Erdem Helvacıoğlu - Altered Realities

New Albion



Rating: 8/10

Hailing from Istanbul, Turkey, Erdem Helvacıoğlu is a propulsive acoustic guitar performer, with a crush on live electronics. But what's most amazing about him (besides his own name) is the method: how he records directly to the tape, in real-time, no overdubs, mixing or post-production involved. The result of this, say, eremitic process is a voluptuous, embracing mesh of gentle guitar finger-picking.

Sometimes trembling, bulbaceous and almost spooky ("Dreaming on a Blind Saddle"), and very often chilling and crepuscular ("Sliding on a Glacier" or even "Frozen Resophonic"), Altered Realities is a record for slow, attentive consumption; its long, persistent notes, knotted with creaking, resounding silences, always give a powerful last gasp to each track.

However esoteric it may sound at first listen, Helvacıoğlu's latest work is a feral, teeth-rattling chamber of glistening noises, which is always more than willing to offer a chill of terror down your spine. Take the sixth track, "Pearl Border", for instance - its scraped strings and prolonged shimmering moments make you embark on loud chants of isolation.

Altered Realities is the proper title for an album that salutes you with slow electronics memorabilia, only to, a few minutes later, take you on a late-night walk through the nebulous secrets of the nearest harbour. Not only does Erdem Helvacıoğlu delude you in a hypnotic swirl of tangled chords, he does so in a never-ending unclothing of the notes he plays.

It's not a pretentious move that every track exceeds the six-minute mark, it's just the length of the river he wants you to cross. Does it sound good? Yes, but also provoking and tormented. And that may well be the fair price to pay the boatman. One could not expect less than a passage over the waters from a multidisciplinary artist like Helvacıoğlu.

Besides his records, he also composes for film, theatre, and multimedia productions. And remember: what you hear is exactly what was recorded. Oh, the method! It teases us, it deludes us but, at the end of the day, it feeds our starving souls. And what a brilliant cook this Turkish guy is!

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