AULUS II

Description

David Poltrock is a composer and soundtrack producer based in Brussels, well-known for his collaborations with De Mens, Hooverphonic, Triggerfinger, Portland, Stavroz, and many others. May 2022. The former dining room of an isolated hotel in the town of Aulus-Les-Bains, high in the French Pyrenees, houses an out-of-tune piano. In this magically inspiring and forgotten part of the world, sketches came to life on this piano, armed with the cheapest of microphones, which ultimately triggered the diptych Aulus Aulus I and Aulus II. Some of these sketches ended up on the album exactly as they were improvised at the time. Sounding extremely lo-fi and honest, with soundscapes of wildlife and background noises from an adventurous cook in the neighboring kitchen. Others were reworked and recomposed using an old Tascam 4-track cassette recorder named Byron. And while lo-fi pianos, tape, and light electronics play a crucial role in the artist's repertoire, it is the collaboration with the incredible SunSunSun String Orchestra—longtime friends and collaborators with artists like Einstürzende Neubauten, John Cale, Belle & Sebastian, and Cinematic Orchestra—that makes 'Aulus II' shine. They are the perfect travel companions to translate Poltrock's whispering and intimate string compositions onto tape and to create a symbiotic couple of plucked and bowed string instruments.