Francisco Lopez & Richard Francis–in de blaauwe hand–CD
CD Korm Plastics (KP3033/Brombron-14)
Edition of 500

"Highly recommended!"
VITAL WEEKLY 701, October 2009

"8/10...I can without hesitation recommend this album for anyone who likes dreaming with open ears..."
DARK ENTRIES, November 2009

"On this fourteenth issue in the Brombron-series, one of contemporary sound art scene's most prolific artists, Francisco Lopez join forces with another interesting artist from the contemporary scene: Richard Francis. For more than two decades Spanish sound artist Francisco Lopez has exploited the connections between field recordings and "acousmatic listening" – the latter term was originally founded by the father of "Musique concrete", Pierre Schaeffer, with inspirations back to the the Greek filosopher Pythagoras and his "blind" teaching sessions. The idea behind "acousmatic listening" is that the listener must experience the sound independent from its source. The strength of Lopez is the ability to utilize natural sounds that most people barely notice and transform these sounds into sonic art. New Zealand-based sound artist Richard Francis has a similar approach to his explorations using field recordings of acoustic and electronic sounds combined with tone generators to compose textural and tonal sound works. "In de blaauwe hand" is one lengthy piece running 66 minutes. Conceptually the work reminds me of Francisco Lopez's excellent "Untitled #89" released on the Or-label in 1999. With a barely perceptible crawl in from silence, softly mechanical drones begin to appear, rippling with a radiant, ever-building hum. As the piece progress the hum gets thicker and the drone texture strengthens. Despite the growing intensity in expression the piece never gets harsh. As we reach the 45 minute mark, clicking pulses are ovetaken by thick drones of buzzing noises that despite its ongoing abrasiveness also seems hypnotic and comfortable. The sound of a tone generator slowly mixes up with the buzzing drones, giving a nice depth and complexity to the sound texture. As is the usual case with releases in the Brombron-series, "In de blauuwe hand" are neatly packed in a tasteful card-slip-sleeve. Highly recommended!"
VITAL WEEKLY 701, October 2009