about Habitat
Digital Press
Listening to Gaston Arevalo’s work is like wandering through someone else’s hazy recollections. You see the sights, you feel like you recognize what’s going on around you, but it’s all coming at you filtered through a gauzy wall of fog, the stuff that makes up the space between worlds. Arevalo’s propensity for soft focus in his music results in work that can have lively aspects tucked into it, yet always feels patiently laid-back. Habitat offers up eight such guided tours through the composer’s thoughts; they make for a superb wind-down listening experience that amps up exponentially when given close attention. Arevalo’s landscapes run deep and thick with detail. Floating backdrops of microsound and manipulated nature sounds are punctuated with the touch of acoustic instruments–guitar and piano–that stand out all the more for their comparatively concrete nature. (This is at its best on the mind-melting quiet of “Estuario.”) Rhythmic elements slide into place in spots without disturbing the flow. Even when Arevalo gets a little more aggressive with his sound, as he does in the sandpapery textures of “Agreste” or the glitch-strewn, chopped pulse of “Velero,” it’s balanced off with that overarching mistiness of sound and everything stays calm. Habitat is a relase you need to just dive into and let yourself coast downstream. It’s a short ride, gliding past in under 40 minutes but offering stunning musical vistas the whole way.
Hypnagogue
Static means different things to different people. The surface noise of vinyl. A programming error. A cable disconnect. Interference from a cellphone, a crossed signal. To some musicians, all of the interpretations, all of the guesses, are crossed signals -- and to these musicians the static is yet another thing: a compositional element, one that itself signals a consciousness of the intrinsic failure inherent in technology. It can ring of nostalgia (a sonic palimpsest, the Ghost of Data Past), and it can suggest what's yet to come (message seeping in from the future). In the case of Gastón Arévalo, the glitch is matched, in a track titled "Agreste," with a lulling sensibility, a marshy, singsongy slow wave that neither suffocates nor is irritated by the glitch's spiny presence. That balance is the track's major accomplishment, and the source of its pleasure.
Marc Weidenbaum (Disquiet)
Well, for starters, let's look at Gaston Arevalo - ambient producer
and video artist living in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital city far and
doing just wonderful musical collage worthy of comparison, if not with
the works of Brian Eno, Robert Rich and Aphex Twin, then certainly with
early Future Sound Of London, for example, Biosphere. What winds Uruguayan
skidded on domestic Passage to netlabel we still a mystery, but they
released a second album, Gaston, and it too deserves a certain share
of respect.
gimme5 ( Siberia)
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Radio
08.11.2010 - Sismógrafo / RNE (Radio 3) - "Velero"
from Habitat was selected at this Spanish National Radio station program
(min 36:25)
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about Marea
Print Media
Intensive, in ihrer Intensität auffällig geschmeidige Klanglandschaften
entwirft dieser twenty-something aus Uruguay. Arévalo hat sich,
wenn er nicht gerade visuell arbeitet, eine originelle Ausprägung
von Elektronik angeeignet, die unter der Aufschrift Ambient ihr Publikum
sucht. Das sollte auch relativ easy gelingen, kennzeichnen doch recht
eingängige Melodien, smarte Beats und geschmackvoll in die Runde
geworfene field recordings das Werk des jungen Mannes, der freilich
nix dafürkann, dass sein Vorname mich leider immer an diesen Zeichentrickfilmklassiker
mit Signor Rossi erinnert. Vergleichbaren Meilensteinen dieses Genres,
wie sie etwa die Touch Records im Vierteljahresrhythmus publizieren,
kann „Marea“ freilich nicht das Wasser reichen.
freistil magazine #31
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Digital Press
15.07.2011. Gaston Arevalo makes natural, fully organic music. Honestly,
I’m reminded of a beat-less Jan Jelinek in some sections. The similarities
in sound and melody are undeniable. Everyone is smoothed out in the
recording, allowing for a spacious recording. At times you feel like
you are inside a teeming organism, that’s how fluid the sounds are.
Shuttle358 would be another point of comparison as well.
I like the subtly of it. You are constantly hearing tiny melodies in
the distance, always wondering where you’re heading. Part of the pleasure
of Marea is how it takes its time moving forward. Considering the amount
of ambient or drone albums (and this album could be considered either)
who move too quickly, it is refreshing to see an album take note of
the joys of stasis. By staying in one place, you’re able to enjoy the
texture. Gaston appears to be pretty obsessive about texture so this
is an additional bonus. For me, the album improves with additional listens
but really hits its stride in the later half, particularly with ‘Dive-3’
and ‘Maritim’.
Occasionally elements appear which remind you of the source material.
You hear far off conversations, bit of radio static, guitar, scooters,
and other indecipherable pieces. These only lend to the contemplative
mood of the entire piece. It feels at times like you’re traveling with
Gaston through each piece, each place. Marea is a fantastic journey
through sound.
Beach Slot
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07.12.2010. These sound lo-fi, like drone ambient remastered from once-lost
78 RPM records. The pieces are very minimal conceptually, oft dominated
by a reverb-drowned drone, with some textured crackling and manipulating
sitting nicely on top. But it is because of that aesthetic consistency,
and not despite it, that it is such a successfully hypnotising release.
Except for the Roach-ey synth experiment on Maritim, the album would
appeal to anyone looking for a more rustic, ancient take on the likes
of Lull or Koner.
