Almadies by Franz Kirmann

Franz Kirmann returns to Bytes for his eighth solo album, available exclusively on Bandcamp from October 29 on cassette and download (released on all platforms on November 5). The “Almadies” are long wooden boats used by Senegalese fishermen. It is also the name of the neighborhood where Franz grew up, in the suburbs of Dakar near the Atlantic Ocean.

"These new compositions are the result of sound experiments conducted over the past few months and reflections on the concept of mind-constructed geographies," Kirmann explains. "The way memories and souvenirs shape an image of a place or country that is part reality, part fantasy, part cliché, yet also deeply personal. This experience is influenced by education, social background, history, and other socio-economic factors."

The ten tracks are crafted from collages of electronic sounds blended with field recordings from various places Kirmann has visited — from Dakar to the Caribbean, as well as London and Paris. His aim is to blur the line between electronically generated sounds and real soundscapes, creating music where it becomes difficult to distinguish the real from the constructed.

All the sounds on the album were produced using synthesizers and field recordings. No drum machines, percussion or traditional acoustic instruments were used.

franzkirmann.net
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