Released as part of a reissue program for which Paul Dolden “reprocessed, remixed and remastered” his works from the ’80s and ’90s, Seuil de silences is actually an augmented reissue of his 1990 CD The Threshold of Deafening Silence. Dolden’s music is all about density and this density is obtained at a cost: dozens of hours (80 of them for Below the Walls of Jericho) are used in a 15-minute piece, split into a hundred layers of processed tapes. The analog technology of the ’80s meant that a price in sound quality had to be paid for such large-scale sound manipulations. So Dolden revisited his old pieces, cleaning up and remixing to bring out details that had been buried in the past. The result is staggering, giving his music a power matched only by John Oswald’s mammoth works. Seuil de silences reprises the three pieces on the original album: Below the Walls of Jericho (if sound can tear walls down, this piece will do it: listen to it at high volume and you’ll think that the speakers are advancing on you), Caught in an Octagon of Unaccustomed Light, and In the Natural Doorway I Crouch. But the album also introduces two more pieces that are part of the “Resonance” series, pieces for soloist and tape. The first two “Resonance” pieces appeared on 1994’s L’ivresse de la vitesse. These two were composed after the release of that album (1996) and have gone through the same refurbishing process. Violinist Julie-Anne Derome is at the center of Gravity’s Stillness. Resonance #6, while The Vertigo of Ritualized Frenzy. Resonance #4 features pianist Leslie Wyber and clarinetist François Houle. But Dolden’s music has the biggest impact when it consists of tape alone — although in this case “alone” designates a multitude.

This album is not about “plunderphonics,” but you’ll find a lot of the sound morphing that has become characteristic of John Oswald’s work. And without the “who-did-he-mistreat-this-time” hook, Aparanthesi stands as Oswald’s most difficult, challenging album yet. It has a lot to offer though and every listen reveals new details — and there are enough in here to last through many listens. The album presents two versions of Aparanthesi, a 30-minute piece built on a single note: A. A piano is at the center of the piece, but it is joined by sine waves, field recordings, strings, and a piano tuner. But everything that happens has been filtered in order to “retune” it to A or one of its harmonics. You can compare it to looking at the world through a lens that would make all light converge toward a tiny point. And yet the experience is much stranger than that, especially since Oswald operates slow morphs between the most unrelated sounds. The two Aparenthesi, studio and concert versions, differ significantly from each other — enough to justify the release of both pieces. The dynamic range is extreme, some sound events happening on the threshold of audibility, and yet both pieces begin with an overwhelming chord (for the concert premiere the audience was asked to wait outside the concert hall while the chord was sounded inside, otherwise it would have been unsafe) that slowly descends toward nothingness. The liner notes consist of another conversation with the fake interviewer Norman Igma in which Oswald takes both tracks completely apart, explaining every little detail as if he was determined to dispel every iota of mystery in the work. Well he fails miserably: even after this difficult read, Aparanthesi stands as one of his most enigmatic works, worth every bit of effort required from the listener, and that despite is rather anti-climactic nature.

L’actuelle édition de Rien à voir fait découvrir des mondes encore mal connus. Jeudi soir, c’était l’électroacoustique à l’italienne. Naturellement, cela commence dans le spectacle. On entre dans la salle sur fond de foule qui murmure. Tout à coup des «chuts» sonores interrompent les conversations sur bande comme dans l’Espace Go. Le noir se fait, comme le silence, et commence Limens Limine (Cardi).

On y lit et met en scène des textes de Jean de la Croix. Usage de quelques distorsions, de déplacements, tout est efficace, décoratif et raffiné. Que dire de plus, sinon que ce fut agréable? Pas grand-chose. L’invité du jour à la console, le compositeur Luigi Ciccarelli, présente plus tard quelques-unes de ses propres œuvres. Ici, on entre de plainpied dans le monde si typique de l’opéra italien, revu et corrigé par l’acousmatique.

