Cahn Ingold Prelog – Tolerance (Recordiau Prin)
Out now
CD
8.5/10
Review by Ioan.
Cahn Ingold Prelog is an
experimental / avant garde music project by artist and musician Simon Proffitt.
‘Tolerance’ is his latest release and it is an absolutely gorgeous exercise in
field recordings, fluid and untamed experimentation, and a celebration of the
joy of ‘found music’ in everyday situations.
Opener ‘1.1 Pure as Snows Thrice
Boiled in the Northern Blast’ starts with haunting ambient percussion and field
recordings mixed with a sinister drone. The noise is slowly ramped up with
additional effects and sounds. Follow up ‘1.2 Three Unsuccessful Attempts to
Discredit Odlyzko’s Response to Montgomery’s Pair Correlation Conjecture’ has gorgeous
twinkly percussive sounds made by wind chimes and this eerie effect eventually
morphs into a sinister synth throb. Textured noise is layered on top and the
resulting effect is the first thing that remotely resembles a beat.
The gloriously titled ‘1.3 Unexpected
item in Bagging Area’ has a wonky analog synth reminiscent of the recent
wonderful work by Truus De Groot which broods menacingly until it softens into
the haunting echo chamber of the belly
of this ominous electronic beast.
‘1.5 Gentoo Penguins, Elephant
Beach’ is an absolutely inspired piece of field recording of Gentoo Penguins in
their natural habitat. The eerie sound of the ocean breeze mingles with the
naturally strange and unsettling noises that penguins make. You could try and
replicate these strange sounds in a studio, but where would the fun be in that?
Just brilliant stuff.
As the album progresses you get slow
burning builds from moody gong manipulation (‘1.6 Make Vaalbara Great Again’) into
crescendos of noise with again the tiniest hint of a beat thumped out.
More field recordings of what sound
like crackling fire (??) (‘1.8 Ysbrydnos’), interweave with gong sound
manipulation. The results, like a lot of the tracks on this LP, are almost
meditative in their disconcerting way.
One of the standout tracks of the
LP has to be ‘2.2 Car Wash’. In the liner notes, the matter of fact details of
“Silver Wash at Sainsbury's, Wrexham, from inside a Toyota Aygo” is what makes
the process of assembling these sounds, so inspiring and fresh. The mechanical
and mundane process of a car wash manages to produce a beautiful piece of music
that makes the ordinary, extraordinary.
Including pieces that were recorded
as part of art installations and commissioned performances as part of National
Science Week, ‘Tolerance’ is a sublime and joyous piece of work that challenges
the possibilities of what constitutes ‘music’ and art. Throughout this album
there is triumphant sonic manipulation, and dense atmospheric field recordings
that find beauty in the most unassuming places. ‘Tolerance’ has echoes of Godspeed
You! Black Emperor and flashes of genius. Crammed full of ‘found’ noises that
are turned into both ‘music’, and pieces of sound art, ‘Tolerance’ is also a
beautifully contemplative lesson in meditative collages. I can’t wait to hear
what Cahn Ingold Prelog has in store next.
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