These are the first four volumes of the Objective Composition Method series (M.C.O.) by Victor Nubla. He is known for his work with Macromassa, a group that started back in 1976. In 1980 Nubla started a solo career and he has released a massive corpus of his own work under his own name. He founded his Laboratorio de Musica Desconocida (Unknown Music Laboratory) and worked in improvisation, electronic experiments, soundscape, instalations and music for cinema, video, theatre and contemporary dance. With these four cds Nubla presents an aspect of his work that is the result of several years (1997-1999) of experimentation with the socalled Objective Composition Method. What this method implies is best explained by Nubla himself:  "I was trying to find the answer as to what could be the best way to obtain the widest possible range of sound sources. Although there are few answers around the subject I decided that radio waves could be the closest possible sound source library available at hand. Even if all the sounds of the world are not on the radio waves at least they come from all over the world. Once the decision was made on the sound sources, I proceeded on to the next step which was to disconnect the loudspeaker in order to not to listen to the incoming sounds from the short wave radio thus avoiding the temptation of 'choosing'. This in turn allowed me to pick up 'unconsciously' any possible incoming sound or not sound, be it frequencies, noises, hisses or whatever it was that was out there fluctuating in the radio waves. Working with short wave radio I had access to hundreds of radio stations around the planet as well as interferences, flapping noises including the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) or 'Big Bang's echo'. Essentially this is how the Objective Composition Method (MCO) was born in 1989." He uses a multiband recorder, sampler, multitrack recorder, dat and headphones in the following subsequent operations: 1. determination of pychic fields, 2. exact obtaining of risky samples; 3. generation of loops and sequences; 4. irreversible mix. For Nubla it is absolutely not important what he has sampled. Important is only that the samples are taking from the radio. It is not important where the samples come from. They are 'bits of reality' abstracted from their context. They function as basic elements for Nubla to construct his own world. He is not interested in a conscious process of selecting soundmaterial. He searches for a unconscious and emotive response to the material. Loops, repetition, speed are the structuring elements used by Nubla that are very obvious for me as a listener. But probably he uses more techniques. His music is not complex, instead it has a minimalistic simpelness that works

(Dolf Mulder, Vital Weekly)
 

Victor Nubla, un artista legendario en el panorama de la innovación musical europea, demuestra una vez más su gran imaginación para crear ambientes sonoros surrealistas que al mismo tiempo parecen tan reales como la vida misma. Fusionando a la perfección melodías inquietantes con construcciones sonoras basadas en fuentes muy diversas, las siete piezas son como siete sueños o pesadillas capturadas mágicamente en formato de audio. Todo el álbum está impregnado de un atractivo aire de misterio, no exento de romanticismo melancólico, y en el que también aparecen toques psicodélicos y minimalistas.

(Jorge Munnshe, Amazing Sounds  No. 122)

VICTOR NUBLA: HAMMERHEAD: THE SECRET JOURNEY OF ELIDAN MARAU THRU THE MILKY SEA (mCD by Testing Ground)

A disquieting, imaginative CD including two tracks of six and thirteen minutes. Victor Nubla is able to surpass barriers and shape music alien to any conventionalism, and without falling into sterile experimentation. Both
Pieces have a mysterious character, oniric, surreal, where sound collages and audio distortion take an important role. "The voices of ancient travellers" has an intentionally machine-like rhythm, robotic, as if it were made by a
machine in a factory. "The voices under the sea" is a slow theme, though it is not static, but rather turbulent, like the wild waters of an ocean struck by a raging storm.

(Edgar Kogler, Amazing Sounds)

VICTOR NUBLA: SEVEN HARBOUR SCENES (CD by Hronir)
VICTOR NUBLA: HAMMERHEAD: THE SECRET JOURNEY OF ELIDAN MARAU THRU THE MILKY SEA (mCD by Testing Ground)

