Abdul Moimême

Florence Wetzel / All About Jazz / Multiple Reviews 03-2013 Insubordinations: Mapping the Forefront of Sound: “This music is immensely pliable to the imagination, which is part of the joy of listening. In the liner notes Moimême states: "I invite listeners to freely create their own associations as the present soundscapes unfold." And indeed, "Mécanismes Pi," which has an enigmatic percussive noise like distant marching, as well as a burgeoning drone, could be identified as the sounds inside Godzilla's ear as he rampages through Tokyo. And the squiggles of high-pitched noise in "Qu'ils appellent Saturne" could be the song of an alien creature living in a subterranean pod on Saturn. But whatever this music sets off in the imagination, it has a wild beauty and a freshness that's highly enjoyable throughout…”

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Florence Wetzel / All About Jazz / Multiple Reviews 03-2013 Insubordinations: Mapping the Forefront of Sound: “This music is immensely pliable to the imagination, which is part of the joy of listening. In the liner notes Moimême states: "I invite listeners to freely create their own associations as the present soundscapes unfold." And indeed, "Mécanismes Pi," which has an enigmatic percussive noise like distant marching, as well as a burgeoning drone, could be identified as the sounds inside Godzilla's ear as he rampages through Tokyo. And the squiggles of high-pitched noise in "Qu'ils appellent Saturne" could be the song of an alien creature living in a subterranean pod on Saturn. But whatever this music sets off in the imagination, it has a wild beauty and a freshness that's highly enjoyable throughout…”

Richard Pinnell / The Watchful Ear 07-2012 “If Moimeme’s prepared electric guitar is used sparingly but with great impact, often used as a percussive tool as much as anything, the strings and body often struck to release slowly decaying chimes as well amongst quite an array of contributions from the guitarist…”

Massimo Ricci / Touching Extremes 11-2011 “Portuguese Moimême (maltreating a couple of guitars besides using additional metallic devices and zinging springs) has been seen around the realms of Ernesto Rodrigues’ activity, both as a releasing musician on Creative Sources and a member of the Variable Geometry Orchestra. Complaintes De Marée Basse is a brilliant record, no ifs and buts. By severing every connection to concepts of themes, melodies and harmonies, the performers let a resonantly grumbling creature take centre stage in a blend of shabby reverberations, randomized irritabilities and proficient exploitation of the musical qualities of noise. Stains of corroded guitar strings and anti-patterns depicted on a snare drum are enhanced by a silent intercommunication between subterranean coincidences, the flood of an intelligent wrongdoing constituting…”

Stuart Broomer / Paris Transatlantic Magazine 09-2011 “Improvised music is difficult to describe in detail, but Moimême's qualities as an improviser seem to directly reflect his day job as a municipal architect in Lisbon (projects include a communications tower and public housing). This translates into his music in a keen sense of auditory space and precise relations within it; the use of the two guitars and electronics creates an extraordinary sense of distance, and echo, as much spatial as temporal, is as prevalent as the guitar itself, its metal-on-metal scrapings and pure gamelan sounds consistently reconfigured, like musique concrète. This is a recording of untoward beauty where the imagination and an exacting ear are unlikely to separate the original sounds from the alterations and reimaginings, or to locate them in time…”

Brian Morton / The Wire 03-2009 “Interesting to compare these solo guitar recordings with Olaf Rupp’s recent CD (reviewed in The Wire 301). Both musicians use a Stratocaster and a fairly simple amplification set-up, but whereas Rupp creates chunks of music out of strummed chords and clangorous pull-offs, Moimême turns his guitars ( he also uses a homemade solid body instrument) into zithers, gamelans, tam-tams – nothing, in fact, that sounds very much like a conventional electric guitar. It’s eerie, atmospheric and mostly very successful work, though a bit of a stretch at CD length…”

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