CD ART012 - White Room
'White Room' is a sound project by the German cellist Wittwulf Y Malik and the Korean soprano and vocalist Ge-Suk Yeo. Both musicians have a classical background, but are also influenced by a broad spectrum of music styles as well as by visual art.
This music was recorded in an exhibition hall – the 'White Room' - an artists' premises in Hamburg, Germany, where they both live. Wittwulf Y Malik’s expressive cello and Ge-Suk Yeo’s beautiful voice come together in an exciting, sometimes tender, dialogue. Some parts are adorned with excellent electroacoustic sounds by Ge-Suk Yeo. The result breaks new ground in music of the 21st century!
Composed and produced by Ge-Suk Yeo and Wittwulf Y Malik
Recorded at Galerie des Künstlerhauses Bergedorf,
Hamburg (Germany), August 2002, June 2003
Recording, mix, electroacoustic sounds and CD mastering: Ge-Suk Yeo
Layout: ART.CappuccinoNet.com
Graphics: Selection of 'sound portraits' by Ge-Suk Yeo.
Wittwulf Y Malik - violoncello
Wittwulf Y Malik Wittwulf Y Malik is a brilliant cellist and composer and lives in Hamburg. He was involved in various projects and art forms over a number of years. His main preoccupation is art in general. He is a pioneer who transcends frontiers and does not hesitate to go far beyond his main language and form of expression - music - to create new links with other art forms.
This is why Wittwulf Y Malik constantly works on different projects involving two or more art forms. He frequently collaborates with other artists, dancers, directors, writers, painters, sculptors, photographers and filmmakers. His own creations include musical sculptures, installations and performances involving space and sound and he also paints graphic scores.
Wittwulf Y Malik took part in various grants, i.e. at Berliner Akademie der Künste, Villa Serpentara and Olevano Romano, Rome. He is laureate at 'NDR-Hörfest-Wettbewerb für Experimentelle Musik', performed at 'documenta' in Kassel, 'Total Music Meeting' in Berlin, 'Ferienkurse' in Darmstadt, 'New Music' in Los Angeles, 'arte sonante' in Brussels, 'violoncelle accrocheur' in Montreal and many, many more.
Ge-Suk Yeo - soprano, vocals, electroacoustic sounds
Technical Data
Tracklist
01. Entrance
02. Room I
03. Room II
04. Room III
05. Room IV
Published
Published 08|2005 on ART.CappuccinoNet.com
[Product ID: ART 012, ILN: 4260046970132, LabelCode: 00327]
Comments
"On this album German cellist Wittwulf Y Malik and Korean vocalist Ge-Suk Yeo pursue minimalism, sparked by echoing avant tonalities, in an exhibition hall that's awash with crystalline acoustics. Yeo’s vocal chants and electroacoustic sounds offset his counterpart’s nimble plucking, and this session is full of abstruse contrasts. At times the duo seemingly mimics jungle sounds through quaint interplay and oscillating motifs. Malik’s creaky cello movements, in unison with Yeo’s softly uttered vocal parts, equate to fuzzy logic. On “Room IV,” the musicians generate a miniature wall of sound and bizarre classicism comes to the forefront. It’s not background music per se - the musicians dish out penetrating input for the mind and soul."
Glenn Astarita - www.allaboutjazz.com, May 2006
"...These recordings remind me of the environment oriented work of Boulez and the mechanical experiments of Ligeti at times, and if you are interested in these kinds of spatial compositions, then you will find Ge-Suk Yeo an important discovery."
Phillip McNally - www.cadencebuilding.com, April 2006
" When German cellist Wittwulf Y Malik and Korean soprano Ge-Suk Yeo joined forces for their 2005 album White Room, they clearly knew the talents each brought to the project, since both are leading artists on the avant-garde Art label, and together have been active participants in Hamburg's artistic community. All the same, they appear to have prepared little material jointly for this performance, beyond setting some broad parameters; their parts seem improvised around a few sketchy electronic effects, and Malik and Yeo take advantage of all the extended instrumental and vocal techniques at their disposal. The White Room of the title is the Galerie des Künstlerhauses Bergedorf, an exhibition hall with extremely resonant acoustics, and the echoic effects of the performance were calculated in part to showcase the venue's responsiveness. But once this reverberant quality is absorbed in the first few minutes, the music seems reduced to secondary importance -- essentially, anything in the duo's bag of tricks would work, if exploiting the setting's resonance was all that mattered. Regrettably, the Introduction and Room I suffer from this hit-or-miss, experimental approach. However, what saves White Room from being merely a study in ambience or a self-indulgent improvisation is the feeling of a tragic monodrama that Yeo introduces in Room II, and develops to a compelling climax in Room III. Malik supports the dramatic, angular vocalizations with restraint, and the eerie effect of his pizzicato pulses under Yeo's keening and the disorienting electronics make Room III the most fascinating and memorable track of the album. Some listeners, though, may feel that the build-up to this haunting section makes it more intelligible, and that the tolling epilogue of Room IV ties everything together into a satisfying listening experience. The reproduction is variable, so some sections are clearer than others, but the sound is most focused in the exposed passages of musique concrète. "
Blair Sanderson - allmusic.com, February 2006
"Arte in tazza (con molto caffé e poca schiuma)
Questi due deliziosi CD ci introducono nel mondo di Ge-Suk Yeo, una cantante, musicista elettroacustica e artista visuale coreana che divide la sua attività fra Amburgo e Seul. Spostatasi dalla Corea all’Europa per inseguire il fascino dell’opera lirica tedesca e italiana, ha studiato a Berlino in tal senso e ha sviluppato la sua voce verso le tonalità del soprano, e ha inoltre collaborato con numerosi musicisti dell’area sperimentale europea ed asiatica. Ma per ulteriori notizie su Ge-Suk Yeo, e per la sua discografia, rimando al sito ART.CappuccinoNet - qualcosa di diverso dal semplice sito di un’etichetta discografica - che è gestito da lei stessa. Questa recensione è infatti dedicata esclusivamente alle sue due più recenti pubblicazioni.
“Dalbukki” è stato registrato in completa solitudine e, oltre alle acrobazie vocali manipolate elettroacusticamente, presenta numerose registrazioni d’ambiente quasi sempre catturate alla dimensione del quotidiano. Il brano che titola il disco, diviso in tre parti, è una parola composta dai nomi Dal (luna), Geobuk (tartaruga d’acqua dolce) e Takki (coniglio), trilogia di ‘personaggi’ caratteristici di molte fiabe coreane. È un pezzo eccezionale che mi ha ricordato il Robert Wyatt di Las Vegas Tango, seppure qui vi sia indubbiamente un maggior rigore, e il Bernhard Gal di “Bestimmung, New York”. Affascinante pure Time Sculptures I, una lunga esposizione fatta di linee ripetitive, che sembrano essere tutte di natura percussiva, ruotanti attorno ad una metronomica goccia di suono. In Voice From Afar i suoni percussivi, quanto mai eterei, sono infine miscelati con un intreccio di voci.
“White Room” è invece un progetto, realizzato insieme al violoncellista Wittwulf Y Malik che prevede un’entrata nella stanza e quattro tappe all’interno di essa. È qui più in evidenza la cantante affascinata dal mondo dell’opera lirica, anche se il suo mood espressivo è preservato dall’ingessatura, tipica di quel mondo, ed ha un preciso riferimento in certa arte free-form. E poi dalla sua parte c’è una elasticità paurosa, come appare evidente nei lamenti e sussurri, ai limiti del respiro, che rendono prezioso l’inizio di Room 2. La personalità di questa Lady è tale che si rischia di dimenticare per strada la presenza dello strumentista tedesco, e pure si tratta di una individualità altrettanto forte ed eclettica che, con le sue acrobazie dal taglio potente e drammatico, supporta ai limiti del non plus ultra i movimenti ondulatori della sua pard.
Questi CD sono due piccole chicche all’interno di un catalogo quanto mai interessante. Magari ne riparliamo. Chissà? "