The Hippodrome

Ivan Naranjo is a sound arranger and composer from Morelia, Mexico. A fan of composers from Kevin Drumm to John Cage, Naranjo creates experimental compositions with a predilection for original sound textures. Especially intriguing is Naranjo’s work on the incredibly beautiful “En Busca del Silencio.” From the Arte Sonoro site:

“[En Busca del Silencio] is an LP recorded by the eclectic Mexican Theater Director Juan José Gurrola in the early Seventies with various friends (Victor Fosado: Percussion, Roberto Bustamante: electric Guitar, Eduardo Guzman: Trumpet). It is an unknown record, only a few copies were made. It is a rare example of Mexican experimental music, free jazz, alternative music, at that time. I consider Gurrola a pioneer of sound art in Mexico, along with Alejandro Jodorowsky [director of the Holy Mountain] who was a good friend of his back in the sixties.

In 2007, the curator Mauricio Marcin did an exhibition of Gurrola’s artistic works and he asked me [Juan Lopez Moctezuma] if we could make a CD of this forgotten LP, but inviting electronic composers to do remixes, sound interventions or works inspired in the different tracks of Gurrola’s LP. I had already suggested this to Gurrola, and so he agreed and I invited 20 Mexican people [one of whom was Naranjo] to participate. It became sort of homage to this great interdisciplinary artist, that sadly died recently, just after the CD was published. “

Naranjo also plays in Ensamble Áspero, a trio whose aesthetic seems an elongation of Morton Feldman’s The King of Denmark. The ensemble recently teamed up with Inca Ore and Lemon Bear to create an album free for download here on internet label Umor Rex. “Miguel” is The Hippodrome’s featured track, and even after all this linking and typing, it still sounds pretty damn rad.

Audio: Miguel

This entry was posted by Ben Bernstein on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 8:26 pm and is filed under Features, Written By Ben Bernstein. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.