If God existed He would be a handyman!* Iannis Xenakis
Gilles Sivilotto is a handyman in the very Xenakian sense. All the music on this release is handmade, using an electronic pencil to draw every single waveform of the music. This is demanding and long work, taking months to get a few minutes finished. Sivilotto though has developed an unbelievable precision and differentiation: he is able to anticipate how his wave forms will sound! Handmade electronic music! As Xenakis stated: What is obtained by calculation always has limits. It lacks inner life, […] The hand, itself, stands between randomness and calculation. It is both an instrument of the mind – so close to the head – and an imperfect tool. The hand adds inner richness and charm! … adjustments that cannot be controlled in their totality.* And concluded: If God existed He would be a handyman!
Coming from a Mediterranean fishing family, Sivilotto is familiar with daily manual labour. He is used to monotonous work processes and enthusiastic enough to follow his wide open ears, shaping his music with the physicality of his hands. Modestly dedicating most of his time to this Sisyphus work, hidden in his studio at Montparnasse in Paris, Sivilotto’s music is almost unknown and a true discovery!
His work is convincing enough for internationally acclaimed musicians – such as zeitkratzer and the voice virtuoso Isabelle Duthoit - to transform Sivilotto’s electronic output into instrumental and vocal music, another dimension of sensuality that can well coexist with the originals!
A true musical listening adventure that allows you to compare the electronic versions of the music with their concert hall derivates. And there is no need to judge between them, as they both show their own independent richness and beauty. Listen!
* Iannis Xenakis, “Xenakis on Xenakis,” interview with Roberta Brown and John Rahn, Perspectives of New Music 25, 1 (1987), 23.