Threads of Asclepius

Threads of Asclepius is the fifth album released through Umor Rex by composer M. Geddes Gengras, poet of the modular synth and master of analog sequences. Close in its nature to Two Variations (Umor Rex 2016), these two improvisations —with overdubs— were both recorded in two different single-day sessions, originally intended as part of a meditative practice for producing music simply for the listening pleasure of the composer, a practice conceptually close to the avant-garde habit of Conrad Schnitzler’s Zodiak Free Arts Lab. M. Geddes Gengras always manages to achieve a high sense of drama in his works, freely sculpting sounds that are accompanied, transformed and completed by epic harmonies. A chilling beauty is the signature of his work, where a single thread of music is laid down and then elements built around it to accentuate its form. Simple ideas are inspired by the sounds of the machines that they are made with. “10 Voices” is dedicated to Meredith Monk and the pursuit of a more human music. “Untitled Improvisation in 3 takes” is a documentation of M. Geddes’ very first experiments with the music easel and is an attempt to pull as many interesting sounds and textures as possible out of a strange machine.