As any filmmaker knows, one of the most powerful aspects of music is its ability to construct emotional arcs and guide narrative by purely sonic means. Simultaneously ethereal and concrete, both spectral and textural, Planet X—the debut collaboration between guitarist Erdem Helvacioglu and violist Ulrich Mertin—tells the story of the appearance in the sky of a new heavenly body and follows one hapless explorer’s quest to discover what lies at its heart. Over the course of two years, Helvacioglu and Mertin composed and crafted this project, building up layers of jagged scratching sounds, plaintive melodies, percussive hits, and dark drones. The two artists grounded the sound of the album in strings but also employed unorthodox recording techniques, sophisticated processing algorithms, and multi-tracking to achieve a rich, complex, resonant texture. Throughout, the sound is unmistakably forward-looking, evocative of the project’s science fiction themes and redolent of the eerie, sometimes dark feel of sci-fi films like “Alien,” “Moon,” and “2001.”

 

Erdem Helvacioglu is one of the most renowned contemporary composers of his generation in Turkey. His music has been called “revolutionary,” “groundbreaking,” “luscious and unique,” and “completely arresting and disarmingly beautiful.” He has received awards from the Luigi Russolo, MUSICA NOVA, Insulae Electronicae Electroacoustic Music Competitions and has been commissioned by numerous organizations, from the 2006 World Soccer Championship to the Bang on a Can-All Stars. Helvacioglu is also actively involved in composing for films, multimedia productions, contemporary dance and theatre. He won the “Best Original Soundtrack” award in the 2006 Mostramundo Film Festival, and his film scores have been heard at Cannes, Sarajevo, Locarno, Seoul, Sao Paulo, and Sydney film festivals.

 

Ulrich Mertin’s musical activities cover a wide swath, from classical and contemporary to electronic and club music. He graduated from the esteemed “Hanns Eisler Academy for Music“ in Berlin, Germany, and has worked with composers like Pierre Boulez, György Kurtag, Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Brian Ferneyhough and with groups like Ensemble Modern and musikFabrik. With his award-winning Hezarfen Ensemble (the leading contemporary music ensemble of Turkey) he has been influencing and enlarging the Turkish contemporary scene for several years.