Age – Hypnagogie

1 review for Age – Hypnagogie

1. 

   Sylvain Lupari – 2022-11-22

   AGE is a duo of Belgian musicians with a very progressive vision on the art of using instruments and gear in the field of Electronic Music. After Nphlomancie, Emmanuel D’haeyere and Guy Vachaudez offer us another work based on a collage of sound effects and bits of electronic music in an album that reaches almost 50 minutes. And like Nephelomancy, the Dutch label Groove nl proposes this album, divided in 4 segments on Ron Boots’ label, in its CD-R collection with cd-case and artworks. The last album helping, I discovered HYPNAGOGIE with a little less difficulty.

   Hypnagogie Part One starts with clocks and dials. Then, we dive into surrealism with a series of sound effects that sail between transient harmony, cosmic visions and orchestrations that come and go without tuning. Being the state that serves as a bridge between this moment of wakefulness and sleep, HYPNAGOGIE seeks to avoid any tonal structures that could make us drift from one point to another. Nothing is done to monopolize the sustained attention. It is necessary to fall into a state of sleep. This explains the absence of rhythms, as well as complete musical textures including melodious phases. On the other hand, Hypnagogie Part One proposes rather harmonious textures interspersed with violent door knocks, like impulses on the level of the orchestrations that have become too intense. The piano, the violin and the cello are divine in this first segment which seems to me quite listenable. Hypnagogie Part Two is less so! The transition between the two passages gives a sibylline phase with good moments of tenderness that are immersed by more dramatic moments. There are few musical moments in these minutes where the darkness upsets the order of things with appearances in various forms, creating more bits of ambiences with sliced layers so as to recognize them once near each other. The similar moments in Hypnagogie Part One are amplified, even more violent h e re. Heavy and creepy with a more intensified finale than in the first part of HYPNAGOGIE. Hypnagogie Part Three follows the path of Hypnagogie Part One. While Hypnagogie Part Four is the most repulsive part with voice effects and door slamming that are very close to the atmospheres of William Friedkin’s film, The Exorcist. Since Hypnagogie Part Two that the piano notes tinkle with a resonance to get on our nerves. And it’s even worse in this last part which gradually scatters its dark web to return to the soft musicality of an opening without any melodious embryo.

   AGE’s HYPNAGOGIE is for the lovers of movie music where there is no time to weave links to stick a harmonious texture or sustained rhythm between the images of the movie. It’s a darker and bolder sound mosaic than Nephelomancy, but still just as listenable.

   2021. Sylvain Lupari