SOUSA, TIAGO - A Thousand Strings

"Continuing his fruitful relationship with Discrepant after the third volume of his ongoing Organic Music Tape Series on Sucata Tapes, Tiago Sousa returns with two long-form pieces for organ with A Thousand Strings. A self-explanatory title in itself, A Thousand Strings drifts fluidly into a celestial realm of cascading melodies and cycling patterns that never feel forced or strict throughout its two hypnotic tracks. Pulsating with life and ecstatic abandon. Taking cues from the tradition of American minimalists like Steve Reich and, particularly, Terry Riley, the Portuguese composer's work flows with a life of his own, that, while acknowledging those influences, transcends them into his own signature. On the A side, "A Thousand Strings" goes seamlessly from intertwining crepuscular harmonies to ascending keyboard runs in the manner of "Persian Surgery Dervishes" finishing with a coda of rhythmic marimba-like pulses. On the flipside, "The Things Passed" creates this maze-like tapestry of melodies that seem to drift apart only to converge back again into its internal process before setting on sustained tones infused with a sense of longing. For all things passed. For what is yet to come. Recorded by Tiago Sousa and mastered by Rashad Becker."