Het Conglomeraat

My first, and probably only, DAT tape, released by Now DAT’s What I Call Music. Released as a DAT tape limited to 17 copies, all recycled. A lovely project by Frans de Waard, and with beautiful artwork by designer Rutger Zuydervelt. 

Het conglomeraat is a composition based on recordings from analogue synthesizers, organs, software and (processed) flutes made between 2010 and 2022. For this work I dove into my archive of old recordings. In my archive there is a huge amount of “works in progress”, which over time I left behind me. This while there are still some really nice recordings in it. When hearing the various recordings separately they create their own space and atmosphere, sometimes haunting, or sometimes relaxed. But with reusing these recordings I gave them a new life. Cemented together like a conglomerate stone they get a new meaning and feeling. Creating a new whole.

Reviews

Vital Weekly, Bauke van der Wall
ORPHAX – HET CONGLOMERAAT (34 minutes DAT)

The fourth one in this – so far brilliant – series is Amsterdam-based Sietse van Erve who’ve I had the pleasure of reviewing before. Sietse is the mastermind behind Moving Furniture, and as Orphax, he does drones. And he does them very well, I might add to that. “Het Conglomeraat” (which translates to The Conglomerate) is a 32-minute piece, and let’s focus on the meaning of conglomerate first. “A number of independent companies forming a pact to have financial advantages or a sediment or stone built from different materials.” It fits this piece very well because it uses many different sound sources, and a trained ear will probably be able to differentiate the origin of some of them. From subtle feedback sounds to straight oscillator sounds drifting in the air.
This drone is so strong in relation to its length – drones of 2 hours are no exception in this series – Sietse still manages to create a strong unity between the different parts in a relatively short time. Sounds are carefully mixed and moulded into this solid material. A unity yet still with recognizable parts. A bit like the method of Eliane, but he and I both love her work: That’s not a secret, I think. (BW)