O catalão Victor Nubla tem um percurso curioso: clarinetista muito influenciado pela livre-improvisação, o “krautrock”, o minimalismo, o pós-industrialismo e o punk, uma doença muscular obrigou-o a abandonar os seus instrumentos de eleição e a concentrar-se na electrónica. O seu Método de Composição Objectiva acrescentou-se aos demais conceitos do sampling, diferenciando-se dos movimentos “plunderphonics” e plagiarista pelo facto de não lhe interessar de onde provém a “amostra” samplada (Nubla usa um sistema sampler-rádio que retira os samples das ondas hertzianas sem ele saber previamente do que se trata). Para além disso, o tratamento em tempo real que faz desses materiais torna irreconhecível a sua origem. «Seven Harbour Scenes» e o miniCD «Hammerhead...» seguem esta linha sem quaisquer preocupações demonstrativas, ao contrário da M.C.O. Series, e posso dizer que são os seus melhores trabalhos desde a extinção dos lendários Macromassa.

(Rui Eduardo Paes)

Victor Nubla is one of the old blokes on the Spanish experimental scene, being involved in the Gracia Territori Sonor Label, aswell as what he seems his own label, Hronir. On the latter a new full length CD by him appeared in what is called the MCO series, but I must admit I am clueless what the MCO series is, but the cover says 'recorded at The Hronir Factory on an MCO unit' - so there you go. Nubla's CD 'Seven Harbour Scenes' does indeed have seven pieces. The first two display a firm interest in very deep ambient music, but in the other five there is also interest in using samples of instruments such as guitars, orchestras, voices. These pieces too display his interest in ambient music, but it's altogether a more lively, and less static thing. Maybe the whole thing reflects life in the harbour: from the washes of water to live in the small cafe and moments of loneliness after drinking too much (such as in the more desolate song 'After The Auction'). Very personal music, personal music for a personal film.
Volume six in this series (the other one is volume seven, mind you) is also by Victor Nubla, but is released by Testing Ground. The two pieces here also deal with samples, but also with voices. The first one, "The Voice Of Ancient Travellers" is rhythmic with small pulses and cut up voice samples. The second one, "The Voices Under The Sea", is a more alienated piece. The voices, choir like, start out loudly but as the piece evolves sink more and more in the sea of sound. With it's small changes, this is a very nice piece. 

(Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly,  number   316)

Recorded in Northern Spain, About Breathing brings together Victor Nubla (Macromassa) with Robin Storey (Rapoon and Zoviet France). This collaboration of live source recordings and samples, examines a variety of source materials and ambient sinewaves. This CD dances in Sourhwest Asian rhytm and distorted wind instrumentation, recycling sound like breath in the track “Exhalation of Stars”, a striking 22 minute-long masterpiece. At times sonic, the wash of reverberation is an austere archetype of futuristic skylines. 

( TJNorris Reviews)

ROBIN STOREY & VICTOR NUBLA: ABOUT BREATHING (CD by Soleilmoon)

From the subterranean world of dark ambient music comes this powerful collaboration between England's Robin Storey (a.k.a. Rapoon) and Spain's Victor Nubla. Both men have been active in  several art forms since the industrial movement began in the late '70s; Storey as a founding member and designer for Zoviet France, and Nubla as a member of Macromassa and artist/curator for gallery installations and work in radio, theatre and film. Both artist's musical modus operandi involves manipulation of sound and for their first collaboration they choose to start with environmental recordings made in Canfestis, outside of Barcelona in Northern Spain. Like the music of Rapoon, the processed waves of sound create new psychological spaces like the winds along the Mediterranean coast that shaped the strange landmarks that so inspired Salvador Dali. Shortwave radio samples and some wind instruments are also used, as disembodied voices and pipey echoes of Joujouka drift amidst their unique soundscapes. The CD is dedicated to former Torontonian Salvador Francesch, whose Tibetan Red CD was released by Nubla's label, and who I suspect was the catalyst in the meeting of these two fine artists. 

(Chris Twomey)

Now, I suppose Robin Storey is a well-known name, but rather, maybe, from the disguise he uses as Rapoon. Once a member of Zoviet*France, but since ten years or so, working solo as Rapoon. He's responsible for some of the more darker ambient music, using rhythms that either sound like factories or ethnics (a sharp contrast, but a possible one). Occassionally he works with other people and here it is Victor Nubla, another long standing voice of experimental music, but not as known as Storey. They recorded this work in the North of Spain and use whatever sound they found on the spot. Ambient sounds, field recordings and short wave manipulations. Soundwise, I think, they stay closer to Rapoon's sound then Nubla's music. And to be more precise, I think they go back to the early Rapoon. Strong ambient fields of sounds swirling in and out of the mix and is like breathing itself: sounds gets sucked in and sucked out. Like an eternal flow. Sometimes with a driving, almost industrial rhythm that goes back to the ancient Zoviet France days. Powerful ambient from two strong voices. 

