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Rasal.A’sad – Space.Scape

Rasal.A'sad - Space.Scape

CD, Thisco, 2002
www.thisco.net

Rasal.A’sad is a name which will probably ring no bell whatsoever to most of you. And the name of the man behind this release – Fernando Cerqueira – will possibly also make you look puzzled. But if I tell you he is one of the main men behind the Portugese Thisco Records, I know I have your attention.
Active in various positions in the alternative experimental music industry, Fernando has since 1985 (and before participating to the Thisco label) taken part in producing and releasing music from Gods like Clock Dva, Cranioclast, Maeror Tri, Blackhumour, Brume and many others. And including the Thisco releases, the list will keep on growing rapidly and it will get more and more impressive.
To make a long story short, this guy knows what he’s doing and he definitly knows the good from the bad and the ugly. So my expectations for a release with his own music were set quite high. Maybe a bit too high, because even though it’s a good an solid (abstract) ambient release, it’s not what I hoped it would be.
The fifty minutes on “Space.Scape” are divided in four tracks bearing the names “Ur”, “Be”, “Momeant” and an untitled, unlisted track which closes the CD. All the tracks are quite consistent in style, which definitly makes this release a solid one. The sounds remind of a twilight area in between musique concréte and minimal abstract ambience with noticable influences from the glitch and noise scene. Definitly a mixture with a explosive character when described like this, but still… Something is missing.
“Ur” is mainly based on organ-like sounds and its fifteen minutes will keep you interested and trigger your mind and soul for more. “Be” and “Momeant” are more noisy in nature with the difference that the latter makes use of somewhat more stretched sounds. And even though the track is five minutes shorter, through the use of this streching it feels a lot longer.
The fourth untitled track reminds me of “Raising Earthly Spirits” by Rapoon. Which – coming from me – is a big compliment because that album is the absolute best one Rapoon ever made in my book.
And as said earlier, still something feels missing, but it’s hard to put the finger to the spot. Maybe it’s a production aspect, maybe it’s because of the used sounds, maybe because a full spectrum of sound has been compressed into four tracks. The initiative is there, and “Space.Scape” is a hopeful appetizer for a well-balanced dinner. But we all know an appetizer doesn’t still a hungry feeling…

[7/10]

— Bauke van der Wal

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