These are the first live recordings of pieces from Kotebel’s Cosmology album. They were recorded during the concert where Kotebel shared the stage with Discipline at the venue Galileo Galilei in Madrid, on August 30th 2017.
Kotebel Corner
Kotebel Live in Madrid 2011
In this issue of Phaedrus we are proud to present, for the first time, footage of a very powerful performance by Kotebel in Madrid, on January 15, 2011. Shot with a single camera, it nevertheless allows fans to enrich their appreciation of this very special concert. This video features 4 songs, that you can also download in MP3 or in lossless WAV.
Oneness
Creating a musical representation of “The Mechanical Universe” and “The Entangled Universe” was not too difficult: in “The Mechanical Universe” the pulsating nature of the main theme, the industrial sounds, the baroque emulation of computers, etc. came out naturally. For “The Entangled Universe”, it seemed natural to use counterpoint, imitation and a dense interplay between the instruments to represent “entangledness”. However, How to express the concept of “Oneness” in music?
In order to do that, I used the following concept:
So, I took that concept and applied it to create “Oneness”. The first thing I did, was to …
Mysticae Visiones
In this issue, the conceptual framework of the selected pieces for “Classics Choice” (A Passion Play) and “Kotebel Corner” (Mysticae Visiones) are closely related: a musical representation of the after-life. A detailed analysis of the piece is followed by a previously unreleased video with Kotebel’s performance of “Mysticae Visiones” at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival in 2007.
Ra
This article explains the genesis of “Ra” and presents a previously unreleased version which is a remix and remaster of “Ra” done in 2015. Also, a related piece written by Carlos G. Plaza at the age of 18 is presented. This is also a previously unreleased piece.
Simurgh
On this article we explain how the music describes and closely follows the story of the thirty birds that discover one of Simurgh’s splendid feathers, their voyage to the castle in the Kaf mountains to meet the Simurgh, and what is revealed to them… We also include a previously unreleased video with Kotebel’s performance of Simurgh at the New Jersey ProgHouse during their USA tour in 2014.
Ouroboros
This article presents a detailed musical analysis of Ouroboros, written in a form known as “Theme and Variations”. It includes the original MIDI template just as Carlos Plaza conceived the piece and also a video with a live performance of Ouroboros.
Fragments of Light – Part 1
In this issue we analyze two pieces from the album “Fragments of Light”, one of the most experimental Kotebel albums.
Legal Identity
The name of this piece comes from the fact that I used two ID numbers to build the main motif of the piece. The piece is written in straight 4/4 rhythm; here’s where I use the ID numbers: ….
Mirrors
This is one of the most experimental pieces that I have written. The title reflects the resource used to construct section B: it is the mirror image of section A. In other words, once you reach the final measure of section A, you create section B by reading backwards from the last to the first measure. As a way to introduce a very interesting effect and prove …
Folkloric Rhythms in the Music of Kotebel
Carlos Franco, in addition to being an exceptional drummer, is also an outstanding percussionist both classical and folkloric. He has a strong command of a wide variety of Afro-Venezuelan rhythms and has been able to integrate them seamlessly into the music of Kotebel.
This article presents an exploration through the music of Kotebel, from “Omphalos” to the “Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble”, in order to find these hidden gems….
Pentacle Suite
This article features a detailed analysis of the Pentacle Suite, and a previously unreleased live video with Kotebel’s performance of the Pentacle Suite in the 2007 edition of the Gouveia Art Rock Festival. Here’s an extract:
