MARTINA LUSSI - Selected Ambient

Even in a period that has seen the densest proliferation of new ambient composers – a span of at least fifteen years by now – the commonplace, or the naive conviction, persists that it is an ambivalent genre, suitable both for attentive listening and as “neutral” background for our everyday activities. More and more often, however, ambient aesthetics seems intent on inhabiting space, on “shaping” it rather than filling it with vague sensory suggestions. It is no accident that in various instances people speak of sound art, and that contexts are created that encourage an intersection with the language of installation.

As confirmation of this, the Swiss performer Martina Lussi's carefully chosen selection of her compositions is devoted not to ambient pieces as such, but to genuine “sonic environments” inspired by the different structures of four precious stones. These mineral gems, however, do not evoke applications in amulets with ancestral powers, but rather their particular, motionless physical essence, equally mysterious to our eyes, within which unfathomable forces and material mutations are inscribed.

The deep blue veins of sodalite intertwine delicately yet inseparably: over a bed of synthesizers, the brief melodic brushstrokes of a tremolo guitar spread out, creating a light psychedelic effect that feels closer to morphine than to hallucinogens. The concentric geometries of agate, meanwhile, are reimagined by transforming a barely stirring surface into a muffled minimal-techno pulse, streaked with lightning and electric shadows.

Citrine glows with chimes played in reverse and regular synth progressions, like a golden stone whose opacity nonetheless lets a transfiguring light filter through. Finally, the wavering drone associated with opal, which already outwardly appears cloaked in liquid rainbow hues, seems to hide within itself entire rocky landscapes snatched from unknown planets.

Released by Hallow Ground and mastered with the usual skill and sensitivity by Lawrence English, “Selected Ambient” demonstrates the considerable compositional quality of the Lucerne-based artist, long active at home in a variety of performance contexts. Being, moreover, her first full-length release, this synthesis carries even greater significance and makes it worth following her subsequent developments in electronic poetics closely.

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21/11/2017