Paul Schütze " The Sky Torn Apart "

You can’t possibly have an idea of the hundreds of negligible releases sent this way that look for a spot in the “discounted dark ambient / threadbare installation soundtrack / counterfeit Lustmord copy” realm. By now three minutes of the first track are sufficient to diagnose the shittiness of an album (though I tend to complete the listening session out of personal principles, unless it’s genuinely insufferable mullock). It just so happens that – one day amidst the many devoted to deleting spam and yawning through useless stuff – Glacial Movements’ head honcho Alessandro Tedeschi notifies the return on disc of Paul Schütze. Suddenly, the rest of my activities becomes dispensable. I had nearly given up the hope of receiving a new CD from the Australian while occasionally reminiscing about his veritable milestones in the early 90s (post-Laughing Hands, which – for the record – I also liked). Moreover, Schütze is fondly remembered here as a committed reviewer in The Wire’s finest era. In strictly musical terms, we’re happy to report that almost nothing has changed in regard to psychological repercussion, engineering subtlety and, so to speak, “humble superbness” of the outcome. The Sky Torn Apart revolves around an inspiring raison d’etre that goes beyond the mere distinction of its acoustic physiognomy. It’s a wordless contemplation on the destiny of this planet: the fucked scene we’re acting in, tyrannized by a hopeless mediocrity transpiring from practically everything. Therefore, what better than Schütze’s unfixed precision to be reminded that it’s still possible to create art from the junction of silence, rarefied materiality and inwardness? In such a place, every single occurrence is naturally positioned where it should; resonances are crystalline even in total darkness; undying echoes from nowhere and transients of uncertain origin weigh the same. The perception of immensity conveyed by this work is proportional to its dissociation from the genre’s routines; surrounded by this knowledge, we start envisioning the possibility of a comprehensive purification. Staying there to enjoy the finale won’t be feasible, but it’s good to be aware of the sublime exactness of the real universal laws. Neither manufactured nor dictated, they have existed forever as resounding infinitude.TOUCHING EXTREMES

Has it really been sixteen long years since we’ve had a solo record from the prolific Australian maestro Paul Schütze? It seems implausible, though understandable as he’s an in-demand multidisciplinary artist who also works within the scope of sensory/olfaction topics, visual and other fine art media. The Sky Torn Apart is on pre-order now (due in April) in CD format as well as digital download through Bandcamp, all through the well-curated Italian label, Glacial Movements.At just under an hour the single track opens with a hint of low gong, distant drone and fidgety micro-electronics. It’s a bit like walking into a Japanese garden after visiting hours, there’s a path, it’s dark and mysterious, and it seems endless. This record harkens back to the glory days of post-ambient (circa the early 90’s) while maintaining a fine-line contemporary score-like feel. It’s watery and wide, thick like fog, with an elusive windy backdrop. The disc sounds as if he put a contact mic on the wings of an airplane and used a sound scrim to grate away bits, and then smoothed everything in the studio. In other words, The Sky Torn Apart has a live, in-situ sensibility. With Clive Bell on mutant shakuhachi, which is a Japanese wind instrument and not a mushroom, the breath is omni-present throughout. The recording subtly shifts from center to right and then to left and back again in time, as the oceanic sounds overlap in robust yet restrained ambiance.The mood is a poker-faced stare into a starless night with a certain seaworthiness, much an extension to previous elongated sonic tales by Schütze. Dark mist emanates, a flat-line drone changes shape and structure, a distant boom trails closer to the foreground. When put into another light, after about a half hour an undulating wave manifests like a giant sea-monster rearing its head over the inky surface. In the end the tiny percussive sounds are like tropical tweets and calls, echoing into the sunrise. Otherwise this is quite dark, but never dreary, totally enigmatic. A welcome returnTONE SHIFT

