Cyril Bondi / Phonotopy
"Komatsu"

with:
Cyril Bondi (floortom, objects)
Phonotopy (cracked electronics)

Recorded by Antoine Petrov, 17.01.2012,
Studio du Silo, Renens, Ch
Mixed by Yann Leguay
Drawings by Sandra Plantiveau

available on Insubordinations netlabel
[insubcd06], 2012
the cd can be ordered on Insub's shop
























Press:

"Komatsu is the title of a rather nice new album on the consistently strong Insubordinations net label by the duo of Cyril Bondi (floor tom and objects) and Phonotopy, the artist name of Yann Leguay, who is credited with Cracked Electronics, which on this occasion would appear to be old hard drives used like old school turntables. The album consists of a single half hour long piece of dense, heavily textured music that seems to flow out of the speakers in an almost physical manner, thickening the air and sticking to anything it touches. The duo manage to create a wall of sound that is rich with bassy depth and yet transparent enough for the layers of detail to be heard through it all. Nothing here sounds very much like a floor tom. It's hard to say what cracked hard drives should sound like, but I wouldn't have had them high up my list if you asked me what instrumentation was at work here either. If anything the music here sounds like densely layered field recordings as much as anything. There is a similarity to something like Pisaro's July Mountain, but the music that I am reminded of most is the various duo releases by Jason Kahn and Asher, perhaps as I am reminded of pressurised weather systems by this music in a similar way to that particular duo. Tonight as I have listened the atmosphere here is very humid indeed, following on from what I think was the hottest day of the year so far here, and for the first couple of listens through this evening, when I got in from work, I sat in the garden and listened with headphones. The way the music's oppressive sensations combined with the humidity of the weather and the slowly gathering gloom of dusk made for a feeling of an impending storm, though sadly it never came.
Komatsu then is a highly skilled, carefully controlled album that inhabits a space and spreads out within it, making it entirely its own. It lives and breathes, inhales and exhales rather than shout and scream, but it is constantly alive, hairs bristling, continually on the brink of erupting but never quite doing so, thinning out in places as if to start to fall apart but in the end staying strong until a somewhat abrupt ending at the thirty-one minute mark. A strong one, but find out for yourself for free here and really, buy a copy if you think its worth it."
Richard Pinnell/www.thewatchfulear.com/19.08.12
***

"It was brought to my attention elsewhere that I'd heard Bondi in the context of the duo, Diatribes (short term memory fading!). Here, he's paired with Phonotopy (Yann Leguay) on "cracked electronics" and the result is striking an subtly unique. I'm not sure how his floor tom set-upset-up contributes to this dense, throbbing, quasi-rhythmic, menacing and altogether enticing music, but I'd be anxious to see. Phonotopy's instrumental description refers directly to the erstwhile Poire_z, even to the use of the underscore between his nom and the device on the disc sleeve, and I guess one reasonable description of this would be akin to a seriously excellent Poire_z set. That bristling pulse, the sense that there's a ton going on, much of which you're probably not picking up at any one moment, the real darkness and threat that's emitted; it all makes for an extremely satisfying and giddily exciting listen. It gets into some great shuddering moments as the rhythms seem on the verge of toppling into themselves, a real thrill of imminent collapse about 2/3 of the way through as the gears begin to squeak, the oil running low. Instead, it just settles into a slow boil, replete with bubbling explosions, like a hot, viscous liquid. A fine piece, would love to see/hear this live."
Brian Olewnick/olewnick.blogspot.co.uk
***

"Cyril Bondi spelar slagverk och elektronik. Han leder jätteprojektet Insub Meta Orchestra genom den kollektiva improvisationens irrgångar. Och han har bland många andra spelat med Keith Rowe. Det är i den andan musiken klingar.

Inom ramen för Komatsu samarbetar han med Yann Leguay, som mixat detta album med mycket gott resultat. Att höra Bondi solo är naturligtvis något helt annat än att lyssna till honom omgiven av ett trettiotal andra musiker i IMO. I huvudsak ägnar han sig åt förstärkta ting och en del skärig elektronik. Det ger en puls som känns som en snurrande skivspelare.

Alla möjliga igenkännbara akustiska instrument är borta, kvar har han lämnat störningar, brus, knaster, fras, ännu mer störningar. Men under denna litet industriella yta låter han alltid något pulsera. Som spår av en kropp, andning eller kanske till och med sargad smärta. Jo, det här är musik som visserligen tar tid på sig att klä sig i sin kvasielektroniska dräkt och visa upp sig, men kroppen inuti känns; där finns trots allt passioner, mörker.

Dovt brummar elektroniken påpushad av olika föremål; så småningom mullrar också skinnen på hans slagverk, vilket ger en mycket suggestiv effekt. Men man måste ha tålamod att lyssna sig ända fram till den lilla händelsen. Det pockar och bultar otåligt. Snart börjar små figurer kränga. Snart och snart, det har nästan gått tjugo minuter av albumets enda spår. Då väl trumrytmen är etablerad börjar det koka av småljud. Och musiken känns alltmer som en tungt andande bröstkorg, som häver sig upp och ner.

Motsättningen kropp - metall, artefakt - liv, känns alltmer. Det är en abstrakt musik som framkallar starka känslor, som ett slags atavistiska minnen. Bondi gör musik som en surrealist, som plockar fram oväntade, ohörda ljud, kombinerar dem som främmande objekt, dem vi studsar inför, främmande och ack så bekanta på samma gång. Till slut löser musiken upp sig som trådar som tappar taget. Allt lösare för att förlora sig i oförenligheter och oro. Störton skär tvärs över trumslagen. Eller om det är elektriska stötar genom elektroniken. Knaster försvinner långsamt. Det känns till slut som när man inte orkar hålla andan längre och kippar, hoppas att hinna få mun och näsa över vattenytan. Ett sista nervdaller och musiken upphär. Det här var en av mina stora överraskningar på länge.

Komatsu rekommenderas då sommarkvällarna tenderar att bli alltför idylliska. Ett album mot omotiverad trivsel och uppršrande idyll. Gör dina gäster upprörda och tvinga dem lyssna hela halvtimmen på Cyril Bondis suveränt otrivsamma, repande, såriga och mycket djärvt mänskliga album. Tršsta er med vad ni vill efteråt. Det behövs. Kort och gott ett underbart album från ett mycket konsekvent experimenterande litet schweiziskt skivbolag."
Thomas Millroth/soundofmusic.nu
***

"The first is a duo disc of Cyril Bondi playing floor tom and objects and Phonotopy played cracked electronics. They do this in one piece that lasts thirty-one minutes. You could easily think that, seeing these 'instruments' that this is a matter of many sounds, bouncing and rolling about, played hectic, frenetic, nervous, but such is not the case here. Its more a piece with a great, drone like quality to it, of sizzling, bubbling sounds, of electrical motors running, mechanical devices touching upon surfaces; resonating matter and lots of obscured sounds play a role in this, making a highly fascinating piece of music, with slow but inevitable changes as matter progress. Played with great care and extreme love for detail, yet never losing the 'other' out of sight. A very fine piece of music at the border of drone and improvised music, while without being strictly one or the other. For fans of Jason Kahn, I'd say: pay attention here!"
Rafa Segura