what is the PROGRAM?
The program brings together a number of specially curated events taking place throughout 2025, as we celebrate Portcorner's 10th anniversary. At the core of the program lies the unveiling of a new showroom that will double as a 'listening room', featuring a powerful and dynamic sound system. This marks a new chapter for the Portcorner; blurring the lines between fashion, design and the ever-present undercurrent of experimental sound and vision that drives us.
Western Electric 16A Replica, power amplifiers, Eurorack modular synthesizer. Courtesy of João Pimenta Gomes.
the SOUND SYSTEM
A Sound system is as good as the sum of its parts and the 'musicality chemistry' that is found in a capable combination of high end components - such as preamps, amplifiers, dacs, speakers, turntables - and room acoustics, goes well beyond technology, budget and the audiophile context of 'accurate sound'. The closeness to which sound systems reproduce the incoming signal defines that context but to qualify the context even further, I will put the focus on the last component in the sound reproduction chain: speakers in a room.
I've been on a journey to improve my high fidelity experience since a memorable autumn night back in the early 90's, when a fellow uni student played Lustmord's album 'Heresy' on his dad's Klipsch Heresy speakers (no kidding) to an unsuspecting audience of post-punk aficionados. The result was one of catharsis and candid conversion.
A similar level of excitement was attained while listening to Venetian Snares's 2005 masterpiece 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Született' on a system based around a McInstosh MC152 amp and JBL L100 speakers.
My journey towards high fidelity sound reproduction is one that seeks the highest possible enjoyment of the source material, conscious that not every record is created equal, and the small nuances in production, intended sonic output and emotional trigger, will ultimately dictate the success of one system over another. After all, much enjoyment is to be had listening to Merzbow or Wolf Eyes, and the polished and precise, is not necessarily the primary focus.
The Klipsch Heresy IV speaker, a reference for high performance audio enjoyment at home.
The iconic Meyer Sound Blue Horn system, gracing many a studio worldwide. If it sounds good in this, it sounds good everywhere.
McIntosh MC152 Amplifier
JBL L100 Classic speakers
a LISTENING ROOM EXPERIENCE
These encounters with such startling music ought to spur an immediate response, one that is aligned with a honest reason to improve a system, not the urge to get more expensive gear just because it is supposed to sound better or looks the part. Neighbours and decibels aside, the sheer joy of listening to good music through a quality system that you know well and feel is evolving, reverberating through rugs and walls, happy to run at freedom volume, is often too sublime to properly put into words.
With an emphasis on speakers, I have set up various combinations of amps and speakers in the last 25 years, so this brain understands a good setup when it hears one.
I've been observing the rise of sound systems of all sizes and budgets in public spaces such as cafés and specialist record stores, and diligent bespoke systems everywhere in audiophile forums for some time now. Fuelled by the love of minimal and DIY, an exciting community that thrives online and listens to contemporary and challenging sounds are changing the face of the audiophile establishment. They want their gear to match their updated sources, from electronic to experimental, bridging audiophile snobbery with real world expectations.
Last year I was lucky to be in London in a case of right place at the right time for Brooklyn based Devon Turnbull's 'Listening Room Dream No I' experience at the Lisson Gallery. A fascinating audio delivery and eye candy for music lovers and gear enthusiasts alike, it ultimately convinced me to re-think my sound system as a listening room experience.
Moving ever so close towards delivering the perfect sound, we are in the stage of evaluating equipment and working on the acoustics of the spaces we have chosen to release the magic.
Follow the updates below for more.
the SOURCE MATERIAL
Seminal albums such as the referenced above are part of a painstakingly curated selection of 20 albums, spanning a period of 25 years, which are celebrating round number milestones in 2025.
The reproduction of these albums will occupy a special place in 'The Program'. They will put our sound system to the test, they are the essential ingredient in our concept of a dynamic setup, a continuously fine-tuned combo capable of delivering the most accurate sound possible.
The recordings were selected following a solid set of criteria, ranging from the quality of production to mastering, from sound dynamics to soundstage, from personal preference to a lauded representation of a stylistic approach or movement.
