Julien Palomo, S'Eteindre (Penderecki, Pendant La Fin Du Monde)

 

I have come to appreciate the music of Julien Palomo over the years as a New Music Electrician of true stature. During this Pandemic he has finished off a very ambitious, 11 part Electronic Music work S'Eteindre (Penderecki, Pendant La Fin Du Mond)  (Mutant Sounds, Bandcamp DL). It lasts many hours and so does not especially lend itself to a single-sitting hearing in general but that is the case with very long works. I found it quite worthwhile to listen to it all a few parts at a time.

The end of the great composer Penderecki and the continuing end of the world come together in this rather apocalyptic reverse paean to some extraordinarily difficult times. 

Each part has its own identity and substantiality; lasting from around 20 minutes to under an hour. Julien puts it all together with a dense orchestrational electronic wash of multiple synths, often with long, but not obviously droning sustains that ebb and flow in complexity and contrast as underpinning to foreground musical-noise events that have a discursive variability that is faster moving, that are evolving events often contrasting with the bedrock of the slower moving constants.

The more I listen to all this the more I feel like I belong in this musical maze. It is important work, advanced, endlessly stimulating, a great sound companion for your moment of repose. Listen!