(Loop) La contrabajista, vocalista, improvisadora y compositora chilena Amanda Irarrázabal lanza en diciembre 2024 el álbum «ōg-«, a través del sello californiano Public Eyesore Records que dirige Bryan Day (aka Eloine). También se publica en forma independiente en dicho mes, el segundo disco de su proyecto Caudal, «Caudal 2». Amanda Irarrázaval es una activa exponente de la improvisación libre en los circuitos del jazz de vanguardia, electrónica experimental e improvisación en Chile. Así también se ha presentado en distintos escenarios de Europa, Buenos Aires y Ciudad de México. Marco Albert es un músico improvisador italiano quien está radicado en México. Su trabajo se centra en la relación entre voz, cuerpo y psyche, para lo cual desarrolla técnicas extendidas de la voz que presenta en vivo en un set que une no-input mixer, sampleo y evocar canciones. En ‘ōg-‘, que fue grabado en la Ciudad de México en septiembre de 2022, el músico chileno toca el contrabajo y hace el procesamiento, las voces y el sintetizador modular, mientras que Albert está en las voces, el feedback, los loops y el procesamiento. El disco abre con “Arak” en el que el contrabajo realiza rápidas incursiones que tanto se expanden como se contraen. La voz aguda de Amanda teje palabras inventadas, mientras que Albert expulsa a borbotones su quejosa voz. Todo ello bajo una caparazón de chasquidos. En “Witblits” las voces de ambos entran en un juego espeluznante de diálogos inentendibles embadurnados de ruidos. “Raki” muestra voces agitadas, atravesadas por las esquirlas del contrabajo, junto a abstractas texturas electrónicas. Ambos artistas utilizan la voz como la extensión de un instrumento adicional y en “Singani”, las escabrosas vocales se entrecruzan con la furia del contrabajo que contraataca con fuerza. Al tiempo que Albert salpica con su enmarañada voz. “Orujo”, que cierra este álbum, despliega ráfagas de ruido procesado en una gruesa y densa capa. En la música de Amanda Irarrázabal y Marco Albert se combinan una madeja convulsa de sonidos y un prístino acto teatral que se despliega a través de sus voces procesadas. - Guillermo Escudero

(Jazz Thoughts) Since first appearing in this space with the quintet album around Otomo Yoshihide in Chile, Inminente (released by FMR & reviewed here in April 2019), Chilean double bassist Amanda Irarrázabal has continued to be active with duo releases: There were duo albums with violinists, Fauces (recorded in 2019) & Rayas (recorded in 2021), the former reviewed here in May 2022. And then another duo on 577 Records appeared early last year, Último sosiego with Benjamín Vergara (trumpet & also from Chile), relatively austere.... That's not the case though with new duo release Ōg-, recorded in Mexico City in September 2023: Irarrázabal (also on synthesizer here) is joined by Mexican vocalist Marco Albert, the latter on feedback & loops, with both credited with electronic processing — as well as employs vocalizations herself. Particularly with the looping then, this can seem like a larger ensemble, i.e. two voices, bass, electronics.... Yet much of the program focuses on bass tone (in various registers...), plus one or more voices (& maybe some looping, but that can be harder to register...), and only in a few passages (especially opening the final track...), more electronics-focused textures. The result is certainly not austere, however. And indeed some comparison with — the also involving Latin America... — Ugly Euphoria (from the previous entry) is warranted, the latter employing extensive processing in a sort of "ribbon" effect, i.e. a sort of fast-twisting (flapping...) continuous & broad band of sound (which I'd compared to a turntablist in a prior review...): This sort of sound does appear at times on Ōg-, but not nearly as persistently. (I can also analogize some of the vocal processing to what Jaap Blonk does on Munich Sound Studies Vol. 5, reviewed here last month, where he's often highly processed & in the center of things.... Perhaps with more parallels though is e.g. Split Jaw from duo Beam Splitter, as reviewed here March 2023, i.e. a "processing" duo blending voice, there with trombone instead of bass....) And although Albert hadn't been mentioned here, I'd actually heard him on the quartet release (from 2021) Ixtlahuaca (also recorded in Mexico) with Don Malfon — & also released by Public Eyesore (a label I'd first noted here in a January 2013 review of quartet Pretty Monsters, around bassoonist Katherine Young...). So I also don't have a real sense of the thematics for Ōg-, as the titles don't mean anything to me, but the album is immediately compelling, opening quietly & with anticipation (including from subtle high pitches...), the rich sound of the bass slowly drawing me in, soon realizing the emerging "percussion" is actually voice.... A sense of drama thus presents immediately, a sense of mystery, i.e. the mystery of presence. (Ōg- doesn't lack for presence. Rather it suggests layers of presence, i.e. spectrality.) And this sense is explored over the five tracks with a high degree of caring precision & clarity, despite some noisier passages — & even as the first (longest) track is already brilliant. The voices also pass through considerable range, especially Albert's (including e.g. throat singing), but hearing Irarrázabal as a "singing bassist" does evoke Joëlle Léandre for me too, especially her intensive fusion of bass & vocal textures, something Irarrázabal achieves here in more than one register — & with both a richness of tone & an individual articulation projected increasingly strongly (& spanning tender to raw...). Much of the later results can then be atmospheric (i.e. with looping...), but there's an underlying intimacy that does continue to emerge at times as well. Harmonics are colorful & articulate throughout (& sometimes teased out by electronics, which also vary considerably in register). At times there's more of an industrial quality (as a change in landscape, perhaps...), i.e. the sense of being inside a machine (e.g. electronic pulses...), but various intensities do recur & modulate — ultimately into (subdued?) screaming by the very end. As suggested then, senses of humanity can reemerge from more impersonal contexts here, even as developing generalized calls (e.g. bass suggesting a foghorn at one point...). If anything, Ōg- seems to have a surplus of ideas: Perhaps a followup will appear.... - Todd McComb

