Syrinx - Qualia (2008)

Artista: Syrinx
Álbum: Qualia
Año: 2008
Género: Progresivo ecléctico
Duración: 48:48
Nacionalidad: Francia

Lista de Temas:
1. Liber Nonacris
2. Acheiropoiètes
3. Le Grand Dieu Pan
4. Le Vingt-et-unième Cercle

Alineación:
- David Maurin / acoustic guitar
- Benjamin Croizy / keyboards
- Samuel Maurin / bass
- Philippe Maullet / drums

Otra resubida de un discazo, en este caso franceses, en una impresionante forma de desarrollar un progresivo cercano al jazz rock que por momentos se acerca mucho al "Academia De Danças" de Egberto Gismonti. Un tremendo discazo que traemos nuevamente para que lo disfruten todos lo que no lo conocieron anteriormente...

Pyra (alias "El Conejo") dijo una vez que todas las noches reza todas las noches para que los franceses de Syrinx saquen otro disco, a lo que debo decir que yo también, me encanta su descomunal manera de crear laberintos musicales casi demenciales, oscuros y cambiantes. Música ecléctica si las hay.

"Syrinx (Siringa) era una ninfa seguidora de Artemisa en la mitología griega, conocida por su castidad. Perseguida por el dios del amor, Pan, se tiró al río Ladón, donde pidió ayuda a otras ninfas. Éstas, conmovidas, la convirtieron en un cañaveral. Así, cuando Pan llegó, no pudo más que abrazar a las cañas mecidas por el viento, y le gustó tanto el sonido que hacían al ser sopladas que creó un nuevo instrumento musical con ellas, la flauta de Pan, también conocida como siringa en honor a la ninfa.
Syrinx también es una pieza musical para flauta solista escrita por Claude Debussy 1913, fue escrita como música incidental para la obra incompleta Psyché del escritor Gabriel Mourey. Según el libreto de esta otra obra, Syrinx representa "la última canción de Pan antes de morir". Está considerada como una de las piezas fundamentales e indispensables en el repertorio de un flautista, se dice que esta obrada al intérprete una gran libertad en cuanto a la interpretación, a la emoción y los sentimientos, y que fue un punto de inflexión en el desarrollo de los solos para flauta a principios del siglo XX."

En este caso, nos ocupamos de otro Syrinx, un raro grupo venido de Francia que hace una música por demás interesante, y donde, eso sí, no emplean la flauta (creo que en realidad es un sintetizador) salvo en contadas ocasiones, pero tratan de mantener en alto el espíritu y la magia del mito griego, una música casi mística, instrumental llena de sutilezas, original, intrincado y onírico.

En realidad, deberían al menos sacar otro disco más, ya que esta es una trilogía inconclusa, trilogía de la cual presento primeramente su segundo disco solamente por mi conocida desorganización, por ello encontré éste disco (segundo de la trilogía) y no el primero.
Pero, debo aclarar, creo que este estilo no es para todos... tiene ese estilo demasiado característico y difícil que a los que le guste lo van a amar, pero quizás no mucha gente lo pueda seguir. Recomendación: escuchar este disco al menos 20 veces, si luego de ese tiempo no te voló la cabeza, obligándote a juntar tus sesos con cucharita, éste disco no es para tí.
Un álbum muy interesante, van cambiando de ritmos y de idea a cada momento, de volumen, de cliemas, de texturas: silencios, disonancias, potencia, sinfónicamente espaciales. La tranquilidad, ligada al amor, para luego seguir con ruidos, terror y misterio, y de vuelta comenzar un impredecible círculo virtuoso. Las guitarras hacen constantes fraseos intrincados digno de los Crimson, y para cuando algo comienza a hacerse natural al oído, lo dejan de lado, y no se sabe qué sigue hasta que llega.
Al igual que el disco anterior ("Reification"), hay que escucharlo varias veces para captar las sutilezas que ofrece, que son muchas.

