Erdem Helvacioglu

Image from an interview with Guitar Player Fellow Turkish guitarist and composer Erdem Helvacioglu has released a full length on the prestigious contemporary music label New Albion. His 2003 release "A Walk through the Bazaar" on Locust Music was part of the Met Life Series which focuses on field recordings & soundscapes. One of the foremost soundartists & electro acoustic composers from Istanbul (are there any other? just kidding there's a university for this!), he's received a bunch of composition prizes, attended many sound art festivals around the world and performed in prestigious places like museums & universities and been highly acclaimed by mags and listeners. Unfortunately that doesn't mean much for the mainstream media or music mags in Turkey as he's been under the radar here forever. His latest one "Altered Realities" sees him with perform live with a single guitar and some minimal electronic processing and as noted it's a straight to DAT release with no overdubs and post processing, which by my standards are pretty unconceivable. Think of Fennesz or Daisuke Miyatani but without the glitch & the noise, creating a thick texture of sound in a more peaceful and ethereal way. That said I found the album a bit monotone because of this. With only the closer "Ebony Remains" trying to produce a different point of view, I guess the straight to DAT solo guitar concept is the cause of this focused sound. Nevertheless it doesn't stop me from wishing to see him let his composition skills shine more with a little bit variation with his forecoming releases.