Or Sobre Blau - Piri Piri Samplers + O Terço dos homens
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£24.00
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Label: Stroom
Format: LP
Country: UK
Released: 2024
Genre: Rock
Style: Experimental
Irresistibly bombed-out blooz and charred string drones via the great in-form Stroom label who pluck out of the air a 2019 cassette from Catalan / UK duo Or Sobre Blau and bolster with new material for a proper release.
A true ode to the guitar and its seemingly infinite capabilities to produce sounds that stir the soul, the Piri Piri Samplers was born out of a shared sense of geographic dislocation, linguistic differences and the desire to find a common functionality. It’s nice to discover the duo consists of Manchester-born Kiran Leonard and Andreu G. Serra aka Ubaldo whose ‘Casa’ LP back in 2020 had us totally bowled over. Their differences in language also translates to their playing style, Leonard more folk / blues informed and lyrical whilst Serra casts thick webs of textural fuzz and melodic clusters, but their telepathic understanding of one another creates something well more than the sum of their parts. It really is the sorta stuff we admittedly lap right up every time, bringing to mind some of our all-time favourite guitar albums - namely Keiji Haino & Loren Connors searing string duets ‘Volume 2’ or that spellbinding Washing Machine cassette from Irma Vep & Jon Collin - there’s obviously some alchemical reaction in our tiny brains when varying textures on guitar collide. The duo really manage to cover a lot of ground throughout, striking the perfect balances between tortured high-lonesome brooding to introspective and impossibly minute finger picking to wheezing basement clatter usually reserved for the likes of Siltbreeze, Xpressway or any of your favourite NZ DIY giants. One that really melts your core, landing at the very best time. (Mint / New)
OR SOBRE BLAU is the duo of Andreu G. Serra [ Ubaldo ] and Kiran Leonard. The project originated in 2017 when the pair lived together in Penha de França, Lisbon, after having moved to Portugal at the same time by chance. Originally from southern Catalonia and north-west England respectively, the two – still today – tend to communicate in a poor garble of Spanish, English, Portuguese and Catalan, which gives rise to misunderstanding, disputes and comedy. The work of the duo is firmly rooted in a constant geographical and linguistic dislocation, as reflected in the project’s name, a literal translation into Catalan of the Portuguese idiom ‘ouro sobre azul’ (blue over gold), roughly equivalent to the English phrase ‘the cherry on top’.
True to the project’s form, the pair have rarely lived together in the same place; only at the very beginning, in Lisbon, where their debut cassette the Piri Piri Samplers was recorded. First released by Memorials of Distinction in 2019, the cassette is an attempt to map the members’ distinct and complementary approaches to the guitar: Serra’s use of pedals and tapes to create thick, winding soundscapes, drones occasionally punctured by splenetic stabs and flourishes; Leonard’s more traditional, direct-line technique, often acting as harmonic foil. Since then, the project has intermittently resurfaced when the pair find themselves in the same space again: most notably for a stretch of dates in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2019, built around Serra’s residency at Brussels’ Les Ateliers Claus and the duo’s appearance at Meakusma Festival. A selection of recordings from the 2019 residency has been compiled into a new piece, “O Terço dos Homens”, which will appear on Stroom’s reissue of the Piri Piri Samplers due for release in late 2024.
Tracklist
1 De Passeio Pelo Alto De São João 1:38
2 Do Menino Deus 3:06
3 Das Mercês 1:23
4 Do Sagrado Coração 1:49
5 Da Memória 1:28
6 A Nossa Saudade 0:55
7 Da Nossa Senhora Da Conceição 1:37
8 São Domingos 1:14
9 Da Madalena 2:00
10 Mártires 3:08
11 Real Irmandade (Fodida) 2:03
12 Da Nossa Senhora De Saúde 2:53
13 Igreja Renovada (Live in Lisbon) 3:38