Edu Comelles & Sergi Palau - About Berlanga:
Honoring Spanish Cinema Through Experimental Sound
Continuing our October recap on Escala de Grisos, the next piece from our playlist is the incredible collaboration between Edu Comelles and Sergi Palau: About Berlanga, a tribute to the legendary Spanish filmmaker Luis García Berlanga.
This work, released by the experimental Spanish label Oigovisiones, brings a daring audiovisual approach to life, a move emblematic of the high-quality, boundary-pushing work that labels like Oigovisiones are known for. Much like Abstrakce Records (see our previous post), Oigovisiones builds a vital bridge for ambient and noise music, challenging what we perceive as "musical" and allowing the Spanish experimental scene to thrive.
“About Berlanga” was originally produced for the Festival Volumens in 2022 and has since been preserved in a unique SD Card edition that includes both the full soundtrack and an HD video of the live audiovisual performance, first premiered at La Mutant in Valencia. The project draws on Berlanga's iconic films Bienvenido Mr. Marshall (1953), Plácido (1961), and El verdugo (1963), bringing cinematic nostalgia and experimental sound design together in an homage to the powerful, often satirical social messages in Berlanga’s work.
Comelles, known for his masterful minimalist and hauntological sounds, combines tape noise, vinyl crackle, and fragmented echoes with Palau’s evocative visual storytelling, blurring the line between memory and modern soundscape.
One track we shared on the show, "Plcd," is a tribute to “Plácido”, enveloping the listener in textured, evocative layers that immediately draw them into this fusion of sound and cinematic history.
As I mentioned during the program, Comelles is one of those underappreciated figures within the Spanish experimental scene, someone whose remarkable dedication to his craft deserves more recognition. His deep commitment to his art seems unshaken by this lack of spotlight, as he continues to explore new and thought-provoking territory with every project.
Edu Comelles has a diverse background in both solo and collaborative work. Projects like Still Life, which explores themes of impermanence through delicate ambient compositions, and Temps Suspès, a collaboration focused on the power of sonic minimalism to capture suspended moments in time, showcase his ability to evoke both place and emotion through sound. With Oigovisiones, he also curated El Tripulante by Enric Teruel, reflecting the trust and artistic alignment he finds in the label, which has become a frequent collaborator for his bold experimental ventures.
Visual artist Sergi Palau complements this project with his strong narrative style, having worked with artists such as Murcof and Suso Saiz. His ability to bring an added layer of context and story through visuals helps to anchor Comelles’ sounds in an even richer emotional experience, often balancing between abstraction and cultural reference.
Together, Comelles and Palau create a multidimensional homage to Berlanga, merging visual and sonic textures that resonate as deeply nostalgic and creatively subversive. “About Berlanga” isn’t merely a sound tribute; it’s a reflection on memory, cinema, and the collective imagination, inviting us to listen, see, and remember.
We can’t help but write these lines with a sense of heaviness, given the recent devastation caused by the DANA storms in Valencia and surrounding regions. This is Comelles' homeland—a place that deeply influences his work. We send our support to all affected communities and recognize how resiliently artists like Comelles continue to create, reflecting their roots and experiences with poignant honesty.
We invite our readers to join us in supporting those affected by these events: How To Help Those Affected By The Valencia DANA