Dans les trois premières pièces qu’il propose, Ciccarelli écrit réellement des concentrés d’opéras incroyablement efficaces. Les livrets décrient soit la religion, soit le pouvoir politique,, soit une forme de totalitarisme. À propos de la chambre de Philippe II dans l’église de l’Escurial s’avére une œuvre puissante, effrayante. Les images contractées et mécanico-surréalistes du texte (nous écoutions une version française pour tout saisir) glacent déjà les sangs. La musique, elle, vient enfoncer le clou.

Ciccarelli use de distorsions de la voix à faire baver de jalousie des concepteurs de films d’horreur de Hollywood, avec des «effets spéciaux» à faire fuir de peur les gens des salles de cinéma. Du cinéma pour l’oreille se nomme parfois l’acousmatique. C’est exactement cela et Orwell aurait adoré!

Cela se poursuit avec Tupac Amaru, où on télescope une légende inca de la première révolution de ce peuple contre les conquistadors dans les années 1780 avec des émeutes anti-Fujimori (Funky-Fucky-Muori) dans le livret). La traduction est projetée sur écran, à la manière des surtitres à l’opéra traditionnel. L’idée du parallélisme révolutionnaire est intéressante et pourrait assurément frapper plus fort si les procédés étaient mieux creusés. L’usage de la diffusion dans l’espace est remarquable, le rythme et les citations de genres musicaux appropriés, et on se dit que voilà l’équivalent électronique d’un bon opéra de cape et d’épée de Verdi.

Plus prenant, Exsultet commence en longue plage de paix, sur chant grégorien manipulé, et plage méditative qui se voient empoisonnées d’horreur, encore, comme si le frisson de dégoût servait d’outil de condamnation. Le déroulement est ici plus soutenu, la qualité de l’œuvre est aussi nettement plus grande que celle des deux premières par son souffle et sa direction intrinsèque. Avec un propos plus abstrait, la musique se permet de prendre plus de place et on admire le talent de Ciccarelli à nous river dans notre siège par la seule inspiration apportée par ses convictions qu’il nous force, le temps d’une pièce, à partager. Comme réussite dramatique, ce fut le grand moment du concert, car il faut oublier la pièce Birds qui suivait et qui est aujourd’hui complètement dépassée.

Un constat s’impose cependant toute cette musique ne fait usage que de la surface des choses; elle n’arrive pas à creuser le sujet, à lui donner autre chose qu’une mise en scène sans réelle perspective critique. On dénonce, certes, mais en témoin extérieur, sans les questionnements qu’un Bayle, Chion ou Dhomont savent si adroitement provoquer. Un peu le dilemme de Verdi contre Wagner qui refait surface.

Avant cela, Stéphane Roy a encore une fois prouvé sa virtuosité avec ses Trois petites histoires concrètes et on a surtout eu droit à deux excellentes pièces. D’abord eBss (Agostine del Scipio); inspirée, raffinée et polie par-delà la limite de la beauté, voilà une œuvre qui va devenir classique. Puis il y a l’exploit de Con brio (Giorni). Refusant les mouvements dans l’espace, le compositeur crée la densité des plans uniquement avec un va-etvient qui joue de la perspective trompe- l’oreille comme le faisait Canaletto avec ses toiles. L’écoute est fascinante, réellement, et prouve qu’avec un minimum de moyens, un grand artiste sait toujours toucher le fond du cœur; quand idée, émotion et geste se coujuguent ainsi, transcendés par une technique de si haut calibre, la musique reprend tous ses droits. Donc: on y croit.

Another release from the great No Type label, which have established themselves firmly in the world of independant underground electronic music. With the impressive history of the label, one can be sure that whatever is released is only of the highest quality, and always interesting and refreshing.

Nothing is less true for this release by Tomas Jirku. Interesting and refreshing, this is rhythmic and experimental music. Dark, but crisp, with beautiful underlying drones.

Yes, this is beautiful. It is another great addition to the already impressive discography of Tomas Jirku. A beautiful collection of tracks that fit together in style, that keeps the listener coming back for more, and that remains fresh to the ear even after multiple listens. This one will definately be coming back to my cd-player on a regular basis!