(Felt Hat Reviews) Another great release from Public Eyesore - this time a collaboration between Amanda Irarrázabal and Marco Albert. How to approach this one? What to expect? On one level - it is a great example of free improvised music - great skill with instruments and voice as well. Both Marco and Amanda do it exceptionally well, with dramatism, great attention to detail and accentuation of certain parts all the aspects blending together - there is no unnecessary sound here. On another level - the album is a perfect blend of electroacoustics and electronics - both of them use electronics to this or other extent but they work with voice and in case of Amanda - it is a double bass which itself is a great feat. Next level is a a dreamy absurdist narrative that the whole album has a foundation in. Frenetic and dramatic at times - it feels more than just an improvised piece - it could easily be a Tom Robbins novel soundtrack. With a constant flutter and more quiet moments of instrumental debris, their voices add up a humoresque emphasis that is difficult not to notice. Definitely one of finest improvised adventures in a little while. And a refined one, too... - Hubert Heathertoes

(The Wire) Chilean bassist, vocalist and composer Irarrazábal and Italian vocal artist Albert recorded these duets in Mexico City in September 2023. Both are active on local and international scenes, but as near as I can tell this is the first release for either that is not digital in nature (either CD or DL). It’s hard to know which of them is doing the vocal work at any moment, as their techniques are heavy on non-representational form-destruction, but the bass is often a grounding presence amid the clucking, weeviling and sound-processing that is much in evidence. Some of the voice work approaches sound poetry at times, but there is usually some music going on simultaneously. And as weird as some of the segments are, none of them are aggressive, and most possess an intimacy recalling Jeanne Lee’s more wiggy collaborations with Gunter Hampel. - Byron Coley

(Vital Weekly) Double bass, voices and modular synths are the basic ingredients on this release; add some processing on those basic ingredients, and you get ōg-. That’s the gist of it. Pun intended because all five tracks are named after distilled spirits or booze. All five of them share their source: grapes. Anyway, enough googling. Amanda Irarrázabal (double bass and voice) and Marco Albert (modular synth and voice) are the two musicians involved. Two longer pieces (twenty and twelve minutes) and three shorter ones of about four or five minutes. It’s a hypnotic piece of music with hints of early industrial music, pleasant voice work, a la Jaap Blonk and that Italian animation La Linea. The double bass adds a lovely timbre with fierce bowing and/or digital (?) processing. It’s not all harsh, and in your face (ears); at times, there’s a delicacy and tenderness, for example, in the first three minutes of Raki. The arrangement of the pieces is excellent; there’s a nice flow to them, in the pieces themselves and in the order of the pieces on this release. And ends with a kind of death cry. This would also be a good release to test a new sound system. All the frequencies are covered. I like this one a lot, but again, this is not for everyone and is definitely not spousefriendly. Because there are several creepy-sounding sections, this could also be a soundtrack to a Mexican slasher movie or a Korean ghost movie. Excellent stuff! - Mark Daelmans-Sikkel