Expanding Concert (Lisboa 2019-2023)
João Artur, Nuno da Luz, Vuduvum Vadavã, Dasha Birukova, DJ
Marfox, Pierre Bal-Blanc, Margarida Garcia, Regina de Morais, Bárbara
SIlva, Mattin & The Audience
EGEAC Galerias Municipaes (Lisboa)
2 LP, gatefold with 32 pages booklet
Release date: 12th May 2024
Expanding Concert (Lisbon 2019-2023) has been a durational concert
attempting to think itself historically while it was happening. It was a
five-year-long concert distributed in time and space through different
media: five public interventions in five different spaces belonging to
Galerias Municipais in Lisbon, and five texts published in the Galerias
Municipais online journal that are
reproduced here. This record is a documentation of this long concert.
Expanding Concert explored the notion of call and response in
improvisation in an expanded form: each public intervention was a form
of call. For each intervention, a writer was invited to attend and
respond with a text written in the following months. The writers'
responses were attempts to contextualise each intervention in relation
to the artistic, political, and economic situation of Lisbon at the
time. The responses were also influenced by the fact that the writers
had been taking into consideration some of the most determining global
events of the last years such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the killing of
George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, inflation, and the war
in Ukraine.
Each public intervention worked as a proposition to explore
self-perception at a specific time and place through performer-audience
interaction. This record consists of audio excerpts and video stills
from the interventions as well as the writers' responses written after
the events. These components were conceived in different temporalities
but are all equal parts of the concert. The term 'expanding' has been
taken literally here: in the first intervention Mattin was alone, but
as soon as he began, the situation started to expand by his interaction
with the audience. For the following interventions, a different musician
joined Mattin each year: Margarida Garcia in 2020, DJ Marfox in 2021,
Vuduvum Vadava in 2022, and Joao Artur in 2023.
History is always retrospectively considered. The tools that we have at
our disposal to be able to understand what came before are tainted by
the present. The composer Walter Marchetti famously said: 'If you are
thinking about music, it is already music: Here we go a step further: if
you think, it is already music. With this simple axiom, this project
attempts to break any distinction between making music, its
socio-political context and our reflections about it. Playing a concert
in the 'Noise Age' when there is a disintegration of consensus reality,
and when post-truth and the disenchantment of technologies are
prevalent, means that we need to use any means at our disposal to deal
with the social noise that we are involved in. A record is always a
filtered condensation of the contradictions of a historical epoch, and
it contains more than we can decipher. This record is like a message in a
bottle for people to make sense of our senseless reality and hopefully
to change it.
Track Listing:
A
1) 2019 Galeria da Boavista
Mattin & The Audience 4’
text response by Bárbara Silva
2) 2020 Pavilhão Branco
Margarida Garcia, Mattin & The Audience 8’
text response by Regina de Morais
B
2021 Galeria Avenida da Índia
DJ Marfox, Margarida Garcia, Mattin & The Audience 12’
text response by Pierre Bal-Blanc
C
2022 Galeria Quadrum
Vuduvum Vadavã, DJ Marfox, Margarida Garcia, Mattin & The Audience 16’
text response by Dasha Birukova
D
2023 Torreão Nascente da Cordoaria Nacional
João Artur,Vuduvum Vadavã, DJ Marfox, Margarida Garcia, Mattin & The Audience 20’
text response by Nuno da Luz
Radio plays:
https://www.citr.ca/radio/bepi-crespan-presents/episode/20240503/
https://www.citr.ca/radio/bepi-crespan-presents/episode/20240504-2/
https://majjem.com/playlist-listen-08-04-2024/
https://www.citr.ca/radio/bepi-crespan-presents/episode/20240510/
https://archive.org/details/naisa-radio-music-or-noise-11-may-2024
https://themoderns.blog/2024/05/12/the-moderns-ep-314/
https://www.radiopanik.org/emissions/l-etranger/show-483-dammatory-faythe-haugh/
https://m.mixcloud.com/LaimaPersik/laimapersiks-dimensions-112/
Jet FM 91.2 Nantes
Cosmogol999 #255
20.06.2024, 20.30
www.jetfm.fr
Lefdup & Lefdup – “Les Fachos Font Chier” – Siamois Des Oreilles 5Bond Age / Le Snark, 1994)
https://lefduplefdup.bandcamp.com/album/siamois-des-oreilles
Terry Riley – “Shoganigidi #1” – Stolen Symphony: Fluxus & Neofluxus, Part 1 (Sub Rosa, 2023)
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/fluxus-neofluxus-stolen-symphony-vol-1
Rainier Lericolais – “Carbonade d’orage” – We Are Happy Here In A Happy House (La Gaya Scienza, 2024)
https://rainierlericolais.bandcamp.com/album/carbonade-dorage
Los Angeles Free Music Society – I.D. Art #2 (1976 – États-Unis/Superior Viaduct, 2022)
Rainier Lericolais – Partition 8 – Stéréo (galerie LMR, 2024)
https://rainierlericolais.bandcamp.com/album/st-r-o
