Timeless Waves apparently started life as a ‘sonic work’ for a multi-channel installation of some kind (though the notes are unclear as to whether it was a conventional performance or gallery deal). I can get a bit sceptical of these things translated to disc, but luckily, Erdem Helvacioglu’s done a good job of making it into a more album-shaped whole. It’s loosely themed around a set of common emotions, but it’s thankfully ambiguous in that intention – there’s enough mettle to this to keep it aside from something comparable to ‘this is using the colour blue because blue is a sad colour.’
I suspect much of the sources are from the guitar, but it’s often difficult to tell – some of the processing is pretty dense, and there’s often a pretty clear demarcation of ‘lead’ guitar sounds, non-lead guitar (ambient rattle, behind-the-nut scratches…) and sounds that could be fires-qua-glitch, cable hum or processed wine glass clinks. Helvacioglu knows his way around getting the best out of a sound, and unlike a fair few of the sound-art sorts, he’s got the measure of melodies you can latch onto and leaving plenty of apparent space while keeping things dense (rather than making a soup of sounds…) – “Surprise” (thankfully not a ska-punk cover of any sort) is pretty plain in terms of playing – some slack-tuned guitar frittering – but it’s the delivery and tactility with the sounds, the deployment of stereo effects and laptop (?) squiggle that makes it well worth a listen. Perhaps in a similar way to Otomo Yoshihide’s late-90s turntable stuff. It’s also one of the non-melodic tracks offering respite from the emotional narrative of the titles.
It’s always nice to see from what is ostensibly sound-art that a bit of thought’s gone into making it a coherent whole as an album – you get a bit of a lurch from bordering-on-noise stuff to floating melodies and even a pleasant little ditty at the end (called “Joy,” of course). Holistic sound-art for your sound-holes.As ever with Sub Rosa, it’s a lush recording – they’re a label at the top of their game, making the records sound as good as they can. Might be a bit of a seller as well – there’s plenty of syrupy melodies in amongst the sound-art sturm und klang to keep the less texturally inclined engaged, while retaining enough subtlety to keep a sound-art conference jabbering. A splendid opportunity to fill that gaping chasm in your collection marked ‘Turkish sound-art.’
-Kev Nickells-
