Carlos Suárez Plays Both Ends of the Spectrum (MP3s)

Metáforas do tempo by Carlos Suárez ranges from mechanized piano that sounds like mellow Conlon Nancarrow (“Catro danzas macabras para piano”) to rhythmic melanges of found audio (the upbeat title track, the fireside atmospherics of “Memento homo”). The keepers are when Suárez is at either his most or least chaotic. “Sic transit gloria mundi” (MP3) is a heavily orchestrated mix of celebratory drumming, chanting, pneumatic percussion, and industrial grind, but what makes it is the central riff of unidentifiable soundstuff, and the constant flux of tiny samplets that fill in the spaces between the various major elements. Quite the opposite, “Alegoría do poder” (MP3) is a haunting expanse of low-end rumbles and eerie dissonance. Eventually it gains steam, but temporarily, and more as a singular mass of sound than the ecstatic hodgepodge of its contrasting track.

Get the full release, 10 tracks, at alg-label.com.