Micro Poems is the latest release by Andreas Bülhoff and Marc Matter. It is also the first release on the new imprint Spoken Matter that focuses on language-based sound works and sonic poetry. Four years after their first exploration of condensed meaning making with their release Of/Off, this record radicalises the concept of stupendous repetitions of isolated and ambiguous words by embracing the capability of the vinyl medium and the particularity of closed locked grooves, impossible on any other medium. micro poems consists of 24 loops of isolated words, 12 on each side. All words were selected for their ambiguity and sounding qualities. They were vocalized and recorded by voice artist and poet Ian Hatcher, who developed a special prosodic approach to perform these isolated words in an appropriate way, thereby creating a collection of utmost concentrated and condensed sonic poetry. The notorious looping of the isolated words, their high grade of ambiguity, and the specific vocal performance makes these word loops meander between a complete loss of meaning and a potentiality of possible sense impossible to grasp.
One side of the record features one word per loop, the other side features doublings of two words per loop. These words are all homophones and were meticulously selected for their high ambiguity: Listening to the loops long enough, the various meanings of these words will unfold – and probably new meanings will emerge in the listener’s head due to illusory perceptions based on psychoacoustics triggered by the loops. Especially on the side with the doublings, a sort of abstract, minimalist ‘text’ might occur after listening to the loops for a while because of the ambiguity of the words.
Updating a poetic approach to spoken language informed by the repetitiveness of Gertrude Sein and the Minimalism of Aram Saroyan, micro poems seeks to playfully explore sense making in its most condensed form, resulting in a post-digital sound work that makes reference to musical genres based on heavy repetitions, such as Hip Hop, or Techno.