(Frans de Waard - Vital Weekly)

About Breathing is the result of a collaboration between Robin Storey (of Rapoon and :zoviet*france:) and Victor Nubla (of Macromassa) that took place in Canfestis in Northern Spain. They gathered some sounds from the location (field recordings, ambience, shortwave radio, etc.), manipulated and processed these sounds into new structures to use as sample loops and phrases, then used this new material as the basis for a live recording session. The result is an intoxicating and difficult journey into experimental dark ambient territories. The thick, opaque ambience and densely layered loops weigh heavily on the listening space; they fill every crack in the walls, they usurp every breath of air, and if you close your eyes, you might fall asleep, being lulled and rocked by the cadence of the loops which is impossible to ignore, and slip into this otherworld of surreal sound and strange nightmares. And yet these loops are often imperfect, interrupted, disrupted by sharp edits or hiccups in time, a change in direction, a new set of sounds, ideas, visions. The CD features seven tracks in all with a total run time of just over 66 minutes, and in the centre of it all lies the fourth piece titled "Exhalation of Stars": over twenty minutes in length and the probably strongest piece in the collection, with its continually evolving palette and distinctive sound. Recommended for those looking for a portal, a temporary escape into a dark, complex and immensely imaginative terrain.

 [Richard di Santo - Incursion Music Review, issue 056]
 

C’est lors d’un voyage en Espagne que le casanier Robin Storey a participé à ce magnifique travail sur l’air et les ondes. Evoquant parfois ses années de concentration sur les boucles au sein de :Zoviet*France: et sous le nom de Rapoon, ces compositions on eté réalisées à partir de sons trouvés sur place (fiels recordings, ondes radio, etc.). Loin d’un esprit documentaire, About Breathing est un travail éminentment poétique, tant la mise en boucle et le traitement opérés par le duo sont au service d’une musuqie ambiante tout en circunvolutions. Imaginant peut-être la vie des éléments gazeux dans l’espace interminable du réseau aérien, Storey et Nubla se sont faits les metteurs en scène de souffles et de nappes, orangés souvent comme des chants lointains. Dans ce paysage fragile ou les strates changent de position sans prévenir, tout équilibre est précaire. On marche sur le tapis volant, d’étage en étage, d’un signal binaire cadencé à une vague de lumière pure en passant par des tissages d’harmoniques insaisissables (jusqu’a des motifs de guitare, flûte et orgue et un roulement rythmiqque des boucles sur le dernier morceau). Dans leurs mouvements, tous ces éléments montrent fièrement leurs ailes, leur aisance dans les airs. Pourtant, leur densité rappelle souvent leur effort d’élevation et, pourtant, celle des musiciens. la volonté de ces Icare modernes en sera pas éprouvée par la séduction du soleil. Car l’ensoleillement est pratiquement absent de ce disque. De l’aube (Dawn in Can Festis) au crépuscule (Twilight in Can Festis), les courts échos des sons aigus et les étouffements des nappes basses sont les signes d’une musique résolument mélacolique, belle et fragile comme une respiration.

(Denis Boyer, Fear Drop # 10)
 

O ex-Macromassa tem em «Antichton» a sua opus magnum, tendo-lhe Victor Nubla dedicado cinco anos de trabalho. Nesta suite em dez partes gravada ao vivo em Fevereiro de 2001 teve a participação de um surpreendente punhado de músicos e artistas sonoros de várias origens, como Robin Storey (Rapoon, Zoviet France), Pascal Comelade (esse mesmo, o dos instrumentos de brinquedo!), Kasper T. Toeplitz, Francisco López, Io Casino e Anton Ignorant (também saído dos lendários Macromassa, grupo industrial catalão), entre outros. Uma orquestra electroacústica para uma obra épica que é uma celebração da electroestática radiofónica, ou melhor, das vibrações electromagnéticas que se apanham nas camadas mais altas da atmosfera, vindas de algures no universo, e são conduzidas para o transistor que temos à cabeceira da cama. Ou para os aparelhos que muitos destes manipuladores de ruídos tinham ligados aos seus samplers. Música das esferas, então? Não anda longe disso, assim como constituem um facto as referências mais ou menos directas ao rock cósmico alemão dos anos 70.

