Audio CD [oc98]
C.O. CASPAR (born 1936) DATOIST lives in Berlin and in Sweden. The combination of archaic tone patterns and modern technical equipment is the basic principle of COC compositional work. The performance takes its form through the installation of sound objects in the given space, taking the specific architecture of the room into consideration.
SOUND is experienced as a synthesis of emotion and intuition, of mechanical and digital sound tools. The process to create an artwork is like to give birth to a child, fertilize the brain, work out the ideas, realize the subject and finally manage the artefact – a process from irrationality to reality, less from knowledge to a product.
BLOWER made of plastics, metal, latex hang on chains and, put under pressure by blowers, develop a vibrating dynamic of their own, varying in accordance with the characteristics of their material. The playing never consists solely of sound, it includes physical interaction with the sound patterns developing uniquely during each performance or in mutual interaction with other performers. This process creates a great variety of moods, extended symphonic ornaments guide the listener into sound spaces visualized before the inner eye.
CD tracklisting
- Anatomy of melancholy
- Didge Blues
- Fra Det Skjulte
- Great is theseus
- Pink Machinery
- Shot talk
- Spacial lust of hearings
Reviews
Co Caspar might be one of those names you come across, but you never to seem to place right. Despite his age (born in 1936), he has released so far one CD (by Tesco) and now Kaon from France releases his second CD. I had the pleasure to see one of his concerts in 1990 in Newcastle (and of which a small portion is on this CD), and I remember a full stage of pipes and machines. Caspar in the middle doing his ‘thing’: rumbling with the machines, feedback singing/chanting and feeding sounds through pipes. Quite an impressive sound for one man. This CD is kinda like a retrospective. The oldest piece is from 1987 up until this year. Much of the work deals with voice manipulations, either fully treated (such as the live excerpt from 1990 or ‘Spacial Lust Of Hearing’), or clearly spoken poetry by Shawn Caton. Some of these pieces have a religious undertone, like the processed gregorian choirs on “Great Is Theseus” or “Pink Machinary”. Caspar is at his best when he mixes his sound installations with live elements and electronica. This is on pieces as the aforementioned “Spacial Lust Of Hearing” or “Fra Det Skjulte” (which was recorded in a Norwegian cave/bunker). Overall this is a nice presentation of the work of someone who is sadly ignored too much until now.
Fdw- in Vital Weekly vital@staalplaat.com