@c + Visiophone30×N — LRJ2

30×N — LRJ2 is the third in a series of releases originating from 30×N, an audiovisual performance by @c + Visiophone in which the performers interact with computational systems in a generative composition with sound, lights, and visuals. In 30×N computers are not merely tools for visual and audio production but they rather become agents and creative partners for the performers, with each performance emerging from a meeting with the machines.

Each release in this series includes fixed-media audio and audiovisual compositions created from the materials of one of the performance’s sections, exploring and further expanding the original materials and bringing them into new contexts. Furthermore, the same sonic materials are also delivered to other composers that contribute guest remixes. In this release, the remixes are by Síria and Matilde Meireles.

Síria is a project by Diana Combo where she joins her voice to the practice of combining vinyl records, field recordings, instruments and other sound sources to give form to songs, concepts and other audio material designed for performative contexts. Among other works, Síria has released two albums in Crónica: Cuspo and Boa-Língua.

In this piece, Síria started from choosing samples that could be combined with her own soundscapes, settling then on reinterpreting a song learned a few years ago, when she started to study and practice Persian, Arabic, Kurdish and Andalusian music. Marhaba is an Andalusian song, with lyrics in Classical Arabic and that is interpreted with the pronunciation of the Morrocan dialect. Andalusian music originated in the territory of Al Andalus, of which Portugal was also a part of. This music has dissapeared from here, but it remains alive in several countries in Northern Africa. It seemed interesting and timely to reinterpret this music now and here, in our time and space, fitting it in an apparently disconnected soundscape in which it, nevertheless, is a part of. There is a familiarity when both parts seem to have always existed together, and dissonance when they reveal their diverse, but not irreconcilable, natures.

Matilde Meireles is a sound artist who makes use of field recordings to compose site-oriented projects. Deeply exploratory, blending improvisation and other sonic flows with multiple approaches to recording, her work takes shape through live performances, installations, album releases, community-driven projects, workshops and both academic and creative publications.She has released five albums in Crónica: Sunnyside, Life of a Potato, Vanishing Points, Loop. And Again. and Four Tales.

The studio window is open. It is a deceptively warm spring Saturday, the kind of weather that makes you question what season you’re actually in. The warm air moves in and settles into the space, while outside sounds weave through as I listen to the samples of LRJ2 and continuously study two posters that hang on the walls: Alexandre Estrela's Viagem ao Meio exhibition and MuirMcNeil's Generator type system. Rhythm and colour. Rhythm and colour. R  h   y t     h  m      a n   d c     o  l  o   u       r.

This release is part of the 30×N series.

Press-release