(Rui Eduardo Paes)

Victor Nubla és un d’aquells que no es poden estar quiets ni un segon. Prolífic com ben pocs, l’aventurer compositor barceloní també té la virtut de no repetir-se i d’estar obrint portes noves constantment. En aquest nou lliurament discogràfic Nubla recupera l’actuació que va protagonitzar a l’Espai de la Generalitat el febrer del 2001: una cosa així com una carta blanca d’aquelles que només et toquen una vegada, ja que va comptar amb deu acompanyants, entre els quals sobresurten Pascal Comelade, Anton Ignorant, Io Casino i el trio Babel Agatha. Música de sensacions canviants que navega entre el conegut i el purament imaginat. Segurament, l’obra més asequible de Nubla en els últims temps i alhora una de les més reconfortants

(Miquel Jurado, El País)

Victor Nubla, Pascal Comelade, Io Casino, Anton Ignorant, Evru abans Zush, Babel Agatha,... Difícilment pot trobar-se una reunió de músics de tal magnitud i provinents de camps de la música actual tan aparentment allunyats i al mateix temps tan imprescindibles per entendre allò que coneixem com la música del nostre temps.* Òpera-concepte de soroll i màgia, humanitat i confusió, nous secrets i coneixement antic. Electrònica, experimental, skratch amb efectes, línies melòdiques agradables trencades, temes entrellaçats, exploració sonora, tenebrositat amb delicadesa, descàrregues electro-sòniques, loops orquestrals, agressivitat i incomoditat sonora en màxima potència, aconseguint entrar a l’espai atemporal, joc aleatori de melodies radiofòniques, essències índús, trip hop experimental amb un ritme aparentment desaparegut, solapació infinita de loops, juguen amb el contratemps, es quadren i es desquadren (aleatòriament?), ritmes pseudo-sincopats, apareix el techno (tribalitat primitiva).

(Falcó Nocturn, Nativa #7)

VICTOR NUBLA: ANTICHTON (CD by Hronir / Gliptoteka Magdalae)

Repetitive, almost minimal melodic motives displayed along developments where the orderly progressively introduces small doses of noise and darker atmospheres. Collective gathering various backgrounds sharing a constant rhytmic undercurrent permeating the whole of the work as an endless flow.

(modisti.com, June 2003)

VICTOR NUBLA: ANTICHTON (CD by Hronir / Gliptoteka Magdalae)

Motivos melódicos repetitivos, casi minimal, desplegados en desarrollos donde lo ordenado introduce pequeñas dosis de ruido y atmósferas más oscuras. Colectivo que aúna diversos bagages en torno a una corriente rítmica constante, subterránea, que parece permear la totalidad de la obra como una marea interminable.

(modisti.com)

Para escenificar Antichton, una suite grabada en directo a principios del 2001, se rodeó Victor Nubla de un vistoso y selecto elenco de amigos, excepcionales colaboradores como Robin Storey, Pascal Comelade, Kasper T. Toeptliz, Francisco López, lo Casino y Anton Ignorant entre otros. De no conoccer a Nubla, bastaría este hecho para entrar en su nuevo disco por ahí, es decir inspeccionando lo que da de si tal reunión de iconaclastas; pero el interés lo acapara la propia composición, dividida en diez partes y sin duda lo más lirico que su autor ha columbrado hasta la fecha. Como la calma que sucede a una tormenta que no acaba de disiparse, con el fragor de los truenos todavía aubible en la lejania, Antitchton lo componen lluviosas evocaciones de Satie, nubosidades kosmische, abstracciones ruidistas y episodios concréte, dictados de algún modo por las peculiaridades del invitado que le tocaba en suerte a cada pieza pero inconfundiblemente nubláicas en su esóterica constitución. 

