Carme López - Quintela (2024) [Hi-Res]

The first experimental work for Galician bagpipe, 'Quintela' is an ambitious exploration of an instrument we're obsessed with, its naturally startling tuning evoking othered sensations few other instruments hit the same way, We've said it before and we'll say it again, there can never be enough experimental bagpipe music. Misunderstood by many, the instrument should be an obvious friend to anyone interested in peculiar tunings, but it's still on the fringes of acceptability, for whatever reason. Thankfully, Spanish composer and teacher Carme López, who's an expert in traditional oral music from Galicia, has focused her attention on the Galician bagpipe, or gaita, on 'Quintela'. She was motivated to bring it into experimental music as a form of decontextualisation, moving away from its unimaginative usage in different genres and its negative traditional associations. Her skill lies in tempering its wail; playing the bagpipes isn't easy, and fashioning the drones into soft, wavering tones, like López manages on the spellbinding 'iii: AVÓS. a Pepe E Manuela', is deviously difficult. In López's hands, the bagpipe becomes a pipe organ, able to create long, swaying sustained tones that highlight the instrument's complex tonality. She plays with its breathy overtones on 'i: QuÉ? a Betty Chaos', placing microphones on the bag to pick up accidental sounds while she sculpts its squeals into cavernous siren calls, extracting rhythms from its reeds on the elegiac closer 'iv: CACHELOS. a César De Farbán'.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Carme López - Prologue: Cando a Pena Me Mata, a Alegría Dame Alento (3:33)
1.02 - Carme López - I: QuÉ? a Betty Chaos (8:33)
1.03 - Carme López - Ii: MATICOLO. Aos Cans da Casa: Piri, Sil, Duma E Mouri (9:33)
1.04 - Carme López - Iii: AVÓS. a Pepe E Manuela (7:21)
1.05 - Carme López - Iv: CACHELOS. a César De Farbán (7:13)
1.06 - Carme López - Epilogue: Inflorescencia (3:49)