Francisco Lopez
The 1991 cassette release, “O Parladoiro” was a soundscape portrait of the Spanish town of Vigo. Francisco did many such aural portraits all over the world and many of his other sound immersion recordings are sourced from field recordings from different locales. He brings the sounds together and forms them into a profound, universal statement that cannot be expressed in words.
a small insert that was included that appears to be a map of the Vigo city center.
I started working with cassettes by the very simple reason that a couple of cassette recorders were the only means I had at the time (back in 1980). We shouldn’t forget the context of those years when it came to make something like “experimental” or electronic music: i.e., the mighty and cool analog synthesizers and rhythm boxes! Also the music: something called “techno-pop”, remember? Especially for a kid like me, growing up in post-Franco, new wave / punk, Spain was quite a challenge, believe me. For one thing, I wasn’t interested in that scene as such. A reel-to-reel tape recorder was just a dream, and I didn’t really want to make music but to somehow explore that strange virtual world of sound that persistently appeared every time I tried to record “reality”.
Whatever the case, I found myself doing the best I could out of the combination of two cassette recorders for manipulation and further processing of those materials. Very primitive but enormously inspirational. In fact, that was the situation for me for almost ten long years of cassette do-it-yourself, learn-it-yourself techniques and adventures. In such solitude, it took me a while to actually find out there were others out there walking similar paths. As is the case for many others, it’s also hard for me to remember precisely what was the first contact / exchange for
cassette trade. I do remember that happening during the first half of the 80s and that among the first exchanges and collaborations were Hunting Lodge, Maurizio Bianchi, Whitehouse, Jordi Valls, Merzbow, and, in Spain, Esplendor Geométrico (we grew up in the same neighbourhood) and Comando Bruno. The rest, as it happens for most of us, is history ;-)
I think I received my first tape from Spanish experimental artist, Francisco Lopez in 1989. I received tapes of field recordings from various cities, instrumental works with keyboards, compositions for jazz group, re-inventions of the music of The Modern Jazz Quartet and of course his astonishing sound immersion works which have become his trademark. From the very beginning I knew I was hearing an important artist and I felt lucky to have made contact with him. Watching his evolution over the years I have witnessed the explosion of one of the most important acousmatique composers of the last twenty years, if not more.
Now, many people are well aware of his blindfolding of his audience in live performance but actually participating it in is a truly mind altering experience as I did at a Mills College concert some years ago.
I recall getting his “Warsawa Restaurant” CD and being perplexed because there did not appear to be any sound on it. I mean, I was used to minimal and bursts of silence in recordings but this took it to another level. Where was this going? Where was the sound? Then, after playing it a few times on my speakers I tried the headphones and had my mind blown by the vast, subterranean, alien world that unfolded in my head. This formerly hidden landscape made me pay attention in a whole new way.
