At almost 90 years old, Beatriz Ferreyra is busier than ever. Since 2020, the Argentinian composer and musique concrète pioneer has vastly expanded her previously slim discography. Besides Huellas Entreveradas—reissued on CD earlier this year—she released Echos + that year and kickstarted a fruitful collaboration with Room40. A Distracted God is her fourth album for Lawrence English’s label and combines »Souffle d’un petit Dieu distrait,« first released in 1998, with two previously unavailable pieces.
The piece that lends this compilation its title is from 1987 and displays Ferreyra’s penchant for sonic (other-)world-building. With sweeping textures and sounds arranged to form subtle-yet-gripping dynamics, she constructs a three-dimensional space in which curious narratives unfold. Compositionally rigorous but structurally open-ended, this computer piece picks up on the tradition of early electronic music and sounds positively timeless: It would go down well with the CTM Festival crowd.
»Tierra Quebrada« from 1976 relies heavily on expressive viola playing. Not only the subtle tape hiss makes this piece sound more of its time: A study of intensity and stark contrasts, it at times feels forced instead of forceful until everything is resolved in a breath-taking finale. 2004’s »Sourires d’autonne« closes the record with a menacing exercise in digital musique concrète. It connects this release to the early days of Ferreyra’s long career, which thankfully is far from over.