Tan pronto como obtuve este álbum, le escribí un correo al remitente solicitándole información sobre la banda y una foto. En la página de SYRINX no encontré lo que buscaba, así que me pareció lógico solicitar lo requerido para preparar información sobre este grupo. Ésta es parte de la respuesta que obtuve de Serge: “we prefer not to give our names. We prefer that people focus on the music rather than on us. As a result, we do not provide any bio or photo (sorry for that...) «Preferimos no decir nuestros nombres. Preferimos que la gente se enfoque en la música en lugar de en nosotros. Como resultado, no proveemos ni una biografía ni una foto (una disculpa por eso…)»”. Entonces, respetando las decisiones de la banda, esta revisión excluye –no me queda de otra– la mención de los integrantes y el quehacer de cada uno con los instrumentos.
"Qualia" es la segunda parte de la trilogía que SYRINX comenzó en "Reification". Una trilogía que pretende compilar los fragmentos del mensaje de la ninfa Syrinx, “mitigados en el tiempo y esparcidos de la misma forma en el espacio astral del grupo. Esos trozos de mitología son la inspiración motivo para componer, basado "Reification" en el componente comunicación. El segundo componente, "Qualia", reside esencialmente en la decodificación de los artefactos físicos (textos): de acuerdo a su interpretación, esos textos han sido inspirados por la acción de Syrnx en el tiempo. La interpretación puede, por supuesto, ser debatida. Como en toda exégesis, la interpretación es reducida a extrapolar los fragmentos extraviados, e intentar ponerles orden de una forma coherente en la historia de Syrinx, de tal manera que resulte atemporal. Hay que tomar en cuenta que los primeros fragmentos encontrados no son siempre analizados primero, razón por la que el orden puede resultar caótico. Descifrar los últimos fragmentos podrá ayudar, no obstante, a clarificar las restantes y confusas partes de la historia” (1).
Esencialmente, el rock progresivo de SYRINX es de carácter sinfónico. Sin embargo, más allá de sus estructuras musicales formales con sonidos atmosféricos y envolventes, su propuesta se decora con algunos otros elementos que hacen de su sonido una oferta original. Tal es el caso de la insistente presencia de guitarras acústicas y el uso de teclados análogos como el moog y el melotrón para poner lunares de belleza en las magníficas formas de la música, que también se deja trasladar de lo sinfónico a lo espacial, de lo espacial a lo vanguardista, de lo vanguardista a lo genérico, de lo genérico a lo sinfónico y de ahí a viajar de nueva cuenta por distintos escenarios. Incluso actividades neo-clásicas y hasta cierto punto experimentales son consideradas por estos maestros, quienes hacen gala del respeto por el jazz también.
Más allá de las comparaciones (cosa que no haré porque en este caso muy particular no le veo el motivo), la música de SYRINX es una lectura auditiva que despierta la imaginación y los sentidos. No se puede decir que enerve o tranquilice, que sea concreta o en lugar de eso dispersa. Es música que cumple con el propósito de motivar las emociones, y desde la perspectiva de que ésta está construída desde bases progresivas, se convierte en una oferta sustancial. Concluyendo, "Qualia" es un álbum imperdible.

Alfredo Tapia Carreto

Keeping their anonymity, SYRINX are comprised of four musicians playing acoustic guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and occasional flute. SYRINX normally is a nymph who works in the world of sound creation. As musicians, they are obviously influenced by all sort of music. The musical construction of SYRINX is called "METAMORPHIC MUSIC" lending within a different texture to the
complex arrangements. Therefore, it is not impossible that in the near future other people will contribute to exploring this new "world". An excellent instrumental band between PRIAM and TAAL,
but more melodic.

THE METAMORPHIC MUSIC:

"Inspired by Aeon SYRINX, this musical creation tends to restore Life to she who was named SYRINX, by spreading vibrations formed by sounds and rhythms organized according to particular patterns.
"Reification" represents a first stage, which will later allow the Mysteries of SYRINX to be progressively unveiled.
Several fragments of SYRINX message have reached us. The music resulting from their transcription has proven to be rich, complex and melodious. Yet, as a whole it belongs to no existing style.
This work inaugurates a new musical trend named "Metamorphic Music", whose influence on the environment shall condition the listener, in order to produce a succession of exterior and interior transmulations".
To recapture all of the original aura, "Reification's" project is an instrumental progressive album within a complex progressive, jazz-rock-fusion domain with delicate acoustic interludes.
Now, it's up to every listener to say what kind of mood this music puts him in.
It is definitely worth a listening into the sphere of jazz if you're not afraid of being transmuted. This work will be pursued in a second album stemming from fragments. SYRINX are close to or similar from another excellent French band NIL.
Thankfully, I have to say that the music is worthy of note as well as the artwork and the SYRINX's "complex" website.

