MATTHIAS PUECH, Mt. Hadamard National Park, LP

Release date: 31 January 2023
Catalogue nr. - HG2302
Format: Vinyl / digital
Hallow Ground

hallowground.bandcamp.com

Tracklist:
1. Mt. Hadamard National Park     (22:48)
2. Suspension     (3:57)
3. Imperceptible Life     (14:57)

Credits:
Composed, recorded and mixed by Matthias Puech
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Photo by Caroline Schöbi
Drawings by Matthias Puech
Artwork by Laurin Huber
Thanks to Gustave Evrard

///

“Mt. Hadamard National Park” is the Hallow Ground debut by composer, programmer, and instrument designer Matthias Puech. Informed by mathematical and artistic approaches that aim to both contemplate on and control complexity, the eponymous five-part composition explores natural and mystical forces through what he calls “audio-naturalist noise”. The composition is complemented by two further pieces: “Suspension” emulates the chemical phenomenon of the same name, while “Imperceptible Life” hinges on the musical possibilities of stridulation. Over the course of the entire album, Puech’s singular take on electro-acoustic and electronic music creates unique sonic spaces as much as it pays its dues to the unpredictability of the world that we inhabit.

Jacques Hadamard was a pioneer among physicists and mathematicians who, in the early 20th century, were puzzled by processes that are deterministic but hard to predict. While researching the history of Chaos theory, Puech also felt drawn to an artistic movement from the mid-19th century, the so-called Hudson River school of painting, whose rise coincided with the gradual taming of the sites of Northern American wilderness it chose as its source of inspiration and subject. Fascinated by both attempts to contemplate on and control complexity, Puech wondered what would happen if those were to meet. “Mt. Hadamard National Park” offers thus in Puech’s words “an audio-naturalist noise meandering through an invented space that is subject to the arbitrariness of natural and mystical forces.” The sounds, arranged in sweeping and tense dynamics, serve as multiple agents within a complex system. The synthetic flora and fauna feels uncannily familiar or even disturbingly hostile at times. “Mt. Hadamard National Park” is an artistic expression of natural phenomena, but also a meditation on the imprint those leave on the psyche of the people who encounter them.

The short piece “Suspension” picks up on a similar idea. “In chemistry, a suspension is a mixture of small solid particles inside a liquid,” Puech explains. This process is mirrored in aquatic yet tangible sounds as well as dynamics that slowly converge towards density before the composition ends on a quiet note. The 14-minute-long “Imperceptible Life” is based on a live performance first conceived as a full-scale test drive of some new electronic equipment Puech was designing at that time. It explores the musical potential of stridulation, the act of creating sounds by rubbing together certain body parts—in the insect world, a common means of communication. Again, Puech’s approach is neither purely naturalistic nor only mimetic. Rather, “Imperceptible Life” offers yet another artistic reflection on the theme of chaos and order, and how human perception and emotion relate to it.

As a whole, “Mt. Hadamard National Park” thus not merely mirrors natural phenomena but transforms them in ways that are emotionally evocative: the complexity and apparent arbitrariness of Puech’s compositions reveal an underlying beauty that is equal parts haunting and comforting.

MATTHIAS PUECH – Mt. Hadamard National Park (Part 1) (HG2302)

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