Forgetting and Remembering

CHROMA 26/27

“From this layered and leveled world of sound, I can infer the inevitable decay of ways of creating, teaching, interacting,….the inevitable decay of mediums of expression (of passe technology operating at the edge of broken-down; of non-conductive patch cords failing to enable the breathing of a circuit ((the emergence of a thought)) of painful surges from nowhere in particular)….the inevitable decay of the human body, of human connection, one to another, possible only, yet doomed, through bodies….of dreams now nearly quiet….and….in every moment of decay I can, as well, infer the sound(s) of an inevitable and beautiful resistance thereto(o).” “… a strong statement of an experimental aesthetic… a penetrating inquiry into the nature of performance and composition. It’s a large, absorbing, and dense work, which builds energy only to give way to a steady-state energy, which to me sounds like one of the longest slow releases of energy I’ve ever heard in a piece. Paredes work continues to be, after all these years, intense, probing, and unique.”

INK 19

The first track, Forgetting and Remembering is an improvisation for clarinet. This improvisation is unlike most improvisations, insofar as it is Paredes improvising with himself. In a period of 8 days, Paredes recorded one half-hour track of clarinet onto the tape each day. He did this without listening to the previous days’ improvs. Hence the title, Forgetting and Remembering . Often works based on a strong conceptual basis end up failing (or so I’m told), but this piece is very listenable even without knowledge of the concept. The interaction of the improvs is so natural that I was surprised at the concept when I read about it. The second half of the CD consists of a tape piece done in the “old style” called “[in every moment {of] decay} ” This piece essentially works on 3 levels, or “arcs.” The micro level consists of a group of chattering saxes, clarinet, electronics, and “assorted noise makers.” The middle level consists of a breathing gritty, electronic breathing. The macro level is the entire piece, which starts out thick and dense, and halfway through becomes quiet and meditative. 

Forgetting and Remembering contrasts two styles of academic music in an accessible and memorable manner, and so, is very recommended. – Nirav Soni

THE IMPROVISOR

I like the way Paredes describes it himself: “Both works on this disc are compositions/improvisations originally committed directly to tape. I think of them variously as a kind of painting or drawing (or writing) in which the surface of the tape constitutes a repository (not unlike a canvas) for etchings or inscriptions; traces of tactile energies and shapes (gestures and levels of pressure) to be retraced as sound via the means of playback equipment… Altogether, an unfolding of different past-past-sounds speaking to one another within a present. How, I wonder, would it be (actually) to experience it this way?”

“Forgetting and Remembering is seven simultaneously sounding clarinet improvisations, recoreded one track at a time on a single 8 track tape. Each one made on a different day. Each one made without having listened to any whole or part of a previous performance in order that I might have access to the past only through memory.” 
#17 (Speakers):[in every moment{of}decay]…for 2 channel tape.  “Tape music made in the old style from the sounds of analog electronics, clarinet, kalimba, and assorted noise makers wherein “decay” as a connotative signifyer informs the music at levels large and small…” RP

The piece grows as it decays , drones, electronic washes and mixtures..”From this layered and leveled world of sound, I can infer the inevitable decay of ways of creating , teaching, interacting…The inevitable decay of mediums of expression of passe technology operating at the edge of broken down…of non-conductive patch cords failing to enable the breathing of a circuit ((the emergence of a thought)), of painful surges from nowhere in particular)…the inevitable decay of the human body, of human connection, one to the other, possible only, yet doomed, through bodies…of dreams now nearly quiet, and in every moment of decay i can, as well, infer the sound(s) of an inevitable and beautiful resistance thereto(o).” – Chas Currier