MYSTERY SEA 08 | Oöphoi | [The dreams of shells]
ARTWORK
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INTRODUCTORY WORDS
-
" I tried to imagine the oniric activity of the shells of an archaic
ocean full of strange creatures. Hidden in the depths of this obscure
ocean, the shells' dreams reflect the events of this remote sea, and
the eternal struggle for life. I focused on slowly mutating sounds and
subaquatic drones, and I put subliminal undercurrents in the distance
to describe the several layers of the dreams, so a deep listening is
required to discover all the secrets of this music."
- Gianluigi Gasparetti,
June 2003.
PRESS RELEASE
Oöphoi is Gianluigi
Gasparetti's main vehicle of expression for distilling deep
dark tinted & entrancing ambient of the very best nature...
After captivating works for esteemed labels such as HIC SUNT LEONES,
AMPLEXUS, ELECTROSHOCK, SKEAN DHU, NEXTERA, & HYPNOS, he offers
here his own version of the "Night-Ocean Drones" aesthetic,
having a rather innate empathy for the theme developed by Mystery Sea...
"The dreams of shells"
is a breathtaking descent straight to an unknown chasm where
small clouds of fine luminescent dust drift away, splitting obscure
cold waters, swaying to the sound of cavernous tones...
This is a submarine hidden chorus, an ode of sirens'voices singing ageless
chants...
a rain of fragmented glittering particles brushing submerged walls,
while golden refractions sleep buried in the fissures...
"The dreams of shells" is a meeting with
a resonating radiant world of its own, a long dive in apnea scattered
with amazements...
TRACKS
01.
cydron
02. kalyx
03. narwal
LENGTH
68'30
REVIEWS
INCURSION|Richard
di Santo
Oöphoi
is one Gianluigi Gasparetti, and though he has had
a number of releases on labels like Amplexus, Electroshock, Nextera
and Hypnos, this is my first encounter with his work. His sound world
moves at a desperately slow pace, rich in detail but simple in structure,
evocative as good drone music should be, deep as the sea which it attempts
to capture, dive into, sail upon. Few things happen on the surface of
these long, drifting sonic plates, a touch of light here and there,
a small detail... but mostly, it's a long, seemingly static sound environment
in which to get lost for a while. By the time you're through, it seems
that things have indeed changed from the way they were when you set
off. On the vast, open sea, it's a cold wind that blows in your face
as you look toward the horizon. It's a lonely place, to be sure, but
who's to say you that won't discover something of yourself while there?
incursion
SONOMU|Stephen
Fruitman
I wonder if Gianluigi
Gasparetti isn´t just the most accomplished crafter of
True Ambient sound currently practising. Brian Eno has generally gone
on to other things, Vidna Obmana has been experimenting (with oft brilliant
results) with other worlds of sound, Pete Namlook grew exhausted several
years ago. Given the weightless, drifting nature of his previous canon,
it is no stretch for Gasparetti, aka Oöphoi,
to conjure up the sensation of thousand-fathom depths in line with the
Mystery Sea series´ aquatic agenda. The opening track "Cydron"
is the most gloriously static of three, while "Kalyx" has
a deceptively narrative line - something is being searched for, something
impossible to find - and "Narwal" imagines the feeling of
listening to a storm from just beneath the surface of the sea, over
which resonates a throng of ancient conch blowers calling the sea creatures
to mobilize.
Achingly slowly making its way across the floor of some undiscovered
sea, discernable only to deep depth microphones, The Dream of Shells
is, thanks to Oöphoi and Mystery Sea, a reality
for those with ears to hear.
sonomu
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