Warmetal

Syrinx is a myth and a mystery in many ways: Firstly, the players are anonymous even if we do have a clue of who they might be. Secondly, the concept of Syrinx is built on Greek mythology, revealing its secrets in three parts. In the second part, Qualia, the four Transcribers (this is how the musicians call themselves) lead us back to the wonderful musical landscapes familiar from Réification and here we get to the third and most important point - the music of Syrinx - that's one of the most mysterious and thrilling journeys one can get musically. Build up by a really tight teamwork with commanding bass, dreamy keyboards, soft and accurate drums and brisk yet elaborate acoustic guitar, long, complex and unpredictable compositions and peculiar rhythms played in most stimulative manner, kicking the back of your brain like an angry mule!
The joint work of this group is just impressive. It's exquisite how the the music is composed of small pices that are the sounds of the instuments. It's like you're listening to a work of a brilliant mathematician: tiny elements built up to a fractal making a larger and a more complicated whole depending on how far you look at it. No matter wheter you look at the details or the whole work, it's just stunning. These Transcribers aren't only vituoso, but they can compose one hell of a songs! As you listen to a music, any music, you may notice some absolutely great parts within a song and you'll remember that this song has got this wonderful moment... In Syrinx, that's continuous - those stunning parts follow one after another. It can be played in a backgound as a relaxing atmosphere or you can always turn it louder and Dive Into It. This is the most fascinating thing in Syrinx's music, or maybe it IS the Syrinx music.
Just like Reification, Qualia holds on to its secrets tightly, and while it does not sound weird or too complex at the beginning, you still may have to give it quite a few spins... it does not open up quickly. For me, it's a desired feature anyhow, only telling me this is an album I will enjoy for long. The first track to open, is Liber Nonacris, the longest one on the album. It's just so stunning one have to do several reverse-again-things while listening to it! As it is somewhat common to these songs, it's build up slowly, gathering the intensity, raising the speed, growing almost manic at the end. The other tracks Acheiropoiètes, Le Grand Dieu Pan and Le Vingt-et-unième Cercle follow the fantastic formula and they are some great tracks as well.
I've found Syrinx perfectly suitable for jogging purposes for its manic, stubborn ongoing nature. Still, it's also perfect for dining, relaxing, working, sleeping, enjoying, driving, and God knows what purposes due to its multilateral nature. This is another absolutely fantastic release from the group Syrinx!

Rateyourmusic.com

Funny, here we are 5 years later, and after feeling that I had heard the last from this fantastic French band, they release a new cd. And in the fine tradition of their fantastic first cd - Reification, they have continued in their instrumental ways with the release of this, their second cd. Not much different this time around, either, in fact I could nearly copy and paste my review of Reification to explain this cd as well, but I will at least try to provide a fair review of Qualia.
I am again amazed at the quality and technical brilliance of this band, so much attention to detail, hyper complex odd signatures abound, and again the very cool use of acoustic guitars throughout the disc. Keep in mind, this music is heavy, with many intricate details, having acoustic guitars is simply an amazing addition to this bands' identity. There are also amazing keyboards, drums and bass work on display, as it all fits together to define this bands' sound, which is very unique among progressive rock artists.
This could very well be the future of progressive rock music, playing outside of the retro cliches often heard from many of the Neo bands of today, this group has redefined the instrumental ideals of progressive rock's historic past, by creating new sounds, and very sophisticated textures, with their unique ensemble playing. All in all, this is an extremely talented group of individuals that have found great chemistry within the confines of their band idiom, a must have cd for those that enjoy complex, sophisticated and original music.

