[releases] afe126lcd
k11: waiting for the darkness

Track List:

1.  30 KHz - 9:00 p.m.  12:05

2.  70 KHz - 10:00 p.m.  7:03

3.  300 KHz - 11:00 p.m.  12:00

4.  10 MHz - 00:00 a.m.  7:04

5.  29 MHz - 01:00 a.m.  10:28

6.  Waiting For the Darkness (Video Track)   13:42

Description:

"I dedicate myself to sound study related to the environment, with particular reference to concrete music, to phenomenology of perception and invisible phenomena.

K11 is a project that deals with the world of radio signals, the trans-communication and other invisible phenomena, to create a dimension where the only sound sources are signals from shortwave radio receivers. In this project I use only sounds coming from the atmosphere and from invisible places."

Many music works created by Pietro Riparbelli were released by Radical Matters in Italy during the recent years. A Collaboration he did with the Japanese cyberpunk writer Kenji Siratori was also released by Hypermodern Records.

A K11 work recorded inside the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù - Sicily, Southern Italy - aptly entitled "Voices From Thelema" was published by Aurora Borealis in the United Kingdom during early 2009. More K11 releases were published in 2010 by Boring Machines and Actual Noise.

"Waiting For the Darkness" is K11's first release on Afe, here's a short introduction to the album written by the author:

"Waiting For the Darkness" is the documentation of an action of instrumental transcommunication performed in a forest in 2007. It consists of a video, recorded during the last hours of the day and of five audio tracks composed with short wave radio signals recorded during the action itself.

This work wishes to investigate the dimension of fear and continues the research of Pietro Riparbelli about Instrumental Transcommunication started off with the first action performed within the Abbey of Thelema and documented on the "Voices From Thelema" CD.

"Waiting For the Darkness" was born as an audio-video installation which has been hosted by "PX Piombino Experimenta 04" international sound art festival in collaboration with Influx.

This installation consisted of a video screening happening in a dark room where sixty short wave radio receivers were installed. Each receiver was tuned on a different frequency creating a constantly shifting and chaotic dimension leading to the pure perception of the audio/video representing the instrumental transcommunication action."


Reviews:

"I get the sense that K11 dabbles with some form of personal ritual, although free from occult associations, on "Waiting For the Darkness", an installation art piece which is described as "an action of instrumental transcommunication". Produced entirely with short wave radios and recorded in a lonely forest in the night, this is a disturbing and troubling record of powerful shuffling, hissing and pounding noise that recalls Disinformation when he was at his most powerful manifestation, harnessing the sonic possibilities of pylons and solar emissions. K11 (Pietro Riparbelli) however is interested in something more psychological and wants to "investigate the dimension of fear", and I must admit this atmospheric beauty delivers much more effectively in these areas than any recent Stephen O'Malley project..."
The Sound Projector [more]

"...Only two weeks ago I first heard the name Pietro Riparbelli, a.k.a. K11, with his excellent release recorded with Philippe Petit. K11 works exclusively with radio sounds, but also lots of sound effects. The work here started as an action "of instrumental transcommunication with short wave radio receivers. It was performed in a forest during the night." The five tracks are divided over frequency ranges, 30Khz, 70 Khz, etc. The first two are great textured pieces of ambient industrial sounds. But then "300 Khz - 11:00 p.m." is a pretty noise based affair and I must say I didn't like it that much. In the two pieces that follow the noisy elements slowly disappears, but never is really away, although in "29 Mhz - 01:00 a.m." the noise is just a nice strong wind sound..."
Vital Weekly [more]

"Another Friendly Edition sent us Another Great Release... Performed in the middle of the night, guided by certain frequencies on which transmissions took place, this release does not sound how you now think it will sound. It has nothing to do with detuned radio's or so, it's the opposite! The album consists of minimal noise-drones with sudden found footage and heavily distorted and manipulated themes... One moment Pietro makes the receivers sound like a combination of overdriven, heavily distorted guitars, and at another moment he knows to capture moments of silence and create an isolationist atmosphere..."
Gothtronic [more]

"...Stabilita l'intelaiatura ambientale, di primaria importanza, sussegue un ascolto oltremodo sciamanico, intriso d'oscurità e di sottile livore soprannaturale: strati di suono oblunghi ora più scabri e cinerei ("30 KHz - 9:00 p.m."), ora gravidi di materia concreta ("70 KHz - 10:00 p.m.") sul quale si (s)posa a perfezione la mano pesante di certa architettura harsh-ambient ("300 KHz - 11:00 p.m.") mescolata per gradi con pulviscoli di tenue minimalismo ("10 MHz - 00:00 a.m.", la catacombale imponenza di "29 MHz - 01:00 a.m.")..."
Sound and Silence [more]

"...Pietro Riparbelli offenbart mit "Waiting For the Darkness" ein "kleines" Meisterwerk aus den Stilen Industrial, Noise & (Dark) Ambient, welches zu jeder Sekunde überzeugen mag und spannendes Kopfkino garantiert, wenn man sich bei zunehmender Dunkelheit auf diese imposante Vorführung einlässt – meine absolute Empfehlung!"
Kultur Terrorismus [more]

