Genre: Ambient / Electro-acoustic
01 Bridge To Horizon
02 Sliding On A Glacier
03 Frozen Resophonic
04 Dreaming On A Blind Saddle
05 Shadow My Dovetail
06 Pearl Border
07 Ebony Remains
Other than the work of the composer, infamous teacher, proponent of new music of allsorts and all-around character Ilhan Mimaroglu, my knowledge of Turkish music is limited to the sacred and folk traditions. Istanbul-based Erdem Helvacioglu is touted as one of the most renowned new composers in his homeland and has quite a track record to back this up. His career as a composer developed while studying engineering and electroacoustic composition. Erdem's work has been broadcast and performed the world over and has received numerous competition awards. In addition, he composes for film, theatre and various multimedia settings. If that's not enough to keep him busy, as of this writing (per his website), he is also working towards his PhD.
Although the music found on 'Altered Realities' is realized using an acoustic instrument interfaced with electronics, it's not what most listeners might consider electroacoustic music. What we have here is real-time interaction between Helvacioglu's Ovation guitar, an effects processor, MIDI foot controller and the software Audiomulch with no overdubbing or post-processing. There are no indications as to genesis of these pieces, so I would hazard to guess that they are not improvised. Most of the disc sounds pretty well thought out if not down right impressionistic. I don't know if the titles were an afterthought or not but they're evocative enough nonetheless. Despite the rather 21st-century technological setup, it honestly sounds like it could have been recorded ten years ago with it's propensity for 'preset-sounding' reverb and delay treatments. I find this frustrating, because I would like to hear a bit more of the guitar's natural timbre interacting with what a program like Audiomulch is capable of. This is an aesthetic criticism more than a technological one, as I'm sure this fellow knows his gear much better than I do.
The guitar work is overall tonal and pleasantly melodic, especially the figure that ushers in 'Frozen Resophonic.' This sort of work is not my cup of tea, but respectable because the guy's definitely got chops. My favorite moments come during 'Sliding On A Glacier' and 'Shadow My Dovetail' when Helvacioglu threatens to break into some Frith-esque territory only to eclipse it far too quickly and then we're back out to the pastoral. Other tracks exploit the sustained tone and overtone possibilities inherent with such a setup, but not to the degree that a master like Phill Niblock or Tony Conrad would. To some listeners this may have a glacial quality, but to my me it just sounds like a sort of hastened ambience. To classify 'Altered Realities' as borderline new-age is tempting but ultimately misleading as it makes for listening that is anything but passive if you choose to engage and actually listen to, rather than merely hear, music. If you want so-called background music this would serve you well, whether putting a young one to sleep, engaging in some more erotic endeavours, or as a soundtrack to an experimental film.
Interestingly enough the closing track 'Ebony Remains' draws a bit from all of the elements touched on in the previous pieces. There's more open space, more electronics and more raw guitar sounds in equal portions. Even though this track serves a sort of coda, 'Altered Realities' may have been a better disc if this track had served a s a launching pad for the entire album. Either way it's a great effort and extremely well-recorded, just not up my alley so to speak. I look forward to hearing more from this composer, especially his recordings of street bazaars in Istanbul. Now that's really my cup of tea !
