Barreca, Marc

“While performing at an early Twentieth Century steam driven power plant and imagining what its industrial ambiance might have been, an outline of ‘A Penchant for the Useless’ emerged. Like many of my projects, the album started with a search for the kinds of unique, amusical sounds I wanted to work with. And credit is also due to a rereading of Nicolas Collins’ ‘Handmade Electronic Music.’” 

Using a collection of electric guitar pickups, contact microphones, and transducers that would vibrate random metallic and wooden objects, Barreca built a library of loop recordings. Also recorded were the electronic buzzes and bleeps of a computer and various home appliances.  Granular effect processing and layering with a sampler and a physical modeling synth transformed this largely atonal source material into deep, harmonious assemblages.

These long chains of sonic transformations fused with the dark beauty of their industrial steam-era inspiration, and resonate throughout the music. Only rarely will these pieces hint at their now obsolete and decaying source materials. 

‘A Penchant for the Useless’ is Marc Barreca’s 15th solo album, adding to a catalog of constantly evolving and refining experimentation and compositional innovation that now spans more than four decades.

Barreca has also collaborated with Three Point Circle, Young Scientist, Savant, and K. Leimer. Mastered by Taylor Deupree at 12K Mastering.