Paul Schütze‘s discography dates back to the late 80’s. His work is not restricted to sound/music but also covers photography, video and installations. And if that is not enough he also launched a perfume, introduced olfactory elements into his artwork, and runs the ‘online sensory archive’ Dressing the Air – an ‘open resource that aims to enrich creative thinking by encouraging a multi-sensory approach’. He has released many interesting solo albums, but also collaborated with well-known artists like Bill Laswell, Lol Coxhill, Toshinori Kondo, Max Eastley, Jah Wobble and David Toop (just to name a few).It is good to see a release by such a veteran artist on the relatively new Glacial Movements label. As with all of their releases, the music is heavily ‘Nordic’ and ‘Glacial’. It is a direct comment on climate change, dealing with “our anthropogenic environmental transformation”, a reflection on the Nordic myths of Ragnarök – “in which the earth is subsumed by water as a consequence of divine conflict.”A haunting environmental 57 minute drone, ever-changing surroundings, with the sound of water omnipresent.Dark, foreboding, but not without hope. After all, “In the myth, the world emerges from the waters reborn and purged.”Near the end of the record, the atmosphere is refreshed and you can hear the sound of new and refreshed life emerging. Whether the human race may still be a part of that environment remains a mystery for now.AMBIENT BLOG

I’m not sure if the music on this new CD is apocalyptic or redemptive. The press release offers us poetry (‘The sky tore apart and the sun curdled like a diseased eye’ is how it begins) and tells us the music is ‘a reflection on the uncanny parallels found in our anthropogenic environmental transformation and the Nordic myths of Ragnarök’ which doesn’t really help, though it goes on to talk of ‘the earth subsumed by water as a consequence of divine conflict’ and notes the possibility of a reborn world eventually emerging from those waters. Divine conflict and Nordic myths aside, The Sky Torn Apart is another wonderful piece of sound art, dense ambient music, from artist, photographer, perfumier and musician Paul Schütze. Over the last few decades Schütze has moved from the improvisational band Laughing Hands to collaborative jazz-rock outings with the likes of Bill Laswell and Jon Hassell (often assembled on computer) to a series of sonic explorations of specific archaeological sites and future/futurist scenarios. A previous CD cover has water pouring through a flooded Manhattan around the Empire State Building: perhaps this new music is a revisitation of this (implied) narrative? Joined by Clive Bell on ‘Mutant Shakuhachi’ (!), this music sputters and hisses and fizzes over massive blocks of drone and sustained keyboards. It is like watching clouds or icebergs move: glacial movements is exactly right. For nearly an hour this music immerses the listener in storms and weather, enveloping them with slow changes of mood, sound and temperature. Moments of calm arrive, and are then swept away. Clicks and clusters of unclassifiable, unknown sounds – perhaps field recordings, circle around wind and distant plodding rhythms in the distance as scrapes and echoes fill the listening space. Listening to this feels like a journey, and the more one pays attention the more one hears. This is careful, intelligent, moving music: dissonant, calming, stormy and engaging. Sculpture for the ears.INTERNATIONAL TIMES

Con il lungometraggio in traccia unica di quasi un’ora “The Sky Torn Apart”, l’etichetta romana Glacial Movements ritorna all’essenza di tenebroso isolazionismo ambientale che ne caratterizzava l’impostazione concettuale iniziale, sulla quale gli ormai numerosi artisti che ne popolano il catalogo hanno apportato parziali variazioni sonore sul costante tema di fondo. Protagonista della prolunga immersione in una notte nordica senza fine è l’australiano Paul Schütze, che oltre ad aver fatto parte di band sperimentali quali Laughing Hands e Phantom City ha lavorato per oltre trent’anni nel campo delle arti visuali e delle installazioni. Applicando appunto un approccio multidisciplinare, Schütze combina in “The Sky Torn Apart” sonorità claustrofobiche e richiami alla mitologia nordica, entrambi pienamente complementari alle suggestioni provenienti da un’ambiente dal fascino inospitale. Considerati in sé, i cupi segnali sonori modulati nella parte iniziale della traccia e via via sublimati in vapori di ghiaccio secco possono apparire semplici espressioni di un’ottundente impostazione ambientale, mentre le loro frequenze basse trasmettono in tutto e per tutto le sensazioni immersive di un’esplorazione tra suoni, immagini e contenuti culturali sovrastati da spessi strati di ghiaccio perenne, buio come il cielo che vi si rispecchia.MUSIC WON'T SAVE YOU

