accordion
…a cross between a triturated Steve Reich and an old coughing engine takes control, making feel you pretty uneasy; beautiful indeed and very hypnotic…
Massimo Ricci
…compared to the drones of Pauline Oliveros, Monteiro is much more obsessed with concrete sounds that can be generated from this instrument…
Dolf Mulder
…Alfredo Costa Monteiro’s remarkable solo CD may not serve to rescue the instrument from the opprobrium into which it has fallen, but what it does demonstrate is how this nineteenth century combination of expandable bellows, reeds and keyboard can be used to create vibrantly contemporary music at the start of the twenty-first century…
Wayne Spencer
live at teni zvuka festival, st petersburg, photo ilia belorukov
Extract from rumeur (for solo accordion) | creative sources, 2004
releases:
rumeur (for solo accordion) | creative sources, 2004
cinq bruissements (for solo accordion) | no fun productions, 2010
um em um | monotype records, 2014
turntable
… using solely pick ups ‘played’ on turntables, alfredo costa monteiro creates harsh improvised atmospheres which will blast you ! …
Nicolas Malevitsis
…all the harshness, the static, the bumps cohere into wonderfully imagistic soundscapes, the type of music that has me constantly listening around corners, seeking, and usually finding, more…
…The music recognizes the bumps and irregularities of the ground at the same time as it envelops them, navigating through buffeting winds and acidic rain, not to mention an electrical storm or two before evaporating into a prickly haze…
Brian Olewnick
live at tepekale sound, barcelona, 2010 photo by pau torres
Extract from Stylt | absurd, 2005
releases:
stylt | absurd, 2005
Z=78 (195.09 ) | audiobot, 2006
nyx | entr’acte, 2011
paper
…the results being always the same, namely refreshingly mind-bending sonic materials that are unluckily heard by a few hundred souls while they deserve a much wider attention…
Massimo Ricci
…without knowledge of the source, I daresay one would be hard-pressed to identify the whirlwind of sounds having anything remotely to do with paper…
Brian Olewnick
live at festival électronique nº4, paris, sept. 2014 photos by paul ternisien
Extract from clair de bée | compost & height, 2008
releases:
paper music | hazard records, 2001
allotropie | bourbaki, 2007
clair de bée| compost and height 2008
live electro-acoustics
… Unlike so many composers of electronic music, Monteiro allows his material plenty of time to speak, which in turn gives the listener time to scrutinise their qualities in considerable detail ….
Simon Cummings
… The interplay between all of the sound elements is both cryptic and dynamic, while never overworked through effects or treatments. Electroacoustics in fine style…
Jim Haynes
live at lem festival, barcelona, 2016, photo ernest abentín