CPI netzine
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Musically, Marea presents an impressive set of drone-based music, the
base drones subtly enriched with lots of electronic detail. You may
have to listen closely to unlock the details however. The unobtrusive
rhythms in Hielo Norte, the washes of warm guitar sounds on
Maritim, the environmental field recordings (Delta)
the 'echospace'-like hiss in some of the tracks... all of these details
effectively immersed in electronic layers that are deep but never 'dark'.
Peter van Cooten
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Marea de Gaston Arévalo est un album tourné vers l’ambiant
music. De bien belle manière. Sombre et à la fois épaisse, cette
échappée en monde électronique est somptueuse. La profondeur des sons
qui se baladent ici appelle un travail encore plus complet qu’espéré.
En effet, Gaston Arévalo est également un graphiste qui propose des visuels
en lignes de codes inspirés ou directement produits par les notes de sa
propre musique. On n’est pas très loin du concept-album même
si cette pratique est évidemment répandue et connue dans le milieu contemporain.
Les nappes se mêlent à une rythmique fainéante et poisseuse. Langueur
et décadence de la musique futuriste et contemplative.
Off & Green
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Z hudby Gastón Arévalo je cítit vune nebeských dálek a láska
k prírode. Celkem 8 ambientních skladeb jako by pricházelo z neznáma,
prinášelo sebou zvuky z ruzných vrstev atmosféry a prostorem si hledalo
cestu až do nitra vašeho mozku. Ruchy a šumy jsou vzdálené, jednoduché
a presto složite popsatelné. Geniální.
eskanoiZZe
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Marea is sublime. It is a densely-textured, sonically-interesting
excursion into the realms of electronic ambiance. Arévalo deftly
combines both old and new techniques, and thus it is an album that I imagine
appealing to a wide range of ambient fans. It has the mellow pads and
haunting melodies of the old school, mixed in some of the more harsh glitches
and noises of the new.
CSG
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Marea is a beautifully austere yet deeply calm ambient LP in
a style that harkens back to the golden days of the autoplate
netlabel. hushed pads and occasional distant guitar notes enveloped by
subdued glitches and washes of microsound field recordings evoke and atmosphere
of timelessness and stillness. "perfect for a long dreamscape diving
or in-depth structure research of surrounding matters."
hiddenplaces
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Radio
29.08.2010 - send + receive - "Marea" was aired at this radio show at
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg (min 35:35)
01.08.2010 - Klangboot Radio - "Maritim" was included to the episode #018 on this german podcast (min 46:43)
27.06.2010 - Framework / Resonance FM (London) - Various tracks from
"Marea" included on the playlist on this radio program (min 06:36, 38:30,
50:32)
03.05.2010 - Seance / Radio1.cz - "Latitud" from Marea was
aired at this Prague Radi@1 station program (min 24:10)
15.03.2010 - Sismógrafo / RNE (Radio 3) - "Dive -3"
from Marea was aired at this Spanish National Radio station program
(min 39:40)
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Print Media / Digital Press
Arévalo loves deep, warm textures and searches for inner peace in musical structures equally steeped in repetitive patterns as well as organic improvisations. His tracks may only just touch the five minute mark, but in their floating, formless semi-embryonic state, which always appears to remain nascent, they aspire for eternity, spanning wider galaxies than many aimless jam sessions. Direction is essential to „Ultramar“, which creates the sensation of weightlessness through highly controlled doses of reverb, echo, dreamy acid filter modulations and a dense brushwood of percussions. While the two opening tunes are ambitious chill out visions, the spaceship truly lifts off with the astral fantasy „Verona“: Traces of choral voices, swooshing effects, sunwinds, bleeps and dots rotate like a spiral nebula inside a cosmic mirage, pushing forward as the body is stretched to infinite length at the border of the singularity – words can hardly do this track justice. „Cinema“ then safely lands the craft with crackling and stumbling rhythms and a quest for liniarity. With its bended guitars licks and spontaneous reciprocity between different elements, the EP tends strongly towards a far-out version of Jazz at the outer corner of your mind.
Tokafi Magazine
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Slow ambient sounds are dissected either by the complicated rustling of
noise textures (ultramar, cinema) or by the soft percussion film slightly
spreading the sound in space. Deep and not boring bass-drum makes the
way for the whole audio picture, slow and monotonous movements...
Sound Proector
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Radio
02.01.2008 - BBC Radio 1 - "Verona" played in the Marie Ann Hobbs experimental show
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Print Media / Digital Press
"...a deep and thought-provoking release from Gaston Arevalo in
"Pez De Piscis".
"328 Pies" lays haunting and distant atmospheres behind a
nice and minimal glitch percussion pattern. An occasional horn bleeds
in to bend a slight twist into the listener's mind. "Aparte"
has a lighter and more relaxing feel, with beautiful strings echoing
through the soundscape. Definitely a more musical piece, this one makes
the listener dream of a breezy day on a crystal white sandy beach."Costabrava"
brings the eeriness back, but a more constant atmospheric stage strikes
inspiration and deep reflection in the listener's mind. This one's a
masterpiece for the thoughtful. Things turn bendy and slightly broken
with "Lumpen", the first track without a strict 4/4 foundation.
Background sounds swarm and melt on top of the interesting rhythmic
structure, and occasional guitar strings bounce through the air to keep
things slightly musical. Dusk settles in on the beach, and an eagerness
builds in anticipation for the nighttime festivities."
Diaxiom Minimalistik Radio