In de tijd dat ik voorzichtig ben begonnen met pootje baden in de experimentele muziek is ook de Australische muzikant Paul Schütze er al. Op het destijds zeer innovatieve Extreme records debuteert hij in 1989 met de ware klassieker Deus Ex Machina, vol met de betere experimentele ambient. Daar zal hij er nog veel meer van maken, zeker in de isolationistische hoek. Neem alleen al de prachtige splitrelease Driftworks (1997), met Thomas Köner, Pauline Oliveros & Randy Raine-Reusch en Nijumu. Dan heeft hij er al een muzikaal leven opzitten met groepen als Laughing Hands en Phantom City. Maar goed, als je deze meester kent, behoeft hij eigenlijk geen introductie en kan ik gewoon verdergaan met zijn ruim 56 minuten durende cd The Sky Torn Apart op het prestigieuze, ijzige Glacial Movements label. Deze verbreekt op indrukwekkende wijze zijn absentie van 8 jaar met een ijzig, isolationistisch werk waarover hij zelf het volgende zegt: The sky tore apart and the sun curdled like a diseased eye. Below, where once a continent of ice spanned the horizon, there lay nothing but a vast expanding mirror, implacable and silent. For days, clouds of flying creatures scoured it’s surface for purchase before falling exhausted into their own reflections. Schütze brengt op zijn geheel eigen wijze met een subtiel maar rijk gedetailleerd duister en bovenal organisch klanklandschap vol drones, experimentele ambient en veldopnames. Als je er eenmaal inzit, zeker onder de koptelefoon, wordt je genadeloos meegesleept op een duistere, haast tastbare trip die z’n weerga niet kent. Nog altijd toont hij zich heer en meester in het scheppen van experimentele pracht van de buitencategorie.Subjectivisten

Having veteran composer and producer Paul Schütze agree to write a one-off composition is something of a coup for Italian, experimental label Glacial Movements. A master of the avant-garde, Australian Schütze was a founder of the experimental band Laughing Hands and has seen his work featured in a number of international galleries and museums. Since 2016, he has worked hard to establish himself as a perfumer but jumped at the chance to work with Glacial Movements on the new piece, The Sky Torn Apart.The fit between artist and label is an excellent one. A label that's whole raison d'etre is to promote music that considers the link between nature and humanity and Schütze who creates bold thematic soundscapes. On The Sky Torn Apart, he explores the similarities between the way human-made changes in our climate are affecting the reshaping of our planet and the apocalyptic Norse myth of Ragnarok.In Norse mythology, Ragnarok refers to the cataclysmic events that lead up to the end of the world, where all of the gods will destroy each other in one, last, grand battle that will rip the world apart and see the world fully submerged under water. The parallels between this and current fears about impending disaster brought about by climate change are easy to see. From the outset, water is a theme that runs throughout the album. Opening with dripping, twinkling notes that run along distant long droning notes, it evokes the sound of rivulets of water running down enormous glacial caves. Knowing the thematic idea underpinning the piece, it's easy to assume that this marks the beginnings of the flood that will eventually subsume the earth. As a result, Schütze creates a foreboding, ominous atmosphere that anticipates the drama that follows.Soon, the repetitious drone becomes more oppressive before intermittent booms, like the crack of distant thunder, ruptures the backing before peeling off into the distance. It's as if the sea itself is being torn apart (in the story of Ragnorak, the sea does, indeed, open and an enormous serpent emerges from the depths to fight the battle). That seems to mark the tipping point, where the fate of the world is sealed in a torrent of water. From then on the mood becomes decidedly calmer as clear, glassy sounds reverberate as if caught in an echo chamber. Schütze masterfully explores shape and depth as sounds metamorphose, seemingly occupying the space between the celestial and the worldly. As the song reaches the three-quarter mark, the steady drip that has been omnipresent becomes a steadier trickle, as if the waters are receding.In the legend of Ragnarok, the world does eventually emerge from beneath the water, and this is reflected in the music. The mood grows markedly lighter and less claustrophobic echoing this idea of rebirth. Schütze manages to beautifully evoke the initial flourishing of new life so skillfully, that it could almost be a field recording from a lush forest after heavy rain.The Sky Torn Apart is a bold, expansive piece of isolationist environmental music. By acknowledging that the notion of an impending apocalypse has been felt throughout history, most notably in the Nordic myth of Ragnarok, Schütze is emphasizing that today, things are different. This time the end will not come with a tumultuous battle between the gods but in a more earthly battle as we lose the battle to protect the world from ourselves. With that in mind, it serves as a powerful call for preventative action as well as a reminder of the talents of a visionary artist.POP MATTERS

