Lionel Marchetti & Abdul Moimême: Ciel-Cristal

Composer Lionel Marchetti works in electroacoustic music. A visual artist and book author, he has led or played on more than sixty albums, his recordings having been issued on labels based in Spain, Germany, Italy, and his native France. Marchetti is a strong proponent of experimental music and musique concrete, and finds a kindred spirit in Portuguese experimental guitarist Abdul Moimême. The pair records as a duo for the first time on Ciel-Cristal.

Moimême plays two homemade (or substantially altered) electric guitars, laid horizontal, and played simultaneously using his hands, an electronic bow and other objects. The sound is amplified through a pre-amp and speakers. He utilizes a gyroscope, music boxes, and other objects to create an otherworldly sound. The Lisbon-based artist has led or co-led more than a dozen albums.

The French title Ciel-Cristal translates as Sky-Crystal. There is no practical entry point for the single title track. It arrives in full trajectory with departure and arrival points dictated only by one's imagination. The album is pure soundscape: tones, drones, noise, and silence, neither jarring nor complacent. The forty-one-minute improvised track is absorbing and understated; the occasional lyrical nuances are slight in the face of metamorphic and discordant resonance.

Ciel-Cristal exists outside the orbit of any familiar place; there are black holes which open and swallow the sound. The music artfully dodges debris; sunspots flare up out of nowhere. The unusual instrumentation establishes subtleties which constantly shift or disappear permanently. The sound is constantly moving and requires a sensitive ear to appreciate its shades and textures. The album was recorded at the conclusion of a joint Marchetti-Moimême 2021 residency in Porto, Portugal. The live improvisation included a visual element in the form of a Jorge Quintela video of geometric salt crystal formations. Ciel-Cristal is strongly recommended for adventurous listeners.