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Inspired by my two albums Unfold Yourself and Choosing Freedom author Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg wrote the essay ‘Strategien rund um das Persönliche’, released in POSITIONEN #138.

»𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 […] 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 “𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺”. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, […] 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧? 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴.«

[…]

»𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥? 𝘛𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 […] 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘐 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 […].«

Full review on Vital Weekly 1297, by Sven Schlijper-Karrsenberg.

“Choosing Freedom as per the title itself invokes a political act, however personal or societal. Therewith the work fits neatly into the conceptual realm Petrovic has been mining with previous works, consisting of themes like isolation and destruction, oppression or the diametrical opposite which can be found in freedom. And not only that: but also: what that is, what freedom, being free entails, as in freedom of expression or, closer to this release: in autonomous composition. (That twiddling with the volume knob. The sense of uneasy quiet or too quiet. Was that just my set of arbitrary expectations? And was that a display of unfreedom perhaps, bound by what I expected, bound to fail?)

[…]

First and foremost, this is a collection of forward-moving and boundary-smashing presentations which defy categorization or determination. These are no butterflies pinned in a viewing cabinet: this is the total bright and breezy and carefree population of a huge butterfly garden, the humid air therein, the plants, the greenhouse itself, yes even the hortus as a whole – a biotope of uncharted possible musical species.”

Inspired by my two albums Unfold Yourself and Choosing Freedom author Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg wrote the essay ‘Strategien rund um das Persönliche’, released in POSITIONEN #138.

»𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 […] 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 “𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺”. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, […] 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧? 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴.«

[…]

»𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥? 𝘛𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 […] 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘐 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 […].«

Full questions and answers, interwoven with music to illustrate the answers.

“My sonic preferences in making music lie in capturing what doesn’t yet exist, music that departs from its style-defining characteristics. I think it’s important to question dogmas of music making practices, so that music as a whole can keep developing into new shapes of artistic expression.

(…)

Ultimately I think all my music is a form of emotional expression. Concepts, both within and outside of music, often carry a function of creating an artistic framework, a theme, musical variations, generating inspiration for finding new ways of making and sharing music.

(…)

In general I use my own recordings as samples and source materials. Whether I sample a heating, heavy rain, a broken speaker or an acoustic guitar with voices, I enjoy capturing them with my field recorder Zoom H2n. This results in ‘flawed’ recordings, filled with background noise, surroundings and spatial information. For me, the richer the source is spectrally the more interesting it is to work with. Especially when zooming in on minuscule details while processing a sample, it often generates unexpected digital artefacts. This kind of material inspires me to keep going.

(…)

I think ears give us a primal connection to the world around us, both natural and cultural. A lurking predator, a cry for help, a soothing breeze, children laughing… Hearing enables us to distinguish imminent danger from safety. Additionally ears are a primary tool for receiving verbal communication with other people. Conveying ideas, concepts, feelings, desires … before most people were able to read and write, hearing already played a significant role in understanding the intentions of friends and enemies. Because it’s such an old and experienced sense, I believe hearing is far more intuitive and intimate than sight. I think smell and touch are even more intimate than hearing, because they require the source to be physically closer.”

Full interview in GC #146, by Peter Bruyn.

“A cellist who also arranges and improvises and an inquiring composer who uses electronics as an instrument. Plus both their voices. Maya Fridman and Gagi Petrovic experiment on the interface between sound and song, mainly letting their intuition do the work. The result is pure musical expression, without concept, and without text.”

Patrick Bruneel writes about the album:

“It travels from Disrupt to Arise and clearly caresses the ears. The album starts very dark with anger eruptions yet sporadic lights. Sounds that offer hope, but it’s still in an early stage. So it still frustrates and keeps collapsing onto darkened black. Towards the end it becomes more joyful, almost danceable, with beats that proclaim the return of the human Petrovic“

• • DUTCH (original): “Van Disrupt tot en naar Arise gaat het en dat is duidelijk te merken aan de klanken die onze oren strelen. Waar het bij het begin van het album heel donker klinkt, spaarzaam ook meestal op een sporadische woede-uitbarsting na, duiken er stilaan lichtjes op. Klanken die hoop geven maar het is nog pril, stuikt nog wel eens in elkaar en wordt weer donker zwart. Naar het einde toe wordt het vrolijker, bijna dansbaar zelfs, met beats die de terugkeer van de mens Petrovic inluiden.”

NNM (new music by Dutch artists), states:

You don’t hear the abstraction as much, but feel the multitude of emotions, see imagery and experience the story. It’s impressive to achieve this with only electronics. The album also offers hope and consolation. Moreover, this shows simply a profound beauty, one that doesn’t bare itself easily and unfolds slowly.