(Jaime Gonzalo, Ruta 66)

VICTOR NUBLA: ANTICHTON (CD by Hronir / Gliptoteka Magdalae)

Victor Nubla es uno de esos talentos que, a contracorriente, ha construído un territorio sonoro único, ubicado en Gràcia (barrio de Barcelona) y lo que es mejor, lo ha llevado más allá de nuestras fronteras para, con el tiempo, hacer de su barrio un lugar de encuentros de lenguajes y discursos musicales de todo el mundo. Pero vayamos por partes, en primer lugar resultaría imposible reducir el currículum de Nubla en cuatro líneas, así que recordémoslo junto a Macromassa (junto a Juan Crek y Anton Ignorant), al lado de Zush o de Pascal Comelade... y de una lista interminable que los días 7 y 8 de febrero de 2001, acudieron a su cita con Nubla en el escenario de L'Espai de Barcelona para interpretar Antichton, una exultante muestra de melodías, sonidos y sensibilidades que supusieron el regreso a los escenarios de nuestro país de este nómada musical que, durante buena parte de los 90, ha estado trabajando más fuera que en su propia casa. Antichton es una joya de difícil catalogación pero de extrema belleza. En ella conviven melodia y ruido, silencio y ritmo, emoción y aventura, improvisación e inspiración. Un documento irrepetible.

(Jordi Turtós, Efe Eme, marzo 2003)

Grabado en directo en l’Espai de Barcelona Antichton es el nuevo trabajo con que el prolífico Victor Nubla vuelve a la palestra. Planteada a modo de obra coral, las aportaciones de su ristra interminable de invitados de lujo -Robin Storey, P. Comelade, K.T.Toeplitz, F. López, Zush, Io Casino, A. Ignorant o Babel Agatha entre otros-, acaban constituyendo motivación principal y elemento constructor del entramado en el que el mismo Nubla ocupa los papeles de protagonista y mediador entre las consecutivas apariciones de sus colaboradores. Soberbio en su casi totalidad, con momentos de excepcionalidad su atrayente leitmotiv marca cada momento con una diferente personalidad, generadora de un hilo contínuo narrativo que no acapara limitaciones; uniendo con naturalidad lirismo, atmósferas turbulentas o neblinas de ruido  en una buscada e imposible coherencia. Fascinante y a la vez disperso, estamos ante otro ejemplo de iconoclastia tan típica de su autor.

(Francesc Feliu, Mondo Sonoro)

The spanish labels Gracia Territori Sonor, Hrönir and Snapping the Other History joined themselves together under the name of Gliptoteka Magdalae. The three labels want to work together under one and the same umbrella concerning distribution, press, lay-out, etc.
Victor Nubla needs no further introduction I suppose. This veteran started in 1976 as a member of Macromassa. Over the years he built up a gigantic oeuvre, most of it solo-work if I'm right. 'Antichon' his latest work, was live recorded on february 7th and 8th 2001 at the l'Espai Hall in Barcelona. An ensemble of 12 musicians play some new compositions of veteran Victor Nubla. To name a few: Kasper T.Toeplitz, Pascal Comelade, Francisco Lopez, Io Casino. I think it is unique for Nubla to record a work with so many musicians involved.
'Antichton' is a suite in 10 parts and reflects the work and progress of Nubla of the last five years. The first part reminded me lot of his older work. A cyclic electronic piece with voice.
All in all I needed several listenings before I began to appreciate this work. Not that it is complex and unintelligble. On the contrary, the pieces are very accessible, moody and atmospheric. Collages of sounds and music picked up from the radio mixed up with samplers, bass, tapes, synthesizer, etc, etc. But without any significance that strikes you immediately 

(Dolf Mulder, Vital Weekly 368, april 2003)

VICTOR NUBLA: ANTICHON (CD by Hrönir / Gliptoteka Magdalae)

Dinamizador cultural, organitzador,ambaixador de les veus que sonen diferent... però, per damunt de tot, Victor Nubla és músic: empaita sons, els imagina i els perfila amb clarinet o sense, amb sampler o sense, sol o acompanyat. Antichton és un tast de les músiques de Nubla dels darrers anys. Tensions, dinàmiques, insistències, densitats... Mons i sobretot submons, afloren desihibits sota la influència de la galàxia Nubla. Nubla i amics, hauriem de dir, perquè al concert, enregistrat en directe a l'Espai, hi participen ànimes afins com Comelade, Io Casino, Robin Storey i fins a deu músics de procedències ben diverses. Irrepetible.

