Ferran Fages: “for Pau Torres”

May 24, 2012 0

Spanish improvisor and composer Ferran Fages controls feedback like a puppetmaster; he handles his guitar like a sculptor handles stone, harnessing the ebb and flow of electric six-string’s hum/squeal and making it his to control at will. A single 42 minute track, for Pau Torres, (Pau Torres is the mastering engineer on this recording) listens like a TV drama watches. Feedback is our opening credits. Then the lonely sound of a single guitar enters the scene, with ringing chords and note clusters. Fages’ playing recalls Loren Connors and Jim O’Rourke at their most contemplative stages, and that is a very good thing. Compositions like this are personal listening experiences, meant for the dark of night – not a spring day in California. Right before the 20-minute mark, Fages conjures low sustained feedback that approximates the sound of a cello perfectly – WOW. Towards the end of this piece the guitar work of Dylan Carlson sprang to our mind for Fages’ riffs sound similar to something from the last couple Earth records. Overall this composition is exact in its execution and patient with the details. Fans of all things guitar will love this album.

for Pau Torres is available on Bandcamp

Written by Jeff Daily

Tags: Europe, experimental guitar, Ferran Fages, Reviews, Spain