• • DUTCH (original): “Je hoort niet zozeer de abstractie maar voelt veeleer de emoties, ziet de bijbehorende beelden en ervaart het verhaal. Ik vind als je dat met elektronica kan bewerkstelligen zo buitengemeen knap. Daarbij biedt hert album ook hoop en troost. Los daarvan is het ook gewoon van een diepgravende schoonheid, die zich niet gemakkelijk blootgeeft en zich langzaam ontvouwt.”

Full review on Vital Weekly 1297, by Sven Schlijper-Karrsenberg.

“Choosing Freedom as per the title itself invokes a political act, however personal or societal. Therewith the work fits neatly into the conceptual realm Petrovic has been mining with previous works, consisting of themes like isolation and destruction, oppression or the diametrical opposite which can be found in freedom. And not only that: but also: what that is, what freedom, being free entails, as in freedom of expression or, closer to this release: in autonomous composition. (That twiddling with the volume knob. The sense of uneasy quiet or too quiet. Was that just my set of arbitrary expectations? And was that a display of unfreedom perhaps, bound by what I expected, bound to fail?)

[…]

First and foremost, this is a collection of forward-moving and boundary-smashing presentations which defy categorization or determination. These are no butterflies pinned in a viewing cabinet: this is the total bright and breezy and carefree population of a huge butterfly garden, the humid air therein, the plants, the greenhouse itself, yes even the hortus as a whole – a biotope of uncharted possible musical species.”

Full review by Ben Taffijn.

“Wat we op ‘Choosing Freedom’ horen is bijzonder gruizige elektronica, het soort geluiden dat je krijgt als de muziek gaat rondzingen. Aan alles hoor je dat het bewegen van de hand over die GEST precair is, het gaat, zo leert het ritmische ‘Scattered Perception’ ons bijvoorbeeld, om nauwkeurig doseren. Wat het album ook bijzonder maakt, is dat Petrovic, door de donkere klankwolken, het effectief inzetten van stilte en die gruizige structuur, spanning in zijn muziek weet te brengen. Vooral in ‘Emotional Manipulation’ is dat het geval, een titel die hij ongetwijfeld nog heeft overgehouden van  zijn studie psychologie. Daarnaast heeft dat kale, gruizige ook iets industrieels, alsof je je in een werkplaats bevindt.”

• • ENGLISH: “What we hear on ‘Choosing Freedom’ is very gritty electronics, the kind of sounds you get when the music starts to sing around. You can hear from everything that moving the hand over that GEST is precarious to dose accurately, something the rhythmic ” Scattered Perception’ teaches us for example. What also makes the album special is that Petrovic manages to bring tension to his music by the effective use of silence and gritty structures through the dark sound clouds. Especially in ‘Emotional Manipulation’ that’s the case , a title that undoubtedly emerged from his psychology studies. In addition, that bare grittiness also has something industrial, like being in a workshop.”

Full review on Vital Weekly 1166, by DM.

“Instead we are confronted with a static and massive presence of sound; a radical and dark work with a sometimes-frightening effect. The solo voices move in a distance, what gives a strong impression of an enormous room or space. There is something static in this work. Long linear moving abstract electronic sounds, or long sustained organ sound, are interspersed with other sounds and cracks. The five voices dwell around as lost lonesome souls in this enormous spatial emptiness. This is music with an enormous emotional and disorientating impact.”

Full review by Wolfgang Kabsch.

“Das hier ist ganz harter Tobak. Musikfreunde, die schon mal mit Scott Walker und Ähnlichem in Kontakt gekommen sind, sollten mal ein Ohr wagen. Für einen Einsteiger ist dieses Werk eher nicht geeignet.”

• • ENGLISH: “This is very hard stuff here. Music lovers who have already come into contact with Scott Walker and the like should venture forth. This work is not really suitable for a beginner.”

Full review, by Kaino Buko.

“Odd? Yes, but it is a oddness that is most surreal, music that comes at you like collages of voices and sounds, as if we are hearing multiple speakers in a museum-like environment after the lucid drugs kicked in. The walls have been melting, paintings might transform and the floor is all wobbly; it might make a sane person slightly paranoid, a intellectual stroke his or her chin & crazy people like (I presume) you and me a little bit more sane?”

Full review by Maarten Schermer. 

“Fraai, en het maakt nieuwsgierig naar de dansperformance waar ze voor gemaakt werden, hoewel ook die wel eens zeer beklemmend zou kunnen zijn.”

• • ENGLISH: “Beautiful, and it makes you curious about the dance performance they were made for, although that could also be very oppressive.”