(David Picó, Avui - rock & clàssic)

VICTOR NUBLA: ANTICHON (CD by Hrönir / Gliptoteka Magdalae)

Nubla presentó en directo cinco años de trabajo en su estudio junto a la escena más experimental (F. López, Ignorant, Rapoon, Io Casino, Comelade, Zush...), improvisando con instrumentos tradicionales y equipos electrónicos. Antichton -"contratierra", un concepto filosófico procedente de la antigua Grecia- es un festival de electroacústica FX, zumbidos, loops subacuáticos, samples corales y narrativos, y ritmos casi industriales que pasa sin esfuerzo de los pads oníricos a las brasas sintéticas. 

(Héctor Xiqués, Futuremusic)
 

On February 7 and 8, 2001, about ten musicians from different countries performed together music by Victor Nubla at the theatre L'Espai, in the city of Barcelona. This album gathers a selection of the recordings from these two days. Besides Victor Nubla himself  this spectacular avantgarde ensemble staged Nubla's music, already amazing as it is per se, in an absolutely impressive manner. By displaying a formidable complexity, the themes explore numerous experimental areas. and approach unusual ideas one after another 

(Alejandro Hinojosa, Amazing Sounds)

VICTOR NUBLA: ANTICHON (CD by Hrönir / Gliptoteka Magdalae)

Recorded live in 2001 at l'espai hall in barcelona, victor nubla's latest project promises an epic feat, encompassing a truly global vision of modern music. the number of musicians involved in these live shows hints at an impressive breadth of talent and from the opening track suggests that the cohort will harness a cohesive and fulfilling sound out of the disparate elements of samplers, modified clarinets, electric bass, voice and turntables (to name just a few). 
indeed the second track, the moody 'beyrouth '99' seems to set the pace: classical piano creates a determined imprint alongside swathes of reversed sound and tinkling bells. enfolding the listener in slow loops of melody, the track resonates with a kind of karmic warmth, exhibiting no rush to go anywhere. however this lull is deceptive: if its hippy soundscapes you want, you'd better leave the record there, because after the opening track nubla and his musicians change tack, opening up a dissonant world in which trails of sound grind a melancholy dirge, sometimes whirling themselves into a gradual frenzy of inchoate noise. 
'por' rumbles along like the very belly of jabba the hut, with deep, distorted vocal reverberations building to an aggressive collective moan of noise, like tibetan monks in pain. 'radio dream' is like listening to world broadcasts under water, with various signals playing havoc with the reception. 'fernanda lopes' is one of the few tracks that could be considered to be rhythmically satisfying, with tablas and vocal snippets joining drums and other effects to create a robust tribal-sounding jam. 

(Elizabeth Wells, Absorb) 
 

 «Tao Point», de Tibetan Red e Nubla, tem um semelhante grau de espiritualidade, tal como se pode adivinhar pelo pseudónimo escolhido pelo primeiro daqueles criadores. Esta é a versão electrónica das vibrantes massas sonoras produzidas pelas trompas cerimoniais do Tibete, que, segundo os budistas, têm a propriedade de unirem céu e terra. Impressionante.

(Rui Eduardo Paes, feb. 2003)

TIBETAN RED & VlCTOR NUBLA:  TAO POINT (CD by Hronir)

Colaboración de Nubla con el chamánico Tibetan Red publicada tres años después de su grabación, es un manantial de estáticos drones que inducen a una inquieta contemplación pese a que la quietud, la aparente permanencia en un punto de inflexión del que no hay antes ni después, parece ser el eje de rotación desde el que el duo ausculta la colección de orgánicos rumores aqui reunida. 