Paul Schütze has worked for over thirty years on the fringes of the field of experimental music – alongside parallel work in photography, video and installation – and he shows no signs of selling out yet.Hailing from Australia and a founding member of cult bands Laughing Hands and of Phantom City, he’s worked with everyone from Bill Laswell and Lol Coxhill to Max Eastley, Jah Wobble and David Toop. His latest offering has an environmental theme, apparently drawing on the Nordic myths of Ragnarök in which the earth is subsumed by water as a consequence of divine conflict, which although is an anoient tale seems to have much relevance to the planet’s plight as the global warming catastrophe begins to take hold.There’s only one, epic 56-minute track, and, as you might expect from someone whose label is called Glacial Movements, it moves almost imperceptibly along with its narrative while being eerie listening throughout. Using sound to paint pictures, Schütze seems to have confined us to a claustrophobic jungle cave at first, where water drips down the walls and noises of great foreboding happen at sudden intervals. Eventually it moves into more wide open territory, but even then, the long, searing synthesiser notes – there are echoes of Vangelis’ ‘Bladerunner’ score here – seem to have a note of discord and imminent jeopardy. Trouble in paradise, for sure.It’s what you might call ambient music except that far from being sonic wallpaper or even a reassuring, calming presence, this unnerving symphony creeps into your consciousness and twists your mood without mercy. Play it in a chill out room and you’ll have the casualties running for the St John’s Ambulance!Paul Schütze might be a strange cause to champion on a site devoted to more punk rock sensibilities, but ‘The Sky Torn Apart’ is far from hippy dippy thinking. It’s sharp and undiluted, and all too easy to get sucked into. Uneasy listening anybody?!Theextricate

The creative spirit of Paul Schütze has been proven undimmed by time. His release The Sky Torn Apart (56'40") speaks an unabridged truth. Meant to be spun during the final act of the fragile theatre of civilization, this CD provides a finely rendered final trek across a desperate post-apocalyptic panorama. Becoming lost in this technologically assisted dream we confront underworld demons, magnetized clouds and contradictory yearnings. Opening with a mythic power, we soon find The Sky Torn Apart to be structured with the precision of the very best poetry. The sense of some kind of ongoing journey is clear, however immense, dense, complex, strange and disorienting a journey it is. Though indeed extraordinarily rendered and ambitiously crafted, we will need to search hard for ourselves in this soundscape. Through an undefined space, weak ceremonial blasts resound and recur, and lead us beneath thick, languid skies. In its slow continuous advance droning electronic tones expand and recede in studied synthesized breaths. This interchange with a sighing atmosphere provides sonification of the composer's vivid idea of the future. As the conclusion of The Sky Torn Apart approaches, its center of gravity shifts - to points so minimal that the work may not sustain concentrated listening in service of a continuous narrative. Resounding like a whisper in the ruins the soundfield transforms slightly, from ascetical and bleak to a passage of stillness and certainty. Taking place in the private sphere of the imagination this realization involves risk, for the listener and the musician alike. Schütze uses his creative engine to disrupt mental grooves with an interrogation, a questioning about mankind's subsumption of The Earth. It is already too late to avert the slow environmental disaster that besets our future - and the ugly society that will be spawned. Schütze is attuned with his listener's anguish, as he addresses the fated of coming times. This work might help them to understand why we destroyed their world - and to ask as well if they could have done any better.STAR'S END RADIO

