olatuetan |cs071

[...] Joseba Irazoki plays 'lap steel, nylon strings, electric guitar, banjo' on his solo release and dedicates it to Derek Bailey and Robbie Basho, which might be an indication where this. For reasons that aren't entirely clear to myself, I think it's the work of multi-tracking, i.e. various layers of sound played by one person. I might be wrong. Some of the pieces sound indeed like Basho, plucking away, and some others are more like Bailey's acoustic guitar abuse, but I must say that that Irazoki plays some fine tunes and makes a great combination out of the various instruments he plays. Frans de Waard (Vital)

Joseba Irazoki to trzydziestodwuletni gitarzysta z Kraju Basków. Znuzony rola muzyka studyjnego i akompaniowaniem pokaznej grupie lokalnych wokalistów, kilka lat temu rozpoczal prace na wlasne konto. Wystepuje i nagrywa nie tylko solo. Lideruje paru formacjom, zas jako improwizator regularnie wspólpracuje z innymi instrumentalistami. Choc wiodacym instrumentem Irazokiego jest gitara, to praktycznie jest on multiinstrumentalista, w razie potrzeby równie sprawnie poslugujacym sie fletami, skrzypcami, akordeonem, syntezatorami, fortepianem, harmonijka, egzotycznymi perkusjonaliami, itd. Jest tez calkiem przyzwoitym wokalista o czystym, nieco chlopiecym glosie, którym spiewa, rozumiane zapewne przez dosc waskie grono sluchaczy, teksty baskijskich poetów. W sferze muzyki Irazoki nieustannie krazy pomiedzy folkiem, popem i improwizacja. W tej ostatniej interesuja go przede wszystkim sonorystyczne mozliwosci instrumentów strunowych "podrasowanych" zestawem mniej lub bardziej wyrafinowanych efektów.
Omawiana plyta zawiera trzy kwadranse muzyki zderzajacej prostote i melodyjnosc folku z pozornym chaosem i anarchiczna wywrotowoscia swobodnej improwizacji. Wbrew pozorom Irazoki nie jest jednak ikonoklasta walczacym z tradycja sztuki gitarowej, ale jej nieodrodnym synem. Nie bez kozery "Olatuetan" zadedykowal Derekowi Baileyowi i Robbiemu Basho, wszak w pewien sposób podaza sladami tych gigantów. Irazoki nie tyle inkorporuje do swej muzyki latwo rozpoznawalne elementy ich stylu gry (choc i tak sie zdarza w utworach "Behin Baileyrekin Olatuetan" i "Behin Baishorekin Olatuetan"), lecz wydaje sie byc spadkobierca ich koncepcji uprawiania muzyki. Nie wieza go mury gatunkowego getta, ze swoboda, ale i wyczuciem, miesza ze soba rozmaite skladniki, naklada na siebie kilka warstw dzwieku. Folk zachwaszcza dronem, wykrecona improwizacje przecina konsonansem, skomplikowana plaszczyzne dzwiekowa podbija mechanicznie jednostajnym rytmem, delikatna melodie bruka dysonansem, proste akordy dopelnia dzwiekami preparowanymi, przez co "Olatuetan" jawi sie jako dzielo ponadgatunkowe, moze wrecz pozagatunkowe.
Irazoki nie zapomina przy tym o atrakcyjnosci materialu, i wbrew temu, co moznaby podejrzewac po przeczytaniu kilku ostatnich zdan, "Olatuetan" jest plyta bardzo latwo przyswajalna. Wypelnia ja muzyka subtelna i delikatna.
Nagrywana w domu gitarzysty na przelomie ostatniej zimy i wiosny, przepelniona jest intymnym cieplem i lagodna melancholia, znakomicie wiec sie sprawdzi jako remedium na nadchodzace jesienne sloty. Tadeusz Kosiek (Diapazon)

Unlike the inputless mixing boards, empty samplers, customised FX pedals and the whole arsenal of amplified bits and pieces in use these days, the guitar comes with a whole lot of cultural baggage, from classical to free via flamenco, country, jazz and rock. A lot of guitarists today go out of their way to avoid any reference to existing styles, but Joseba Irazoki positively revels in the sonorities of the venerable instrument, from the scrabble of "Behin Baileyrekin Olatuetan" (my Basque is pretty rusty but I take it that's a reference to the dear departed Derek, even if there's a good dose of Sonny Sharrock in there) to the delicate arpeggios of "Behin Bashorekin Olatuetan" (Basho as in Robbie that is). Irazoki also plays lap steel and banjo – not surprisingly, he's performed with Eugene Chadbourne – and the seven tracks wander delightfully like an ant threading its way through the blades of grass that adorn the album cover. Lovingly played and well recorded, Olatuetan is another fine addition to the solo guitar outings that grace Creative Sources' ever-expanding catalogue. Dan Warburton (Paris Transatlantic)

