KR007: afarOne – Lucen

afarOne – lucen

Format: CD / download

Release date: february 3rd 2012

https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/lucen

On his debut “lucen” the piano player / electronic artist afarOne explores the sonic fields between ambient / electronica and the works of contemporary composers of silence such as Arvo Pärt. Winner of „Qwartz Award Decouvert 2013“ !

Hailing from Spain, the classical trained piano player Stefano Ruggeri (b. 1976) aka afarOne
Spent 3 years working on his debut longplayer. Influenced by artists such as Alva Noto, Thomas Köner or Mira Calix o the one hand and the great modernists of 20thcentury classical music as Gustav Mahler, Anton Webern or Alban Berg, afarOne presents eight instrumental tracks melting both worlds: melancholic piano drops (Tupfer) and far away strings meet ambient soundscapes, subtly pulsating beats and haunting, drony undercurrents. Dreamlike introspective passages give room to emotionally tense heights – Ruggeri masterly understands to well-consideredly place the sounds and create a sonic cosmos rich of colours. “lucen” (Spanish for shining, luminous) is exactly this: a shimmering star, clear and at hand’s reach but yet far away, intangible at the same time as the pseudonym afarOne pointedly expresses.

Press quotes:

Beautiful, very beautiful.   De:Bug (01-02/12)

[afarOne] lets drift tones of strings, even orchestral soundclouds through the day-dreamy mind, dewed by the melancholy of cellos and clarinets … these are big tales, great moving pictures which Ruggeri suggests.   Bad Alchemy #72

 Repeatedly intense piano play is being underlined or interrupted by hypnotic, catching and nearly drony beats … this is cinematic music. Music for your inner cinema. Touching. Euphoric. This album fascinates.   Crazewire.de

Friends of Max Richter or Murcof will definitely enjoy this.   Westzeit.de