Paul Schutze is an Australian sound composer who has been producing music since the late 1980s. This album, his first in eight years, is released on the extremely apt Glacial Movements Records from Italy and is one long, gradually unfolding treasure that is almost like an attempt at prehistoric music; constructing sounds that pre-date what we understand and go back to the formation of the earth. The dripping of water and the growl of tectonic plates gradually moving into position emerge slowly from a distant hum. The water is falling, constructing underground passages far from the surface, in the gloom of vast caverns. These seismic murmurings of subterranean activity are accompanied by a high but very subtle drone, like the release of air — or if you concentrate very hard, like the sound of a celestial choir –bestowing a sense of wonder on the slow transformation. There is something primal about the sounds, as if this was all being produced while the universe was forming. Yet there is a poetry and subtlety here that draws the listener into this glimpse of nature at work: the constant trickle of distant water, an unravelling storm heard from some new perspective, a state of constant flux but one in which the movement is barely perceptible. calms in the way listening to a distant thunderstorm canThere is nothing apocalyptic at work here, no sense of destruction, more a sense of soothing discovery. It calms in the way listening to a distant thunderstorm can and the piece seems to reduce eons into minutes. A separate drone feels like sunlight from some distant body helping the process that this disc has begun. After twenty-five minutes, there are regular rhythmic movements, as if something huge is swaying, affected by gravity or some similar force; but these moments are interspersed by intense peace, with just the ever-present water keeping us in touch.Towards the end, clouds crack open, enormous peals of thunder and unknowable prehistoric sounds herald a point where the perspective draws away from wherever this is. It rather like the observations are now taking place at some great distance and the sounds that have drawn us here are gradually being subsumed by a vast silence. Paul’s original plan was for this piece to reflect parallels between real environmental transformation and the Nordic myths of Ragnarok, where the earth is subsumed by water. Whatever his intentions behind this work, The Sky Torn Apart goes way beyond what we consider as ambient and into some kind of summation of earth’s construction and rebirth, using digital processes that sound amazingly real. listening to it in the garden with birds singing in the treesIt is delightful as an ambient piece, but at one point I was listening to it in the garden with birds singing in the trees and that just worked beautifully. The Sky Torn Apart is the sound of an environment and could probably work anywhere that there is peace.FREQ MAG

While it seems just another record of the genre as it's introduced by the usual liner notes speaking about more or less apocalyptic visions of worlds at the edge of destruction, it should be noted that the difference between important and avoidable release is how this idea is tied to the result. The idea of circularity between destruction and reconstruction here is depicted in a clear structure enhanced by the use of dynamics. Small noises introduce a drone which ebbs and flows through the audial field and it's juxtaposed gradually by an emerging drone which acts as a canvas while the former acts a sort of time keeper. This lasts until a deep bass enters as a separator to a part where the elements begin to fade until a wide spectrum drone takes the listener's attention and underlines the small noises that continues and acts as a glueing elements of the whole composition. Then, the second part of the track is a gradual descending towards silence which is only broken by the small noises which close the track in a perfect circle. The clear structure of the track highlights the remarkable work on the sound details which introduces the listener into a realistic and immersive environment without any indulgence to a trivial evocativeness of a special effect. Recommended.CHAIN DLK

Paul Schütze, skladatel, klávesista a samplerista, narozený 1. května 1958 v australském Melbourne a domestikovaný posléze v Londýně, má za sebou úctyhodnou (většinou elektronickou a ambientní) dráhu, ať jde o třicet vlastních alb (například na Tone Casualties, Big Cat nebo Extreme), asi deset kolaborací a filmové soundtracky. Nějakou dobu jsem o něm neslyšel, ale nyní vyrukoval v plné parádě na ledem predestinovaných Glacial Movements. Jeho The Sky Torn Apart reflektuje jak soudobé přírodní (a, jak říká, anthropogenetické) transformace, tak severské mýty, vycházející ze vzkříšení světa vodou. Obsahuje pouze jednu kompozici, nahranou letos v Londýně (za drobné spolupráce hráče na šakuhači Cliva Bella), a uvádí ji poetickým vzýváním ledového kontinentu, rozprostřeného podivuhodně, neopakovatelně a potichle před horizontem, kam až oko dohlédne. Tomu odpovídá samotná kompozice, křehce se vyšelesťující ze zamlčení, vyvěravě podmračná, ale poznenáhlu se vytřibující do velebné šíře. Vše je tu podbouřně (pro)valivé, zabržďované i vypouklované, v podstatě je zobrazení vizuální předlohy vnitřně stupňované s minimálními proměnami (jak už to ambientní podání vyžaduje), chce působit svou hrozebnou bezbřehostí, narážlivou přívalností a nábalnou svištivostí. Zdánlivě téměř neměnná, až jednotónová skladba, protěkávaná či proharašovaná vzedmutostními záskočnostmi i pozatichlými odpočivnými peripetiemi, je uhýbavě zákerná (nikoli zákeřná, viz plynoucí kry), zámračně zatíravá a zavlékavě prodíravá. Proměnlivost je spíše pableskující či paběrkující, ale je třeba doznat, že uminutá jednotvárnost působí a posluchač si v ní může připadat jako tonoucí, bez záchranného pásu. Jak skladba pokračuje, objevujeme v ní – byť sporadicky – zaodivené minitřesknůstky či jemně kypící náhalnosti. K posledu vnímáme zavzdolávanou ujíždivost a dobrzdivou dozkomíravost, dohřmotněnou opět do tíživého ticha. Doklinkáno jest. Že by vám to pozvedlo náladu, to ani náhodou. Ale to zřejmě nebylo skladatelovým úmyslem.UNI MAG