Los Angeles Free Music Society – I.D. Art #2 (1976 – États-Unis/Superior Viaduct, 2022)
Rainier Lericolais – Partition 16- Stéréo (galerie LMR, 2024)
David Legrand et Philippe Zunino – Dürrr (Edition Fablab Les Franciscaines, 2023)
https://davidlegrand.bandcamp.com/track/d-rrr
Los Angeles Free Music Society – I.D. Art #2 (1976 – États-Unis/Superior Viaduct, 2022)
Eduard Escoffet – Bastida (Erratum/Sonhoras, 2023)
https://erratum.bandcamp.com/album/bastida
Los Angeles Free Music Society – I.D. Art #2 (1976 – États-Unis/Superior Viaduct, 2022)
Symbolist – The Age of Bronze (Creative Sources Recordings, 2024
https://creativesources.bandcamp.com/album/the-age-of-bronze
Akio Suzuki – Stone (Room40, 2024)
https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/stone
Mattin, DJ Marfox, Margarida Garcia – Expanding Concert Lisboa 2019-2023 (EGEAC, 2023)
https://galeriasmunicipais.pt/en/publicacoes/expanding-concert-lisboa-2019-2023-2/
Carl Stone – Electronic Music From 1972-2022 (Unseen Worlds, 2023)
https://carlstone.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-music-from-1972-2022
Finlay Shakespeare – Directions Out Of Town (editions mego, 2024)
https://finlayshakespeare.bandcamp.com/album/directions-out-of-town
Leandro Barzabal – Time Dommage Interior (fréquences critiques, 2024)
https://frequencescritiques.bandcamp.com/album/time-dommage-interior-2
Trevor Wishart – Beach Singularity & Menagerie (York Electronic Studios, 1979)
https://trevorwishart.bandcamp.com/album/menagerie-beach-singularity-vocalise
Stuart Argabright & After After – LA Drones (Room40, 2024)
https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/la-drones
Tashi Wada – What Is Not Strange? (Ring Intl., 2024)
https://tashiwada.bandcamp.com/album/what-is-not-strange
Los Angeles Free Music Society – I.D. Art #2 (1976 – États-Unis/Superior Viaduct, 2022)
DJ Marcelle/Another Nice Mess – A Different Fridge For Cheese (play loud! productions, 2024)
https://djmarcelle.bandcamp.com/album/a-different-fridge-for-cheese
Reviews:
African Paper (25th May 2024)
In den kommenden Tagen erscheit eine Doppel-LP mit Konzertaufnahmen von
verschiedenen Auftritten der Improvisationsmusik, die zu
unterschiedlichen Zeiten an Orten in und um Lissabon stattfanden, die
alle der Organisation Galerias Municipaes nahestehen. Die teilnehmenden
Künstlerinnen und Künstler sind João Artur, Nuno da Luz, Vuduvum Vadavã,
Dasha Birukova, DJ Marfox, Pierre Bal-Blanc, Margarida Garcia, Regina
de Morais, Bárbara Silva sowie Mattin & The Audience. Die Aufnahmen
erscheinen zusammen mit verschiedenen Texten, die während der hier
dokumentierten Zeitperiode entstanden sind und mit der Musik in einem
dynamischen Call and Response-Verhältnis stehen, angelehnt an die Call
and Response-Gesangstechniken im Blues. Die Texte erscheinen in einem
32seitigen Booklet.
Yellow Green Red (Philadelphia, July 2024)
The ever-restless Mattin is full of ideas, one of which being his
“Expanding Concert” series of events, taking place over multiple years
with various collaborators and audiences. It’s highly conceptual, of
course, the sort of art event that is more about its own conception and
execution than the resulting product (in this case, audio and video
footage). The hefty accompanying booklet does a masterful job of
explaining the concept, one that I will dumbly summarize as an extended
series of interactions between Mattin, other artists and his audience,
building and shifting throughout its full duration. The two LPs in this
well-designed package are almost secondary, as the erratic sounds of
warbling drones, footsteps, quiet conversation, electronic loops, synths
and noise are not particularly compelling on their own. The point seems
to be the full package, however, more in the spirit of vinyl records by
Joseph Beuys and Henning Christiansen, artists for whom sound was
merely one of many mediums worth engaging. At this point, can we just
get an exhaustive Mattin book instead? I know I’m a record guy, but this
deep into his career I’d rather have a bespoke collection of texts and
images regarding his work, at least until Billy Bao puts out another
punk rock record.
Rock de Lux (Antton Iturbe 22 de Julio 2024)
“Expanding Concert” es la brillante culminación de un concierto/performance de cinco años de duración. Dividido en cinco momentos (uno en cada año entre 2019 y 2023) y espacios municipales diferentes a lo largo de la ciudad de Lisboa. Además de la participación del propio Mattin, cuenta con la aportación de un artista diferente cada año y de las grabaciones en vídeo de todo el proceso por parte de Bárbara Bulhão. Una obra, que así descrita, puede sugerir la simple colección de los mejores momentos de cinco conciertos diferentes. Y si bien hasta cierto punto lo es, supone, por otro lado, el resultado vivo y mutante de un minucioso proceso de trabajo cuyas ramificaciones van mucho más allá en el espacio, en el tiempo, y en los cuerpos y mentes de aquell@s que estuvieron presentes y de l@s que ahora disfrutamos de su escucha y de la lectura del estupendo libreto que lo acompaña, lleno de estimulantes reflexiones.