(Jaime Gonzalo, Ruta 66, marzo 2003)

TIBETAN RED & VICTOR NUBLA: TAO POINT (CD by Hronir)

In Vital Weekly 244 I discussed the CD by Tibetan Red, that had the entire recorded works of that one man band on one CD. But maybe the success of that CD led to recording another one, here in a close collaboration with Victor Nubla, formerly known as one half of Marcomassa and since some time the heart of the more avant-garde music scenes in Barcelona (organising the Gracia Territory Sonor festival). Five pieces are performed here by the two men (there is a picture inside, so I assume these are the artists). Five lenghty pieces - from eight to seventeen minutes. More so then the previous work by Tibetan Red, this deals with dark drone rumbles that move just above and just under the surface of the earth. A contact microphone is stuck in the earth's core and slow shaking foundations of the earth are being taped. Well, it's either that or the use of low bit samples of shortwaves being fed through a couple of cheap effects and taped, especially for it's effect, on a four track. There is certain strange appealling quality to these recordings. A sound that reminds me of the good old 80s, with its low rumble cassettes.
Tibetan Red and Victor Nubla built audible Lopezian works here. Everything is moody  and dark, but at the same time also on an audible level. The dramatic built ups arrive at the end of a piece and can have the same ear splitting result as Lopez in a live situation can have. Captivating drones. Very nice stuff.

(Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly 359)

Victor Nubla ens torna a regalar un altre viatge: Tao Point. En aquesta ocasió ens presenta cinc peces creades conjuntament amb Tibetan Red i enregistrades al Mas Pinoses (Girona) a l'abril del 12000. Per als ignorants de la música experimental, aquest disc els semblarà... una regalada. Mentre l'estava escoltant, em van arribar a dir que semblava el soroll que fa la rentadora, o el que fa la torre de l'ordinador. Està clar que per a la gran majoria d'oïdes, aquest disc serà soroll, i ja està. Per a la immensa minoria de seguidors d'aquest corrent, ens obre la ment a partir de sons industrials, agressius, de vegades quasi imperceptibles, estats de trànsit mental i sonor que aconsegueixen endinsar-nos en una nova dimensiò. Tots hem vist com mediten els monjos budistes, repetició d'oracions i trompetes atonals. Aquí, a occident, es medita amb el soroll.

(Carles Llàcer, Nativa #08)

TIBETAN RED & VICTOR NUBLA: TAO POINT (CD by Hronir)

Superposición de texturas electrónicas vibrantes. Observación microscópica de ciclos estáticos que invitan a sumergirse en un mundo que incluye los extremos del espectro sonoro dentro de unos cortes de color contínuo. El nivel de ampliación hace que la variación interna sea mínima (una nota se torna gesto enorme). Afín a una mirada experimental contemplativa.

(modisti.com)

Pulsating electronic layered textures. Microscopic contemplation of static cycles inviting us to dive into a world encompassing the extremes of sonic spectrum within constant colour tracks. The degree of enlargement causes internal variation to be minimal (a sherr speck turns into a huge gesture). Akin to a contemplative experimental standpoint.

(modisti.com)
 

from the chinese meaning 'right way', the tao is the absolute principle underlying the universe. philosophical taoism emphasizes inner contemplation and mystical union with nature; rather than wisdom and action, the principle of wu-wei espouses letting nature take its course, and this may provide a key to understanding the audioscapes created here by the above artists, which seem to develop according to laws that usually dictate the path of organic life. 
in 'tuslha point' warm pulses of sound envelop you, looping hypnotically until the effect is akin to being in the womb. other sounds join in almost imperceptibly, creating a jangle of different tones, some crystal clear like running your finger over the rim of a glass, until the jangle increases in harshness, threatening to rupture the previous harmony. 
'teesight point' harnesses a portentous rumble, with high-pitched overtones; as it gains force it sounds less like an artificial grouping of sounds than an organic force, gathering menace, like a tornado getting ready to lay waste to the earth. the feeling is uncomfortable: beset with strange low-frequency squeakings, like the crackle of electricity in the air, it is like finding yourself in the middle of a high-pressure storm, when everything goes strangely silent and static in those minutes before it lets rip. the menace builds by degrees until it reaches almost unbearable intensity, bursting finally into a blast of industrial-strength noise. 
by this stage it is obvious that tibetan red and victor nubla are no val doonicans of the techno age: what they create in their tracks are discrete universes, complete with their own climates and eco-systems, fuelled by a strange aura of other-worldliness and a sense of desolation which stretches into eternity. basically their music is incredible and terrifying in equal proportions. it should come with one of those advisory stickers that i could well have done with: don't play this late at night and especially not when you're by yourself. 

