RUBEN D'HERS

— First review of this album —

Ever active, ever adventurous, Venezuelan musician Rubén d'Hers gathered a host of pieces he recorded between 1999 and 2003 in those moments when he wasn't busy in kRé activities, and so his first solo album became a reality. Titled "Todo Está en Descanso", this album is a catalogue of ideas conceived from the outside margins of the usual standards of the art of music. Minimalism, RIO- inspired shady ambiences, musique concrete, flirtations with post-rock, electronic processes. all of them alternate in a sequence of weirdly ordained sounds aimed at the evocation of mental images and dream-like sensorial experiences. The sound effects are not only a very important part of the sonic elaboration: they almost "operate" as leaders of the musical road trodden by d'Hers throughout this repertoire. Everything seems so unreal in every sound comprised in this portion of time that lasts 60+ minutes, yet the impact in the listener's mind feels undoubtedly real. 'Porciones Bajas' starts with creepy moods organized under a distant aura, where dissonant aleatory layers mix seamlessly. 'Las Polillas' bears a more serene tone, with soft, concise acoustic guitar phrases setting an air of melancholy amidst the sonic background that comes and goes like sea waves. 'Nube Baja' is very dark, stated within a RIO-inspired frame in a deconstructive strategy. The disturbing shades of violin set a properly neurotic dialogue with the random guitar washes: spectral, indeed, yet playful in a bizarre sort of way. For the final moments, a dramatic twist toward an oppressive density takes place, as if a window had been opened to a surrealistic world. 'La Vigilia y el Nácar' is more closely related to post- rock, Tortoise-type: mostly introspective, deeply autumnal. A similar thing we'll find later in 'ElVerdadero Dios'. 'Desenso Sedoso' pursues this mood further, only this time in a predominantly eerie vein that may reminds us of krautrock heroes Cluster or pre-"Mirage" Klaus Schulze. The occasional presence of the acoustic guitar brings an unexpected candid detail to the main picture. Later on, 'Mi Brazo Sonoro' will have a similar treatment, only with a slightly disturbing undertone operating on a subtle level. 'Primer Manual de lo Inexpresivo' is basically a catalogue of effects, much in tune with the radical sense of destruction that was promoted by the Fluxus Movement: musique concrete as a blunt weapon against the ideals of expression in sound. 'Almuerzo' does the same thing but in a more patently humoristic way, recycling sounds of teeth brushing, panting, breathing, jaw movements, etc. The pair of 'Tres Cosas Incesantes' 1 and 2 displays a mixture of avant-garde electronica and the minimalist side of contemporary chamber. This sort of strategy is continued in the following namesake track, building a bridge to the standards of post-rock. 'Anna y las Palmas' closes the album setting an enhanced landscape of introspection - it sounds like a recapitulation of the three preceding tracks, but oddly enough, it seems to bear a collateral joyful mood. "Todo está en Descanso" is a very peculiar recording, a delicatessen for any melomaniac with strong experimental interests. I conclude this review with a message to all of them: download it from the Rubén d'Hers website!