Conundrum Vol. 1 - itself through disappearance (Clean Feed, 2024)

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Pedro Melo Alves - drums, percussion and electronics
João Barradas - accordion and MIDI accordion
Audrey Chen - voice and electronics
Ignaz Schick - turntables, sampler, electronics
Nuno Rebelo - electric guitar
Marta Warelis - piano
Violeta Garcia - cello and electronics
Jacqueline Kerrod - harp
Carlos Barreto - doublebass
Sara Serpa - voice
Rafael Toral - electronic and acoustic feedback, modified amplifier, electrode oscillator
Grilo - prepared piano
Gil Dionísio - voice and electronics
Ece Canlı - voice and electronics
Recorded by Kellzo (1, 3, 8, 9, 10) and Olga Matviychuk (2, 5, 6, 12, 13) live at Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon, Portugal and by João Bessa (4, 7, 11) at Conservatório de Música de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal (12), Salão Brazil, Coimbra, Portugal (9) and Miramar Session, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal (4).
Mixed by Pedro Melo Alves.
Mastered by Filipe Louro.
Photos by Vera Marmelo and Nuno Martins.
Videos by Maria Bicker.
Artwork by Pedro Melo Alves.
Design by Travassos.
Executive Production by Pedro Costa
Thanks to Marcos Silva for hosting the 2022/2023 Conundrum concerts at Galeria Zé dos Bois.
“Conundrum is one of my dreams of potentiality. And through it, a dream of community and ego dissolution.
It's the audio recording of a series of concerts that I have been organizing since 2019, where I have the pleasure to challenge some of the most inspiring and intriguing beings on my way - with whom I’ve never played before - for a live duo improvised dialogue. No past history, only the infinite silence of mysteries to be shattered on stage.
So I see it as a personal collection of precious minds which, at a certain point, inspired me with a vision of possibility - a gift of new things on the horizon for me to unblock, a shining feeling of reality in expansion. A promise - the glimpse of stepping out of my sphere. I don't want to know what's going to unfold on stage. Or who I am, for that matter. I want to feel the void of expectancy and the harsh flavour of self-reinvention. I want my certainties to lose their ground, and with it, hopefully new, unchained universes flourish. I want to conceive new drum setups, new electronic devices, new sonic resources, new dreams, new versions of myself.
So the curation of guests ended up following a logic that defied the conventions of contemporary improvised music. What does it mean to be a drummer, what are the new circuits of improvisation, what are these resources coming from jazz and underground experimentalism and how do they relate with past idioms, what's the role of electronics and live processing of sound in the modern musician speech, how to produce meaning through spontaneous sound dialogues, how to explore and combine all the multiple selves we have in us, ultimately leaving us in this zero state ("itself through disappearance")?
Since 2022 Conundrum was a resident series at the club Galeria Zé dos Bois in Lisbon, happening every 2 months, recorded in audio and video.
Thank you from my core - João, Audrey, Ignaz, Nuno, Marta, Violeta, Jacqueline, Carlos, Sara, Rafael, Grilo, Gil, Ece and Odete - for your ongoing gift of possibility"
Pedro Melo Alves
22/05/2024