Its a good collection of 21st century music; music that is delicate and effortless, but also sophisticated and complex. These albums are undeniably relevant within their respective genres and are still name-dropped as turnkey references by many contemporary and younger artists, many years after their original release.
We are knowingly leaving out other unique albums that are genre-defining masterpieces, and as much as it pains us to do so we have chosen to put a stronger emphasis on atmosphere and the emotional attachment we have with some more than others. They represent the very sonic fabric that informed our taste for decades and how we listen to music today, and will continue to challenge our sound systems for years on end.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Released 9 October 2000
taken from mix #gybe
Rival Consoles
Howl
Released 16 October 2015
taken from mix #165
Prurient
Frozen Niagara Falls
Released 12 May 2015
listen to 'Christ Among the Broken Glass'
taken from mix #132
Venetian Snares
Rossz Csillag Alatt Született
Released 15 March 2005
listen to 'Galamb Egyedul & Szerencsétlen'
taken from mix #50
Deathspell Omega
Paracletus
Released 09 November 2010
listen to 'Apokatastasis Pantôn'
taken from mix #72
The Body
All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood
Released 02 June 2010
listen to 'Even The Saints Knew Their Hour...'
taken from mix #74
Earth
Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method
Released 20 September 2005
listen to 'Lens of Unrectified Night'
taken from mix #39
Sunn O)))
Black One
Released 17 October 2005
listen to 'It took the Night to Believe'
taken from mix #62
GAS
Pop
Released 28 March 2000
taken from mix #67
Coil
The Ape of Naples
Released 02 December 2005
taken from mix #32
Rafael Anton Irisarri
A Fragile Geography
Released 16 October 2015
taken from mix #27
Swans
My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to The Sky
Released 23 September 2010
listen to 'No Words/No Thoughts
taken from mix #101
Demdike Stare
Liberation Through Hearing + Voice of Dust + Forest of Evil
Released in 2010
listen to 'Forest of Evil (Dawn)'
taken from mix #146
Chaos Echoes
Transient
Released 20 April 2015
taken from mix #45
Ulver
Perdition City
Released 26 March 2000
listen to 'Hallways of Always'
taken from mix #55
Mount Eerie
Sauna
Released 03 February 2015
taken from mix #176
Boris
Flood
Released 15 December 2000
taken from mix #101
Animal Collective
Feels
Released 18 October 2005
taken from mix #
Lurker of Chalice
Lurker of Chalice
Released 27 June 2005
taken from mix #39
The Monastery of Pombeiro in Felgueiras, pictured from the East section. November 2024.
The "Casa do Adro" in Felgueiras. October 2024
news 24.10.2024
The ‘Casa do Adro’ in our hometown of Felgueiras is the location we have chosen to welcome the first iteration of the Portcorner Showroom/Listening Room experience. This recently reconditioned building dating originally from the 16th Century is a most special place, brimming with natural beauty, a dream for 16mm film lovers and field recorders.
Tucked away in acres of green park and gentle forest, the ‘Casa do Adro’ (Churchyard house) belongs to the ‘Monastery of Santa Maria de Pombeiro’ Estate, a 12th Century Benedictine era complex combining a multitude of architectural styles ranging from Romanesque to late Gothic all in one place.
This unique setting will be the host of a specially commissioned sound system and audio-visual production/installation, brought together by the Portcorner team to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Church’s Pipe Organ restoration, undertaken in 2015. The organ, “one of the best of the order” dating originally from 1783, had been silent for 200 years.
Our aim is to bring the community together for a different experience in sound and vision. To offer an alternative take on 'church music', a curated hour-long mix of contemporary compositions with a liturgical disposition, ranging from neoclassical to minimal electronic and drone. The focus is still on the ethereal and dramatic, incorporating organ and choirs, rich in orchestral instrumentation and field recordings.
Entrance to the high-choir area in the upper storey.
The high-choir of the Church, showing the seating area. Opposite to this area are the two organs (the fake and the real one).
The beautiful Pipe Organ dating from 1783, totally refurbished in 2015.
Detailed aspect of the front of the organ.
Inside the church, showing its three naves, divided by diaphragm-arches with painted wooden ceilings on the sides.