Emiszatett: Vestis is the fourth and last installment of German, Cologne-based cellist and composer Elisabeth Coudoux’ Emiszatett conceptual project, founded with vocalist Pegelia Gold and electronics player Marcus Schmickler, following qui-pro-quo-dis (Schraum, 2013), Emiszatett: Physisת and Emiszatett: Earis (impakt Köln, 2020 and 2021). The album was recorded at Maarweg Studio Köln in November 2021.
The Emiszattet was formed to transform the cello’s slightly melancholic, romantic identity into a screaming, trembling, and disruptive one that jumps into time, and to create an ensemble in which sounds «allow you to stroll within yourself, calmly rush past to later drop you off with an expanded perception», with a «Destination Multiversum».
Vestis refers to a garment, a layer, a covering – material that is worn, carried, and transformed through use. At the same time, the suffix «-is» continues the sequence of previous installments – from qui-pro-quo-dis (hinting at displacement and misalignment), to Physis (a physically grounded approach to improvisation) and Earis (interweaving sight and sound in more song-oriented structures).
The two extended pieces – «worn shawl» and «knotted wrap» – emerged from the interweaving of collective improvisations by seven musicians with Coudoux’ compositional ideas. The two pieces were cut, layered, superimposed, and crossfaded with a collage-based logic and multi-layered flow in which individual moments are embedded within broader contexts.
Video and sound artist Fjodor Gladilin, who did the album’s cover artwork, created a video art piece that accompanies Vestis, using a map drawn by Coudoux’ grandmother, who was a cartographer. He captures the spirit of this mysterious and disorienting, concluding installment of the Emiszatett project: «the tonearm of memory is light and ephemeral; the inconsistency and instability of its reading operations, like the material itself, always slip away and jump».
Vestis moves constantly and seamlessly between the seductive, poetic and dream-like (mostly on «worn shawl») and the intense, dissonant and tension-filled noises (mostly on «knotted wrap»), converging into complex, resonant knots that continuously form and dissolve. It resists any attempt at classification, and its exploratory, thoughtful, and precise articulation reflects a highly immersive experience of coping with deep, inner emotional landscapes and memories.
Eyal Hareuveni
Pegelia Gold (voice), Marcus Schmickler (electronics), Matthias Muche (trombone), Philip Zoubek (piano, harmonium), Robert Landfermann (double bass), Etienne Nillesen (snare), Elisabeth Coudoux (cello)
