This is my first contact with the music of Floy Krouchi, sound artist, bassist and composer active in numerous projects, both solo and with colleagues. Krouchi’s non-figurative experimentalism is often permeated by a seemingly sincere cosmic inquisitiveness. Quoting her own words, she “uses the vibratory and invisible qualities of this medium as a metaphor of unrevealed aspects of reality, questioning perceptions and creating disruptions in space and time”. Playing an instrument that, in itself, allows for immersions in ultra-low frequencies, Krouchi has turned the bass into a technological hybrid warranting considerable timbral expansion through electronics. Mixing those nuances with the concreteness of extended techniques, the results are inevitably intriguing when not out-and-out momentous.
To be entirely honest, it took me a while before starting to truly grasp the underlying intent in Vibrant Continuum. When dealing with a program characterized by systematic changes of acoustic scenery, the probability of an indigestible soup is always high. However, the study of Krouchi’s curriculum, in union with my growing familiarity with the record’s sonorities, made me realize that those facets represent instead the non-superficial expression of a diversified artistry. Indeed one finds illustrious names around Krouchi’s website, acknowledged as influences on her work. Don’t be trapped into mental stereotypes after reading them, for she does possess a strong electroacoustic individuality. Dynamic pregnancy, surrealist ritualism, buzz-and-drone pulse, subsonic enhancement of the psyche. Via consecutive spins, one risks losing control over corporeality; on the other hand, who needs corporeality when a skilled musician provides alternative dimensions to live in, equally tangible yet ineffable?
MASSIMO RICCI. TOUCHING EXTREMES. 