In electro-acoustic music, you usually either see solo albums or compilations. Split CDs are rare, but the formula works very well for
Paulina Sundin and Jens Hedman. And
Currents is actually more than a mixed program: two of the four works are the result of a studio collaboration between the artists. These two Swedish composers have highly compatible approaches, which makes for a cohesive listen. Both look for traces of their past in the sounds they forge, both hide sound narratives in their pieces.
Sundin's "Crisálida" and the four-part "Currents" (by both) draw their material from the environment. The treatment, from the long gestures to their separation in ecological themes, recalls the works of
Hildegard Westerkamp.
Sundin's "Clandestine Parts" transforms its undisclosed source material into more abstract forms, but here the music is orchestrated to evoke a dream state. Hedman's solo pieces tend to be more frantic, filled with short sonic events. In "Relief," percussive sounds are constantly retreated until nothing but a hiss remains. "Mix-Up" is made of 500 snippets from the pieces of music that molded his style. Rock, jazz, techno, and classical fragments dance around, giving you the illusion (or is it?) of having someone else's musical memories trapped in your head. The concluding "Reflections," the other collaboration, comes back to a more abstract and "traditional" form of electro-acoustic music, close to the Montreal school (
Gilles Gobeil,
Robert Normandeau).
Currents makes a fine album, fanciful despite its allegiance to academic electro-acoustics.