M. J. Brady

A great work "Qualia" is ? I absolutely enjoy this sophomore release by Syrinx, and I wish I had known it at the time so I could vote for it the 2009 Top lists. All I can do in the present days, in retrospect, is praise it with all my heart. This French ensemble was quite a big surprise a few years back with their debut effort "Reification", exploring a sort of progressive experimental rock that combined mystic atmospheres and dense, semi-creepy moods; in 2008, "Qualia" retook this interesting trend and instilled a renewed energy into it. As usual, the band's sonic framework is built upon the articulation pondered among the harmonies/leads performed on a much featured acoustic guitar and the driving force driven on by the rhythm section, while the keyboard inputs rigorously fill abundant spaces all over the place. 'Liber Nonacris' opens up the album with agile atmospheres, but eventually, at the 3 minute mark, the sonic development turns to slightly denser grounds. From the onward, the piece evolves in an amazing set of varied themes, abundant yet not overwhelmingly overdone. There are moments in which the keyboard orchestrations assume the leading role in the melodic developments; there is also a mysterious passage in which the bass guitar's interventions get a bigger exposure, in this way adding some stamina to the overall sound. The use of synthesized choral ornaments and emulated mellotron helps to reinforce the recurrent mesmeric ambience. 'Acheiropoietes' features soprano sax in the first passage, which assumes an air of distinction through the unhidden sense of mystery that prevails. The colorfulness portrayed in the subsequent development states a landscape of tension that ends up released during the track's closing section. 'Le Grand Dieu Pan' brings a grayish ambience, properly focused on autumnal textures. The solo piano passage bears a nostalgic beauty, conveniently balanced with the agile section that follows immediately, eventually leading to a majestic display of moderate bombast. Once again, the bass guitar manages to make itself noticed among the whole equilibrated architecture. 'Le Vingt-Et-Unieme Cercle' occupies the album's last 5 ¾ minutes. It is evidently more serene than any of the other preceding tracks, but the overall feel is totally consistent with the spirit of outworld mystery that has assumed control of the musical arrangements in the whole album. The climatic ending may bring some 70s Pulsar memories to some. Well, this was "Qualia", a superb album by one of the best French prog ensembles currently around.

César Inca

Qualia is the second album from French band Syrinx. It's a truly beautiful and complex album, the kind that demands your attention and demands you to just sit back and listen to their compelling mix of Jazz and Prog.
All four compositions are instrumental and it doesn't get any better than the almost twenty minute opener Liber Nonacris. The band play brilliantly, Benjamin Croizy's keyboards used much of the time (though he has his moments in the limelight) to provide sweeping backdrops for Samuel Maurin's fluent, liquid bass playing and Philippe Maullet's dynamic drumming. The lead is taken in the main by David Maurin's busy acoustic guitar playing; yes no electric guitar here. He really is a fantastic player. The album alternates between sublime beauty and moments of musical tension and explosive power to make for an overall captivating sound. The production is excellent with lots of space in the mix, each player having ample opportunity to shine.
I haven't discussed individual tracks as this is an album to listen and to take in as whole and some of the best instrumental music I have heard in years. The only question is whether it's better than their 2003 debut, Reification. Buy them both and make up your own mind. Brilliant stuff, nothing less than 5 stars will do!

Paul Fowler

SYRINX continue to play dark atmospheric music that is very detailed and intricate. Once again the acoustic guitar leads the way supported by some great drum and bass work. I swear there's mellotron on here as well as a variety of keyboards.This is all-instrumental by the way. Same lineup as what was on the debut which includes the Maurin brothers from NIL and early THORK.
"Liber Nonacris" is the almost 20 minute opening track. I hesitate to describe each song as i usually do because there is so much going on and the songs are never standing still but constantly evolving. Again dark and atmospheric describes their sound well with the acoustic guitar being ever-present. It sounds like mellotron 2 minutes in with synths to follow. I like when it kicks in fairly heavily after 11 minutes as bass throbs and mellotron storms in while drums pound. Great section.The calm sections are just as good though. Floods of mellotron after 16 minutes. Nice. A full sound with drums 18 minutes in. Some electric guitar too which wasn't on the debut.
"Acheiropoites" is haunting to start as flute comes in. A fuller sound after 3 1/2 minutes with drums and bass. It builds to an intense sound 6 minutes in. Fantastic ! A calm returns 8 minutes in. "Le Grand Dieu Pan" is heavy to open with organ. A haunting calm follows. Piano then takes over followed by cello at 2 minutes. It becomes brighter 3 minutes in and the tempo picks up. It settels with flute before 5 minutes. Guitar takes over before 6 1/2 minutes. I like when the organ returns,synths follow. Great sound(dark & heavy) when it kicks back in 11 1/2 minutes in. "Le Vingt-Et- Unieme Cercle" sounds so good. The kind of song to drift away in. Mellotron 3 minutes in followed by a heavier sound. Gorgeous track. It builds to an explosive sound after 5 minutes.
Tough to pick a favourite between the first two albums but for me "Reification" is still the better one. I would highly recommend you get them both though.This is just amazing music to listen to in the dark with headphones on.

John Davie

Por favor, los que no escucharon este disco, no se les ocurra morirse sin conocer esta banda. Super - recontra - recomendadísimo.

http://www.myspace.com/levingtiemecercle
http://syrinx-aeon.com/