NOWAK, ARTUR - GUITAR GRANULIZER (CD)

"53 minutes, 50 tracks. 50 improvisations on electric guitar's samples, one minute each, with no cuts, overdubs, sequencing etc. Artur Nowak: guitar, computer. Recorded January-March 2003 in Katowice. Play in random order. Cover art by The Tag Artist, a Reaktor instrument designed by Chris List. Intended to push the envelope of computer music towards unconstrained expression of free improvisation. Liquid soundscapes of gentle, ambient drones, impossible solos and layers of melodies souding like a guitar quartet, elusive rhythmic figures and devastating, unbearable noise - all pieces were created from few electric guitar samples, which were split into thousands of microacoustical particles and shaped in real-time by one man, without cuts or overdubs. Guitar Granulizer is an adventurous attempt to find a common ground between the art of Anthony Braxton, Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Masami Akita, Charles Ives and Curtis Roads. Requires and rewards focused listening; every track evolves personal images and powerfull feelings, from lusciousness to backlash - it will not leave the listener indifferent." (label info)