Or Sobre Blau is a group consisting of Andreu G. Serra aka Ubaldo (Catalonia) and Kiran Leonard (United Kingdom). The group began when they lived together in Lisbon, the groupís name, a literal translation into Catalan of the Portuguese idiom ouro sobre azul – ëblue over goldí, roughly synonymous with the English phrase ëthe cherry on topí. In Catalan, this phrase is meaningless and somewhat bland.
Their debut cassette, the ëPiri Piri Samplersí, was recorded over three days at their rehearsal space/home in Summer 2017. The recordings are an attempt to map the membersí distinct and complimentary approaches to the guitar. With a vast array of pedals and tapes, Serra creates thick, winding soundscapes, drones punctured by occasional stabs and flourishes. Leonardís more straightforward, technical playing often acts as a harmonic foil. In sparser moments, the two feel their way through a hesitant counterpoint, exchanging chords and melodic fragments to build a sequence somewhere between them. In this sense, it is like all effective duos. The sum is greater than its constituent parts; each party only understands two-thirds of what is going on; the unknown and wrongly interpreted triumphs over composition and reason. Or sobre blau it is.
What do you find in the middle of noise and harmony? A very old question, really. We know that the answer is usually endearing and a little tragic, like a bad translation. It ends up looking like a vase broken into pieces.
(text by Fernando Junquera aka Negro)
https://ubaldo.bandcamp.com
https://kiranleonard.bandcamp.com
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