A 7-track, 44-minute work from this Basque musician, who I understand plays a veriety of instruments and also writes more song-oriented material. Here Irazoki plays "lap steel, nylon strings, electric guitar and banjo", and dedicates the work to late masters like Derek Bailey and Robbie Basho. In "Olatuetan" there's probably more of the former's abstract bruitisme than the latter's ecstatic cascades, though the Takoma style surfaces in the quieter, or more structured moments ("Behin bashorekin olatuetan"). While predictably not as stellar as his inspirators, Irazoki surely knows how to grasp his audience: to mention only the most remarkable pieces, "Belin olatuetan" is an inspiring start made of tiny swerves, pauses and repeats dotting clusters of sparse notes; "Bertze behin olatuetan" is a cubist-like performance for sharp, disjointed sounds and whispers; and both final pieces, the bow-driven "Betirako olatuetan" and the fingerpicking-driven "Bertze behin bashorekin olatuetan", successfully match a more recognizable playing with feedback noise. A concise but often surprising work. Eugenio Maggi (Chain DLK)

Making phonendoscope of microphones, exploring the conventional and extended sonic possibilities of stringed instruments, the framing of sonic areas, the scale and montage techniques as resources to abstract sound from its context, while timbre remains the leading thread. Pedro Lopez (Modisti)

Abstracção e experimentalismo são os parâmetros de enquadramento da música do basco Joseba Irazoki, em OLATUETAN (Creative Sources Recordings), disco de 2006. A guitarra ainda tem espaço para ser questionada e Irakozi (guitarra eléctrica e acústica, lap steel e banjo) segue os princípios dos vultos a quem rende homenagem e dedica o disco, o norte-americano Robbie Basho e o britânico Derek Bailey, músicos que procuraram não tanto seguir as pegadas dos mestres do passado, mas, formulando o mesmo tipo de questões, tentar obter respostas diferentes. Seguindo por essa via, Olatuetan é um disco conseguido, resultante do balanço entre improvisação idiomática e não-idiomática (com Bailey, esta última era ela própria um idioma autónomo), equilíbria forma e abstracção, raga e pontilhismo, com uma pitada de folk à maneira de Eugene Chadbourne, a denotar atenção sobre o que se faz actualmente com as seis cordas na Europa, na América e no Japão. A partir deste caldo de cultura e dos traços e influências que processou, Irazoki sabe organizar e trabalhar sobre o acervo de micro-sons electroacústicos e texturas de ruído modulado, capaz de surpreender o ouvinte. Mostra desenvoltura e capacidade de problematizar sem se deixar cair na tentação do tecnicismo exibicionista ou da exposição de um mostruário de improvisação experimental. O que Joseba Irazoki faz aqui – fora de outro tipo de trabalho ligado a formas pop ou jazz, que também cultiva – é deambular livremente por linhas irregulares e assimétricas, questionar as convenções e desenvolver renovadas possibilidades de combinação sonora a partir do imenso livro da guitarra eléctrica e cordofones conexos. Feitas as contas, do País Basco, bom vento e bom encordoamento. Eduardo Chagas (Jazz e Arredores)

Guitarist Irazoki seems to pride himself on string theory. Not the concepts put forth by particle physicists, but the ones that demand you essentially reinvent the guitar, throwing out any guidebooks, rules, or regulations that get in your way. This is precisely what Irazoki does on Olatuetan, his vociferous debut for the ever-resourceful Creative Sources label, home to many a scrappy improviser and rugged experimentalist. Perhaps the CD booklet’s dense (and beautifully shot) forest of reeds suggests Irazoki uses his string-driven things much like an audio-logical Indiana Jones, hacking his away through thickets of guitar traditionalism to eventually uncover whatever new x’s mark the requisite spots. That this recording is dedicated to both Derek Bailey and Robbie Basho is no coincidence — both are Irazoki’s forebears, and both have left catalytic scars on his psyche.
Irazoki’s arsenal includes electric and lap steel guitar, nylon strings, and banjo (!), which are hardly left adorned (there’s discrete processing afoot amongst these multi-tracked pieces), yet the sounds of his instruments are certainly recognizable — the fly in the ointment is that Irazoki is more intent on deconstructionism rather than destruction, preferring to smear context instead of mutating his sound tools in a morass of silicon. Take the banjo pickings and flecked shrapnel of the opening track: Bailey’s spirit tugs at these angular, fractured warpings via Irazoki’s own bent fingers, notes edited into ham-fisted knots that seem to abruptly cease as they suddenly morph into different shapes altogether. Restless, frenzied capitulations inform the more noisy climes of the second piece, though Irazoki tempers the (again) Bailey-esque noise thanks to some carefully chosen nylon chords, minimally present yet gleeful all the same. “Behin Bashorekin Olatuetan”, as the Basho in the title implies, reincarnates the ghost of Basho, but Irazoki doesn’t appear interested in sycophantic homage to, or waxing nostalgia for, his hero: this is a gorgeously played, quite individualistic work, made the more poignant due to Irazoki softening his languid arpeggios in a pillow of subtle background ambience.
Lest these influences override the guitarist’s obvious talents, Olatuetan doesn’t just come across as a tidy summation of Irazoki’s penitence to his mentors. Electronic flutterings couch insistent guitar spikes and strangulated strings along the boundary lines of the disc’s sixth track, indications that Irazoki’s not only transcended his icons’ work but also made clear that his own artistic directions are not anything but genuine. Darren Bergstein (The Squid's Ear)