The Rome-based duo of Eugenio Vatta and Andrea Benedetti began the FRAME project in 1992 as an effort to re-create the atmosphere of a silent movie theater, except that instead of an orchestra playing in real time, they would use electronics specifically assembled to accompany the film. They improvised in real time in order to give the proceedings a sense of humanness, an organic vibe that provided a feeling of richness and warmth. A quadraphonic setup, samples, spoken word, electro-acoustic sound, and noises served to immerse the audience in the experience, which became a cross between a live concert and a cinematic performance. Each event was unique, and the duo prepared loads of recordings, which they’ve assembled, edited and compiled for The Journey.
These soundscapes are intended to be focused around the absence of sound: the silent nature of outer space and of “glacial environments”. The ten pieces presented radiate outward from the center of our solar system, starting at planet Mercury and flowing toward Pluto and its satellites. This interplanetary locomotion is tectonically-paced – this is ambient music, after all. Yet there are micro-events within the undulating drones: a wispy clatter that rises and falls in soft focus in “Venus Frame”, a cavernous gurgle in “Jupiter Frame”, and a shuffling pattern of static in “Pluto and Charon” all serve to disrupt the mesmerizing waves of blissful tonality.
Listening to The Journey is akin to enjoying the comforts of the familiar. Even as the underlying themes are of silence and alienation, the warm tones send the audience to a positive emotional space. There is light here, and beauty.
Digital and physical copies of this delightful orbit can be obtained from the Glacial Movements Bandcamp. Capture one, and drift onward and outward.
