Stéphane Clor - Exarcheia-Εξάρχεια

Released: January 23

This latest work from Stéphane Clor is just as much an immersive experience as it is an album. The basis of this work is something of an audible diary of his stay in the Exárcheia district of Athens during a two month residency. It features several alternating motifs throughout its runtime that tell a fragmented story of his stay that incorporate field recordings, classical instruments, and a variety of self-assembled objects and effects. The album opens up with a recording of what sounds much like a train station with the announcement of an arriving or departing train, a departure point from which Clor takes us into his string-based compositions. 

In regard to the string-centered compositions, Clor opts for a a seemingly gentle kind of simplicity in these efforts. “Sirens” and “petite suite” being the first two of these works as they set this theme early on with the latter being especially sparse with harshly plucked strings running through a crude but impactful spring reverb of sorts. It has such a beautifully raw quality to it that it is impossible to not listen as closely as possible the absorb all of the texture it has to offer. But on the subject of texture, the next track take things in a somewhat unexpected but strangely appropriate direction as “ventil” ventures deep into atmospheric drones and nosies with steadily growing and gnawing buzz. It takes the album in a darker and further abstract direction, if only for a brief moment. Afterward, the plucked strings return with the accompaniment of a piccolo cello on “la locomotive.”

The album goes back and forth eloquently from the environmental immersions into the physical surroundings of the author to the gentle plucked and bowed strings and then into further abstract noises that defy melody and harmony altogether. It’s masterfully woven together and makes for a captivating narrative, really bringing to life the subjective experiences of the author effectively and emotively.