(Elizabeth Wells, Absorb) 

TIBETAN RED & VICTOR NUBLA: TAO POINT (CD by Hronir)

A musical collaboration between Tibetan Red and Victor Nubla, carried out on April 2000, which presents the most radical side of their respective styles. Icy industrial music, alien to human nature, as if it were created with bits and
pieces of recordings in non-existent factories. Murmurs of industrial gear lost in the farthest vastness of night in a deserted city. Machineries from Hell working night and day in contless centuries to Eternity.

(Edgar Kogler, Amazing Sounds)
 

Neige, un trabajo fruto de una grabación en directo en el MACBA en mayo de 2002, y que tras la desazonadora portada de Javier Vallhonrat, esconde una sola pista de 36 minutos que se inicia con oscuros acordes orquestales, que lentamente van transformándose en densos paisajes sonoros que capa tras capa y entre tenebrosas brumas, va tejiendo un camino sin retorno hacia la experimentación minimalista más extrema.

(Alfred C. M., Curator Magazine # 6)
 

Victor Nubla’s  barrage of sound images in his last disk Neige immerses us in one of the deepest recesses of the mind. This is a fascinating disc in so far as it delivers us into the very doors of the subconscious mind dragging us in and shutting any possible exit. A single voyage of descend into areas of obscure atmospheres, obsessive circularities and dark tones of brooding electronics as we used to say not long ago. 

Although it begins with a characteristic touch of Nubla’s classical music lyricisms marked by a critical violin sample. Very soon we are led into a sombre zone where new sounds impel us out to enter into an atmosphere of depth and humidity. Breathing becomes an issue while different mutations take place in sample forms. This is a twisting situation ? a neige situation - where the soul regurgitates a calm despair. Several things are happening here, on the one hand we have previous detonations from Nubla’s disc Seven Harbour Scenes. In that disc there is already a marked inclination towards descend, longing, and remote loneliness where Nubla explores and extracts textures from different sources as well as classic music elements, fragmenting and transforming them into precious moments of beauty and transcendence, a carpet of love. And on the other hand  Nubla’s collaboration with Robin Storey (Rapoon) in the disk About Breathing jolted us with a tremendous force of themes about the difficulty and the anguish of breathing. Both efforts marked and delimited very important territories  in  Nubla’s sound language exploration, if more so accentuated by the strength of Robin Storey a master of the unconscious. An essential theme of the disc was the circular obsessions punctuated by a state of mind ruled by rhythm, which generated atmospheres that refused to let go of life and its usual fan of consequences. This translates in the disk as a deep reverence for spiritual situations, and moods of introversion mixed with physical inertia. It was a stand of confrontation to face the demons of existence with gusto. It was Nubla sharing his inner strengths with Storey and both came out winners. 

One step more and Neige comes around in the “same” vein of consciousness - this is one way to describe the possible link in the sound experience which seem to unify the three disks in one continuous mood. In Neige  we find Nubla single handlenly nibbling at the walls of the subconscious mind with sublime passages of anguished Japanese ghosts hanging around the walls as dim lights of guidance. Once we penetrate these areas of obscure breathing and desolated souls we are on our own. The music oscillates between Wagnerian circles punctuated by emerging voices clamouring for existence and warnings of the subconscious mind. Certain regions move with precious grace stirring our emotions into directions beyond the physical plane. There are rumbling corridors exhaling a certain acceptance specially towards the end of the piece when everything seems to return to a calm state of being. This is not an easy disc, for once it demands active listening and more than one take. Best listening time: the hour of the wolf. But its rewards are latent. It present us with an interesting array of sound experiences at times fascinating and at times asphyxiating in a sense that they lead us towards mind regions t inhabiting the outer limits of the dream time, all aspects not devoid of a certain inner beauty. Once again Nubla has sunk his teeth into his own signature of electronic language characterized by thick low sounds, combined with circular motions of organ like tonalities, muted base lines and a surface here and there of lyricism, tainted with romanticism, melancholy and longing. Mark this one.

(Salvador Francesch)