I happen to consume microsound and reductionist ambient music in a completely different setting. Perhaps more of a soundtrack to the imaginary [and often real] places than any other genre [even the ‘soundtrack’ genre in itself], this delicate exploration into the subtleties of sound falls within the true definition of the “ambient” word [I’m not going to quote Eno here once again]. This is thoroughly conveyed by the work of Paul Schütze, an experimental composer of many years, whose catalogue dates back to 1989. Besides being a sonic explorer, this Australian aural archivist is also a photographer and video artist, with works exhibited in many international galleries, such as The British Museum, The Hayward, and Pallant House Gallery. This attention to imagery is translated to its auditory counterpart on The Sky Torn Apart. Here, if carefully peeled apart, one may find an intricate landscape of a frozen scenery, never before felt the step of a human till now. Cold winds, driven through crevices of magnetic cliffs by the atmosphere’s energy, crackle with static and the barely thriving biodynamic lifeforms. This terrain is weathered, frigid and dark, with sound filling the void where light cannot pierce. Slowly begins a transformation. “The sky tore apart and the sun curdled like a diseased eye. Below, where once a continent of ice spanned the horizon, there lay nothing but a vast expanding mirror, implacable and silent. For days, clouds of flying creatures scoured its surface for purchase before falling exhausted into their own reflections.” Such is the story of this alien planet, but if you listen closely, you will find it to be our very own. A fitting movement for an aptly named label, Glacial Movements. Recommended for fans of output from Dragon’s Eye, Farmacia901, and of course, LINE imprints. Fans of my Residuum volumes will agree… (p.s. Yes, it’s the very same Paul Schütze who now makes Paul Schütze Perfume).HEADPHONE COMMUTE

Paul Schütze expresses himself through many different means – photography, video, installation and sound. The ‘sound’ and ‘installations’ bits are especially relevant, as ‘The Sky Torn Apart’ could be described as an extended installation that develops as it moves forward. Initially it feels like a thickly textured weather system, which gradually emerges and parks itself in the middle of the sound picture, but then things get darker and the ambience takes on a more threatening tone, as though a storm is brooding. This tallies with the inspiration behind the work, where ‘the earth is subsumed by water as a consequence of divine conflict’. Deep and meaningful stuff, then – literally – but also an experience you can immerse yourself in outside of these parameters. With such wide textures and dark, metallic reflections, there is much to gain from listening here.DMC WORLD MAG

