood or image, here Ferreira Lopes pushes the plateau to the breaking point. Not reliant on dynamics, instead “Transuent” slowly cycles through repetitive cycles in a deeply meditative way that has no relation to the techniques of “New Age” synth music. The final two tracks, “Destino” and “Post,” are a fitting denouement. “Destino” ratchets up the tension in a near abrasive drone, and “Post” lumbers to life, increasing in frenetic activity right up until the curtain drops.
Though the sessions that produced this album are now 13 years old, they’re certainly worthy of a proper release. Considering the recent renewed interest in analogue synth music (forgotten legends like JD Emmanuel and young upstarts like 0PN and Emeralds), Feeze is sure to find a dedicated audience, inviting repeat listens, and probably remixes as well. Keep an eye on this label.
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Vital Weekly #903 week 43 (Netherlands)
October 24 2013 by Frans de Waard
PAULO J FERREIRA LOPES – FEEZE (CDR by Atrito-Afeito)
On both accounts here new names. Both the label, for which is their inaugural release, and the artist are for me new names. The release looks great with a silk screened slipcase… Music wise Lopes taps into the field of electronic music, which crosses various genres, such as techno music – be it not always with dance able rhythms, but repeated blocks of sound anyway – electronic music from the sixties, but without the notion of longer compositions. Lopes’ pieces are more alike improvisations, although I wouldn’t be surprised if that was otherwise, and in most of the pieces he keeps his stuff together and relatively brief. That makes this quite a vivid and diverse release…synthesizer doodles and occasional feedback like sounds being played with a fine sense of micro melody. Hardly abstract at all, and throughout most pleasantly listening music. Not too difficult or academic, but nicely refreshing. (FdW)
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Cult Montreal (Canada)
October 30 – December 4 2013 vol.2 no.4
Paulo J Ferreira Lopes – Feeze (atrito-afeito)
This is the debut release from a new Montreal-based label specializing in small runs of improvised music. For Feeze, Ferreira Lopes has crafted 10 compositions culled from synth explorations recorded in Montreal back in 2000, a diverse series of sonic landscapes ranging from skittering rhythms to lumbering drones, and one that’s certainly worthy of a proper release. Considering the recent renewed interest in analogue synth music (forgotten legends like JD Emmanuel and young upstarts like 0PN and Emeralds), Feeze is sure to find a dedicated audience. (Joseph Sannicandro)
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atrito-afeito 