Francisco Meirino - Anthems For Unsuccessful Winners

REVIEWS

In Vital Weekly

As this is Swiss composer Francisco Meirino’s fourth album on Misanthropic Agenda, I am sure I missed one or two; I probably missed a few more overall, which is sad as I continue to like his work. He started as a laptop artist under the name of Phroq, but when he began using his own name, his music became more of a thing of his own. One essential new ingredient in his work is the use of what he calls ‘the end of life of electronic devices’, which indeed calls for exciting sounds, bursting and cracking, the last breath of a machine. You could also see that as a statement, about the state of our society, about ecological matters. I don’t know if these things matter to Meirino. He also uses ” electrostatic noise, magnetic fields and the unconventional use of music hardware and sound systems”, which translates as “the modular synthesizer (Eurorack-Serge), various microphones, the computer, the field recorder, tape recorders and tape echoes, EMF detectors and various home-made electro-acoustic devices”. In his work, Meirino uses the cut-up technique, brutal cuts, to make abrupt changes to the scenery. 

Also mentioned is “Meirino explores sonic tension and boredom, questioning the simplicity and complexity of the mundane with bursts of clarity that redefine existence itself”, which seems a bit much, redefining existence itself. Still, there is certainly some weight to his music. Meirino uses ‘heavy’ sounds. In the opening piece, ‘Something Always Remains’, some Zeitkratzer-like sounds of string instruments are plucked manually and mechanically but then slowly opened, and later, sounds become sparse. There is a more acoustic treatment of acoustic sounds (drum?). 

The computer plays the all-defining role here; minor details are amplified, cut away, and reversed, and open microphones pick up sounds from speakers, adding natural spatial quality to the music. Sometimes, it almost sounds like it is played in your living room. While some of this is quite loud and abrasive, I don’t think Meirino is interested in playing the noise card. His music often sinks to barely audible, but it picks up the volume again and can quickly grow into massive, intense work. Minimalism plays a primary role, but never too long. Sometimes, his work reminded me of Dave Philips and Rudolf Eb.er, sharing a love for solid amplification of the slightest sounds but less feral and more from acoustic objects and electronic manipulations. 

These four pieces span nearly an hour’s worth of music, each about fifteen minutes long. It is long and heavy, yet there isn’t any moment of boredom in the music. It leaves you somewhat exhausted behind, but I found this ultimately rewarding experimental music. Exactly as I like them: complex, loud, engaging, quiet and created with great care and consideration. 

(FdW)

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In Loop Music Magazine

Francisco Meirino is a Spanish sound artist based in Switzerland who has been active since 1994 creating a musical proposal that combines the use of sound design software and the end of the useful life of electronic devices.

His discography includes more than 70 albums alone and in collaboration with other artists such as Jason Kahn, Bob Bellerue, Matthias Gustafson, Jérôme Noetinger, Laurent Güdel, Antoine Chessex and Lasse Marhaug, among other musicians. He has performed more than 150 live performances in various venues and festivals in Europe, Japan and North America.

“A Perpetual Host” – fourth album on Misanthropic Agenda -, consists of four electroacoustic pieces ranging from bursts of abrasive noises and moments close to silence, and the agony of the electronic devices, created with the use of a modular synthesizer, several contact microphones, computer, field recorder, among other electroacoustic devices, tapes.

In “Something Always Remains” that opens this album, Meirino displays an array of metallic elements producing a rattle for several minutes until it ends, then moving on to inaudible microscopic pieces as if they were transported through electromagnetic fields, while granular noises emerge from time to time, glitches, among others. “Fathers” features processed vocals, found object recordings, and digital clicks. “You Are Here And There Is No Cure For That” contains the strumming of strings, along with spaces of silence that are interrupted by abstract noises and tapes in reverse.

“There Is Nothing For Us Here” oscillating noises mix with the rubbing of metallic elements unfolding vast drones.

Francisco Meirino develops dying, tiny sounds, and at the same time occupies the spatiality of his immediate surroundings.

(Guillermo Escudero)

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In Actu Musique RTS (+ Audio in french)

Quatrième album studio solo de l’artiste lausannois Francisco Meirino, "A Perpetual Host" est sorti fin janvier 2024 sur le label Misanthropic Agenda. Une plongée profonde dans l’histoire personnelle de l’artiste qui combine à travers quatre morceaux des textures complexes d’une précision remarquable, un large panoramique spatial ainsi qu’une narration quasi radiophonique. Anne Gillot nous emmène dans l’atelier de l’artiste à la place des Terreaux à Lausanne pour y découvrir son "instrumentarium" fait de synthétiseur modulaire, de divers microphones, ordinateur, enregistreur de terrain, magnétophones et échos de bande, détecteurs de champs électromagnétiques et divers dispositifs électroacoustiques faits maison, quelques instruments à cordes dénichés dans des brocantes ainsi qu’une auto-harpe d’occasion.

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IN Muisques d’Avenir (RST2) PODCAST : 1 hour interview on Swiss national radio (in french)

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in This is darkness

A Perpetual Host is Francisco Meirino’s fourth full-length, solo studio album on the Misanthropic Agenda label, and is described as “A deep dive into personal loss and the banalities of life and art, A Perpetual Host captures the raw, solitary, and often acerbic extremes that drive creation.” It’s a fitting description, because the music here is focused on ‘sonic failures’ (such as electrostatic noise) and utilises field recordings to create music that is designed to challenge. This is one of those albums where each and every listen delivers something new and rewards multiple plays. Highly recommended for fans of the experimental / electronic side of the genre!