"...Benchè il progetto sia stato concepito per un'installazione con supporto video, l'album in solitudine non lesina le auspicate sensazioni, con l'irsuta "30 KHz - 9:00 p.m." per buona parte francamente industriale, "70 KHz - 10:00 p.m." che è ideale proseguimento della seconda porzione del pezzo precedente nel generoso dispiego di inquietudine ambientale, riaffrontando impavidamente nuovi eccessi noise nelle componenti power electronics di "300 KHz - 11:00 p.m.", prima che col calare della notte, l'accoppiata finale "10 MHz - 00:00 a.m." / "29 MHz - 01:00 a.m." spaurisca, esondando ombre e mistero..."
Blow Up [more]

"...Pietro sceglie luoghi particolari per procurarsi la materia prima: l'abbazia di Thelema a Cefalù (la casa di Aleister Crowley), la basilica di San Francesco ad Assisi e qui un bosco durante l'intervallo di tempo che va dal crepuscolo a notte fonda... Sembra che le onde corte diano un corpo enorme e pesante a una creatura tre quarti dark ambient e un quarto noise, per cui ne esce un disco solido, sobrio, essenziale e nerissimo, circondato da un'aura di elettricità e attraversato da striscianti inquietudini. Minimalista e profondo come Amon, Caul, Subinterior, con squarci violenti tipo Wolf Eyes, trova in Afe Records l'etichetta ideale..."
Audiodrome [more]

"The packaging for this was deceiving. From the photos of forests and runes that adorn the graphic art I was expecting something in the realm of neo-folk or neo-classical, or even dark ritualistic ambient. What K11 delivers here is quite different and reminds me much more of the recently reviewed Anemone Tube, or the long-ago reviewed Canadian project Nebris. "Waiting For the Darkness" makes a lot more sense after reading the liner notes: "Waiting For the Darkness" is an action of instrumental transcommunication with short wave radio receivers..."
Existence Establishment [more]

"K11 is otherwise known as sound artist Pietro Riparbelli, who prefers to make his music from short wave radio transmission at various locations. This particular release was recorded in a forest at night. It's interesting to note that each track has the frequency used and the recording time listed. So obviously this is a carefully constructed document. And it sounds about as good as most previous experiments using short wave (Philip Best's early Consumer Electronics work notwithstanding...). So an interesting experiment from K11 that might have been fun doing, for sure. The results actually turn out to be quite decent ambient-noise music that (funny enough) work well as night listening..."
Musique Machine [more]

"...Questo lavoro su Afe raccoglie una serie di tracce elaborate partendo da un'istallazione in cui alcuni trasmettitori radio ad onde corte venivano posizionati all'interno di una foresta durante la notte, allora, dopo un titolo del genere e il tema del lavoro, non pensate sia sufficientemente black metal?! Al di là delle battute, se l'appeal al quale non sapete resistere è quello di gente come KTL o i lavori più sperimentale di O'Malley, credo potreste apprezzare questo disco, anche se Riparbelli, per quel che mi riguarda, è molto migliore e di ben altro livello. I drones ed i fruscii di questo "Waiting For the Darkness" si sviluppano molto bene e con una notevole cura del suono e dei particolari, per questo il disco si tiene a distanza dalla dark ambient da film horror di quart'ordine e da quei suoni di synth pacchiani che tutti conosciamo fin troppo bene. Riparbelli sta facendo uscire disco su disco e di qualità mediamente ottima: questo è senza dubbio uno dei suoi migliori lavori degli ultimi tempi..."
Sodapop [more]

"Un video ripreso in una foresta al tramonto e una traccia audio rigorosa e violenta nel riprodurre onde radio e field recordings registrati in quell'epico riappropriarsi della natura. In questo modo Pietro Riparbelli porta a termine un affascinante esperimento di transcomunicazione strumentale producendo cinquanta minuti di sospiri e agghiaccianti testimonianze della crudeltà perpetuate dall'essere umano... "Waiting For the Darkness" ci tiene la mano, la stringe, ci strattona fino a terra spaventandoci terribilmente..."
Dagheisha [more]

"...K11 is the naughtier alter ego of Pietro Riparbelli. While the Italian sound artist releases more serene ambient material under his given name, as K11 he experiments with extremeties. "Waiting for the Darkness" is a quintette of pieces manipulating short wave radio receivers and was first performed in a forest in the middle of the night. Each track title documents the frequency used and time executed – for example, "30 KHz: 9.00 p.m.". The forest setting is appropriate and had we not been informed, we might still have suspected the outdoor setting, as the illusion of wind rushing through the treetops recurs. In fact, the second track gives the impression of being nothing more complicated than a field recording of same. Though of course it is not. "300 KHz: 11:00 p.m." is the most dangerous of the tracks, a mad scientiest's laboratory blowing up piece by piece..."
Sonomu [more]