When Australian artist Paul Schütze released his debut album “Deus Ex Machine” in 1989 on Extreme no one probably thought that this musician should become a reference in experimental and ambient music. Schütze has released numerous productions and worked with some real noticeable artists –and I here especially remember his album together with Lisa Gerrard. Paul Schütze is now back on track and this after a hiatus of 8 years and even longer if it comes to his last solo-album.“The Sky Torn Apart” totally fits to the conceptual approach of the Italian label Glacial Movements. So the work becomes conceptual as well, a reflection about the world we’re living in and the nature around us. Sound-wise it sometimes makes me think of a space-walk created with surgical electronic noises. Field recordings and an impressive canvas of sounds have been used to bring the listener into a state of pure contemplation. From dreamy passages to definitely darker and even freaky parts, the work reveals only one single cut from nearly 60 minutes. + + + : Paul Schütze is a truly sound surgeon. His creation remains faithful to his experimental-ambient creation. He once again excels in the way he’s manipulating noises to become now evasive and then anguishing. I especially like the darker passages featuring crispy noises and dark-humming sound waves. It also remains a work with a strong visual appeal leaving the listener in his own inner world. The minimalism and experimental approach of the musician aren’t always easy to seize and to listen to. It’s a very weird trip, which might become a little bit monotonous after a while. Conclusion: The fans of Paul Schütze will be ravished to discover a new opus from this renowned artist while I also have to congratulate Glacial Movements to have released this album. Paul Schütze is composing again with the same creative mind as in the past.SIDE LINE

Ode al Ragnarök, quando l’intero mondo sarà distrutto e, quindi, rigenerato al culmine della battaglia finale tra le potenze della luce e dell’ordine e quelle delle tenebre e del caos. The Sky Torn Apart, pubblicato dalla Glacial Movements, affonda le sue radici nella mitologia norrena, che attribuisce all’acqua il compito di purgare la terra. Un concept ad hoc per rimarcare il parallelismo in atto tra la trasformazione dell’ambiente naturale da parte dell’uomo e il suo triste futuro, strumentale per celebrare l’atteso ritorno di Paul Schütze, i cui primi progetti discografici risalgono alla fine degli anni Ottanta. Collaboratore di Bill Laswell, Clive Bell, David Toop e Jah Wobble, l’artista di Melbourne non si è mai limitato al mero approfondimento di tematiche musicali: nella sua carriera si annoverano, infatti, installazioni per gallerie e musei internazionali, fotografie incluse in collezioni pubbliche e private e, addirittura, una fragranza con il suo nome. Il monito ambientalista di Paul Schütze è ravvisabile sin dai primi suoni “acquatici” contenuti in “The Sky Torn Apart”. Come rivoli d’acqua che scorrono inesorabili in enormi caverne. Distanti i tuoni, prolungati i ronzii. Un bordone ripetitivo sempre più opprimente. L’incontrollato rimodellamento del pianeta può condurre l’umanità alla sua stessa fine, un cataclisma che non si manifesterà attraverso la “glaciazione” cara all’etichetta italiana. La corrispondenza artistica tra i timori dell’australiano e il tradizionale messaggio isolazionista di Alessandro Tedeschi è eccellente: l’atmosfera premonitrice di “The Sky Torn Apart” è inquietante. Se la prima parte del brano rimanda all’alluvione, la seconda assume toni più calmi, con suoni più distinti e, di pari passo, meno claustrofobia. Le acque si ritirano piano piano. Si evoca, in breve, l’inizio di una nuova vita, con la consapevolezza che tutto ciò che comincia ha sempre una fine. Talvolta lieta. Il contenuto di The Sky Torn Apart non è solo denso come la nebbia o sfuggente come il vento. La musica raffinata di Paul Schütze avvolge l’ascoltatore per quasi un’ora anche tramite calibrate variazioni di ritmo e l’utilizzo sia di field recordings, sia del flauto dritto giapponese, lo shakuhachi, suonato proprio da Clive Bell. Un minimalismo, forse, non facile da fruire durante il primo ascolto. La contemplazione sul destino del nostro pianeta, però, è senza parole. Il silenzio, l’immaginaria linea di demarcazione temporale, non è affatto casuale. Talune risonanze sono, invece, cristalline persino quando l’oscurità è assoluta. Il drone cambia lentamente forma e struttura. La monotonia è scongiurata. L’impatto visivo su una sfera tutta interiore. La percezione dell’immensità trasmessa dal lavoro dell’artista giace così nella comprensione delle millenarie leggi universali. Non dettate, ma imposte dal naturale corso degli eventi, a favore del mistero dell’infinito. Enigmatico.THE NEW NOISE