frank rowenta - klänge siziliens

[fm.m03] black 3" mini CDr with a sinister mediterranean summer feeling

field recordings from sicily mixed with some primed noise and tunes.

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tracklisting

Track 1-6 untitled

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notes

5 of the 6 tracks from this work are based on field recordings realised in Sicily in spring of 2006. For the largest part, they are acoustical street sceneries of a town. It is morning and you will hear people picking up their work, the sounds of cars, market scenes and people talking. Overall, there is a slightly frightening ambiance of primed noise tunes.

Read the interview with Frank Rowenta @ automatictext, which describe the concept of „Klänge Siziliens“ (in german)

about frank rowenta

was born in aachen 1966, lives and works there.
interested in experimental music since schooltime and produces own records since 1981, involved at local tape projects in the 80s.
miscellaneous publications at different labels in collaboration with other musicians and some work as a solo musician.
rare, sporadic live gigs.
co-owner of the jeansrecords label.

pictures

contact

frank[ät]tritop[döt]org

reviews

Vital Weekly #568

Hot on the heels of his ‘Raumstudien #1’ (see Vital Weekly 562) follows another work by Frank Rowenta, but of an entirely different nature. The previous was one long work divided in two parts, here it’s only nineteen minutes and six short tracks. Recorded in Sicily, this captures the atmosphere of the island through the movements of people. We hear talking, a train, wind chimes and even the plucking of a guitar (that might be Rowenta on the beach, perhaps). This is not like ‘Raumstudien’ at all. No minimalism, no concept as such, but just six short sketches of daily life on a sunny island. Perhaps in that respect, this is as equally puzzling as before. Some of the tracks could have been longer than they are now and be a more complete picture of the island. Now it’s mere snapshots.
FdW

Tokafi Webzine

An Aural travel log: Field recordings are the core around which the pulp slowly continues to grow.
It is true: Releasing 3’‘ CDs is going to cost you money, not earn you any. On the other hand, just like in real life, beauty has its price. And when a genre like „Field Recordings“, which already by its very nature implies low sales and a high degree of idealism, meets this philosphy, then commercial considerations bear no relevance anyway. And thus „Klänge Siziliens“ wants to be judged by its intrinsic and purely artistic value alone – without regard to its universal appeal or hit-potential.
[…] Again, as with the two Mini abums preceeding this one, the disc itself is perfectly black on the one and snowwhite on the other side and the tiny booklet comes on heavy, glossy foto paper – both an aesthetic and haptic pleasure. Frank Rowenta, too, can hardly be described as a musician looking for a popstar status and easy fame. A tape artist in the 80s, he was always too much of his own boss to fit into any drawer, genre or niche and despite some noteworthy archival recordings over the last years he has remained distant from any scene. There is a slight chance that this will change, as Rowenta has returned with a double attack of new works, the wondrous „Klänge Siziliens“ („Sounds of Sicily), a barely twenty minute long aural travel log of his last holiday in Italy as well as the impudently lo-fi „Raumstudien #1“ on Gruenrekorder (which is even more wondrous and wonderful, but more about that in a bit). For the release at hand, Rowenta decided to point his microphone towards any old sound source he could find and to mix the tapes together in his home studio: People talking, the noises from the street, cars, screetching hollers, rumblings and rollings. On top of that, he added dissonant and pandemoneously swelling drones, weird sizzlings and bizarre little effects as well as sweet guitar playing and even some cello abstractions and high-pitched pizzicatos. The result has nothing in common with the typical travel guide soundtracks and defies any stereotypes you might hold about mediterranean culture and its people – after all, this is Sicily and for each orange vendor standing in the shade of a tree, as the cliche has it, there is at least one drug dealer standing behind it. Rowenta knows how to create moods that leave you emotionally unstable and yet unable to take your eyes and ears away from the action, while the carefully arranged cycle of six tracks, which go from aggressive to dangerously sedated and back again, pulls you in like a maelstroem.
Like on previous „Field Muzick“ offerings, the field recordings are not the main focal point, they are merely the core around which the pulp slowly continues to grow. But their presence and the human element which comes with it puts them into a conflict with the music, which remains consciously alien and emotionally divergent. It is this constant tension which makes „Klänge Siziliens“ an equally disturbing and hypnotic listen – and one, which could well appeal to more than just the 50 copies pressed by the label.
“Tobias Fischer“http://www.tokafi.com/newsitems/cd-feature-frank-rowenta-klaenge-siziliens/view

Gothtronic Online Mag

A mini-CD is an almost perfect medium. The just about 20 minutes playing time are enough to make you get a taste, but it always leaves you with a hungry feeling afterwards. It is possibly the perfect length to really work with tension musicwise.
‘Klänge Siziliens’ has a lot of concrete field recordings, often quite recognizable. Conversations, streetsounds, combined with droney layers probably also created from the field recordings. The release-info explains it: “field recordings from sicily mixed with some primed noise and tunes”.
Musique concrete with an ambient atmosphere, but not true ambient according to the Eno-definition. That would be that the music would form a whole with the sounds on the outside (the ambience), this record is much more based on getting the outside in. Is that possibly the definition of ‘field muzick’?
The untitled track 3 has guitars; Where do they come from? What is their meaning within the concept? And the untitled track 4 also has guitar or likewise sounds, but in this track they create – together with a violist – much more the feeling of a lonely musician on the corner of the street.
A streetmaker creates a rhythm in the background of track 6 and an additional deep droning layer opens up the track. The cherry on top in this outstanding composition is generated by a guitar theme.
‘Klänge Siziliens’ is a very nice work, though I have to admit it’s not amongst the most accessible releases I’ve heard recently.
Bauke van der Wal