Fernando
Corona first got noticed with his debut Murcof EP, Monotónu,
released earlier this year on San Francisco based label
Context. Hailing from Tijuana, in Mexico, Corona has worked
on a variety of projects in his native town, including
some time spent on composing for dance formations. This
lead him to broaden his musical horizon, notably developing
an interest in contemporary classic composers such as
Arvo Pärt or Henryk Gorecki. Corona has also be an
integrant part of the Nortec Collective of electronic
musicians and artists, releasing music as Terrestre. Martes
is his first album as Murcof.
Martes mixes arid micro beats and electronic
noises with beautiful atmospheric soundscapes to create
a unique piece of highly emotional and textural music.
Corona manipulates his delicate constructions with expertise,
slowly introducing layer after layer of sounds to slowly
build intense patterns where intricate melodies flourish
freely. Despite Memoria being strangely reminiscent
of Polygon Window’s eponymous track, Corona establishes
very little connections with the existing electronic scene,
concentrating instead on developing his own rules. Strings,
pianos and woods are fully integrated with the more electronic
sounds, giving each track incredible consistency and evocative
power. Again, when he introduces human voice, as on the
stunning Mapa, Mir or the moving Muim,
he works at creating symbiotic environments to the point
where it becomes difficult to dissociate reality from
synthesis. Muim, perhaps more than any other
track on this album sums up the Murcof equation. Here,
voice, cello, drones and static beats support and complement
each other in the most exquisite way, creating a complex
model of contemplative incandescence, not dissimilar to
the composite minimalism of Pärt or Gorecki. Martes,
by all means an elaborate record, proves to be an extremely
rewarding work. Far from being inaccessible and pretentious,
the compositions are fluid and profoundly enjoyable. Corona
seems to incorporate multiple levels of complexity all
the way through, allowing the listener to appreciate this
record from a different angle each time.
If the outer structure of Martes is electronic,
the modern aspect of it is to be found in the more unusual
components of Fernando Corona’s music, and in the
way they interact with each other. No other electronic
record has ever offered such an extensive scope and sounded
that coherent. This first Murcof album is intrinsically
contemporary, and above all, a true masterpiece.
5/5 |