Ante todo, “expanding concert” es una reivindicación de la escucha, paciente, respetuosa y activa, como medio principal de interacción institucional, laboral, política y social, y como herramienta de creación y enriquecimiento personal. Desconcertados por los constantes estímulos que recibimos a través de las redes de comunicación, por una necesidad imperiosa de saltar de un contenido a otro, ansiosos por “no perdernos nada”, pasar (perder) tiempo escuchando se convierte en un acto de carácter filosófico y político.
Bajo esa premisa, “expanding concert” explora el concepto de llamada/respuesta para desarrollar cada uno de los encuentros/performance con cada uno de los artistas y extender así el ejercicio de improvisación. Cada una de las intervenciones actúa como una llamada de la siguiente. Se invitaba a un escritor a cada uno de los encuentros y se le pedía responder con un texto escrito durante los meses siguientes, basándose en lo acontecido y escuchado y en el contexto artístico, político y económico de Lisboa en ese momento. Ese mismo texto actúa después como catalizador y estímulo del siguiente encuentro. Encuentros en los que se promueve la interacción constante entre artista y público. No siempre bien acogida por el mismo. En el libreto se cuenta que en uno de los encuentros se entregó un texto a los asistentes para que lo leyeran y después debatieran sobre ello y algunos se negaron alegando que habían venido a ver un concierto, no a hablar. Esa tensión, lejos de “estropear” el concierto, también forma parte de la obra y del concepto expansivo para enriquecerla.
A lo largo del texto del libreto y de los sonidos registrados en el disco se suceden las reflexiones en torno a la expansión económica que ahoga a ciudades como Lisboa, víctimas del alza desmesurada de los precios de la vivienda y de los alquileres; o al auge de la ultraderecha, valiéndose de nuestro propio desamparo ante la avalancha de circunstancias contradictorias que no podemos entender y nuestra tendencia a añorar un pasado “seguro y feliz” en el que “todo era más sencillo”.
Pero es precisamente en tiempos de crisis cuando surge la creatividad y la oportunidad para el cambio, para la revolución. En uno de los encuentros Mattin propone al público que aquell@s que crean que las cosas van a empeorar en los próximos cuatro años lo acompañen y los que piensen que van a mejorar se queden en la sala. Curiosamente, l@s que se quedan son mayoría. Pese a todo, seguimos teniendo una pequeña esperanza.
Y es quizá ahí, en ese pequeño atisbo de luz, donde la obra adquiere toda su grandeza. Los extractos sonoros escogidos y editados por Mattin actúan como una llamada a nuestras mentes y cuerpos, una interpelación a escuchar primero, y a reflexionar y responder después. En una interacción que se torna ya infinita y crece y se expande en cada una de las escuchas.
Walter Marchetti dijo que “si estás pensando sobre música, ya estás haciendo música”. Aquí el concepto se lleva un paso más allá para decir “si estás pensando, ya estás haciendo música”, y romper así las barreras entre la música, su contexto sociopolítico, y nuestras reflexiones sobre el mismo. Hagamos música. Respondamos. Actuemos. ∎
Chain DLK (Vito Camarretta, Italy, Oct. 14 2024)
Imagine an album that dissolves the boundaries between sound, thought, and audience. "Expanding Concert (Lisboa 2019-2023)" is exactly that - a five-year-long sonic event stretching through time and space, leaving its mark on Lisbon's artistic landscape. Mattin and his collaborators, including DJ Marfox and Margarida Garcia, use improvisation to create a complex web of call-and-response interactions. Each track feels like a historical artifact, drenched in the socio-political chaos of our era: COVID, Black Lives Matter, inflation, war.
But irony rests at the core of this work. The project boldly states, “If you think, it is already music,” leaving us pondering: are we truly listening to music or just witnessing the unfiltered noise of reality? Technically, the album blurs the lines between performance and documentation - this isn't just music; it's a philosophical investigation, where even the audience's reactions become part of the composition.
Emotionally, the record is a fragmented but deeply felt reflection on dissonance - social, political, and personal. The 20-minute collaboration on Side D with João Artur is a slow-burn, a soundscape that unravels in real-time, leaving space for contemplation, discomfort, and expansion. While some might find its improvisational chaos challenging, it's exactly this tension that gives the record its raw emotional pull.
Mattin's approach to improvisation remains mystical - his philosophy views music not as a completed artifact but as an unfolding event, one that captures the unpredictability of the human experience. Listening to "Expanding Concert" is like watching the world in a constant state of becoming, where sound, thought, and action are indistinguishable from each other.
For fans of experimental and conceptual works, this release stands as a testament to music's ability to transcend its own limitations, turning listeners into co-creators and blurring the lines between concert and historical record. In short, it's a dizzying yet profound meditation on sound, interaction, and the chaotic times we live in.
If you thought music had to be a neatly packaged product, "Expanding Concert" kindly asks you to unmap that idea, and start expanding your own perceptions.