OCP “Stepping Stone”

From the ‘| Test Tube netlabel release Stepping Stone [tube124]

Runtime: 32m 30s

« Three/four releases a year is the average production coming out of João Ricardo’s lab, making him a very busy artist and producer. Even with such a rate of releases, quality is not an issue, as João - aka Operador de Cabine Polivalente (OCP for short) always makes really interesting works.

‘Stepping Stone’ is one more of those works. Again, João takes the ‘single piece’ approach for added immersive experience. The piece shapeshifts through its thirty-two minutes and a half course, filled with highly textured sound palletes. A focused listener will find at least three distinct ‘movements’ in this piece, or better yet, three core ones with an additional smaller interlude-ish one.

The second main movement is an organic symphony made from string notes colliding and overlapping themselves into repetitive loops. The final and last movement - and my favorite - starts with a dub ambient approach to a sci-fi drama; dense and heavy and glitchy, and rapidly turns into a full glitch/field recording/improv. long finale, with warm, rubbed-out edges of awesomely (is that a word?) well made ambient. — Pedro Leitão »

« Ricardo, recording as OCP (or Operador de Cabine Polivalente), isn’t here just stringing together diverse modes. For example, those loose strings connect to the rough percussion thanks to the manner by which the analog source material fits into the electro-acoustic setting, and the subsequent claustrophobia is impressive precisely because of the exit of the more organic sounds that had appeared earlier. Like any successful suite, this one is marked by narrative intent, one that compels and rewards close listening. — Marc Weidenbaum [Disquiet] — May 23, 2008 »

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