Experimental artist Gianluca Favaron’s Variations is a masterclass in sound sculpting. Using a variety of sources including nature recordings, portable tape recorders, hydrophones, contact microphones, and physical instruments, he creates dense, abstract collages that are expertly manipulated and shifted throughout. The presence of both active and passive recording techniques is intriguing, and is the basis for a multitude of contrasts upon which the album is built: natural vs. mechanical, beautiful vs. abrasive, harmony vs. dissonance. Though Favaron’s thought process and purpose behind Variations is not made readily available, he does include this Arnold Schönberg quote in the album description: “Even variation is a form of repetition.” It seems that the music sets out to either support or challenge this claim, or possibly even both. Each fragment is presumably constructed with the same tools, and definitely bear unmistakable similarity to each other. But the unpredictability of said tools introduces an irreplicability, and guarantees a certain uniqueness to each piece.

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