Hav

マリンバ、ヴィオラ、アープ・オデッセイ、そしてハルドロフォンが全てを浄化するミニマル・ヒーリング・ウェーヴ大傑作!!

これまでTROUBLE IN MINDやDIGITALISなどから作品をリリースしてきたWHITNEY JOHNSON a.k.a. MATCHESSが両名義にてDRAG CITYより2タイトル同時リリース! 2タイトル共にWHITNEYがヘルマプロディートスの信仰を研究し、キプロスとギリシャに訪れた際にインスピレーションを得たもの。旅の途中初めて読んだメアリー・シェリー『フランケンシュタイン』に感銘を受け、2023年の秋にスウェーデン・マルメのINKONST、ストックホルムのELEKTRONMUSIKSTUDION (EMS)にてアーティスト・イン・レジデンスの一環として完成させたものが本作『HAV』。

サイン波、マリンバ、ヴィオラ、アープ・オデッセイとハルドロフォン (エレクトリック・チェロの一種)のためのコンポジションであり、サウンド・ヒーリングの概念であるソルフェジオ周波数を参照したという内容。現代の音楽ファンがSTEVE REICHの名作に求める、ミニマル・ミュージックの心地良さを濃厚抽出したかの様な音像がとにかく素晴らしく、実験音楽ファンならずともその浄化作用に圧倒されること間違いナシです。大・大・大スイセン!!

Whitney Johnson started researching the Cult of Hermaphroditus in 2021, and traveled to Cyprus and Greece in order to visit sites and collect materials. She also read Mary Shelleys Frankenstein for the first time, and felt a deep connection with the story. Attracted to ideas of duality, she worked on two separate but interrelated albums inspired by these experiences. While Stena is released as a cassette under Johnsons solo moniker Matchess, the LP Hav is the first recording issued under her own name. Partly recorded in Sweden while Johnson was an artist-in-residence at Inkonst in Malmo and at Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm, Hav is a drone composition for sine waves, marimba, viola, Arp Odyssey, and a unique electro-acoustic string instrument called a halldorophone. While Johnsons work as Matchess has progressively moved in a more post-minimalist direction, this work has absolutely none of the pop or psychedelic elements still present in Matchess releases, and is much closer to something by Olivia Block or Pauline Oliveros. The pieces focus on shifting sine waves, which often rise up to higher frequencies, or swoop downward, as they do throughout "Kouklia." A faint, flickering pulse is played on the marimba, and there are moments where the Arp synthesizer expands on the rhythm, hinting at the progressive electronic of masters like Klaus Schulze without fully diving into that realm. "Vari" is easily the most serene piece on the album, with Johnsons viola gradually surfacing as the sparse rhythm tranquilly drifts. "Kition" is the lengthiest piece, and seems to incorporate all of the sonic elements present throughout the album, from rotating sine waves to subtle viola strokes. Hav represents the more academic side of Johnsons music, and while it requires some patience from the listener, it is a rewarding work. ~ Paul Simpson