This acousmatic gem by French composer Benjamin Aït-Ali was released at the end of 2020, and it’s as engaging as anything I’ve heard this year.
There are many electroacoustic and acousmatic composers active today, including in my old hometown, who are of stunning quality, but Benjamin offers something a bit different to my ears. There’s a nostalgic sound involved, almost as if he were cutting and splicing these sounds together by hand. I don’t know his compositional or recording technique, of course, but there are warm pops and cracks throughout the recording. It’s truly cinema for the ears.