Electroacoustic music is an acquired taste. Like it or not, radio and television have conditioned us from an early age into accepting some musical (tonal and rhythmical) molds as being “normal.” Therefore, electroacoustics, along with other sound-based (in opposition to note-based) forms of musical expression like free improvisation, is perceived as being “abnormal.” That’s why a first exposure to this kind of music often turns into a memorable experience — for better or worse. Many factors come into play, but choosing an album that offers an adequate (i.e. friendly and gentle) introduction to the genre will greatly help in letting the initial esthetic shock turn into an experience of Beauty and mark the beginning of a new adventure in sound.

My goal with this sound path is simply to point out a few titles that I think have the potential to encourage instead of discourage, titles opening a door to a new musical dimension. Of course, this selection can only be subjective. But it might be helpful to new enthusiasts and to aficionados looking for gift ideas that would spread good music around. After all, Christmas is only a few weeks away!

Bridges

We usually develop new interests from existing interests. What I mean is: we explore music genres that are new to us because a related interest brought us there. That’s why when it comes to electroacoustic music, mixed works (for tape and instrument) or works related to specific topics are often the best place to find a bridge that will gently lead the listener into the new territory. For example, people who enjoy reading travel literature will find in Kristoff K.Roll’s Corazón Road the sublimated narrative of a journey through Central America. Those still young enough to enjoy fairy tales (I’m one of them) will find in Francis Dhomont’s Forêt profonde an in-depth reflection on this literary genre as inspired by the works of psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim, in the form of a captivating work with multiple narratives (in many languages) and electroacoustic music of a great evocative strength. Lighter and more fanciful, Libellune by Roxanne Turcotte finds its source in childlike imagination and is in part aimed at children without over-simplifying its artistic process.

Guitar fans can turn to Parr(A)cousmatique, a wonderful project for which classical guitarist Arturo Parra co-wrote pieces with some of Quebec’s best electroacoustic composers: Stéphane Roy, Francis Dhomont (Quebecer at heart, at the very least), Robert Normandeau, and Gilles Gobeil. The latter has just released an album-long piece, Le contrat, written with and featuring avant-garde guitarist René Lussier. Lussier’s followers and people interested in Goethe’s play Faust (and its rich heritage) will find here an essential point of convergence, another bridge.

Essential listens

Those who want to explore further will probably want to venture into more abstract electroacoustic art. I recommend starting with the Quebec composers. Chauvinism? No way. It’s just that the music of composers like Dhomont, Normandeau, Gobeil, Yves Daoust, or Yves Beaupré seems to me to be more accessible than the music of British or French composers. It is more immediate, has a stronger impact (Gobeil, usually hitting hard), a more pleasant form of lyricism (Daoust, Beaupré), more welcoming architectures and themes (Dhomont, Normandeau). If you need places to start, try Normandeau’s Figures, Gobeil’s La mécanique des ruptures, Dhomont’s Cycle du son, and Beaupré’s Humeur de facteur.

That being said, there are hours upon hours of beauty and fascination to be found in the works of Michel Chion (his powerful Requiem), Bernard Parmegiani (La création du monde), Jonty Harrsison (Articles indéfinis), Denis Smalley (Sources/Scènes), and Natasha Barrett (Isostasie), but they may seem more difficult or thankless on first listen. And for those interested in where these music come from, the EMF label offers L’œuvre musicale, the complete works of Pierre Schaeffer, the father of musique concrète and grandfather of electroacoustics.

Tiny ideas

A compilation album has the advantage of offering a large selection of artists and esthetics in a small, affordable format. Available at a budget price, eXcitations proposes a strong sampler of the productions on the label empreintes DIGITALes. The albums Electro clips and Miniatures concrètes, along with the brand new volume of the DISContact! series, cull short pieces (often under three minutes) to trigger interrogations and discoveries in those with a short attention span.

And finally, for those of you who want to take their time and explore in short steps, the Cinéma pour l’oreille collection produced by the French label Métamkine contains many wonderful 3” CDs, 20 minutes in duration each, for a reduced price. The catalog includes titles by renown composers such as Michel Chion, Lionel Marchetti, Michèle Bokanowski, Bernhard Günter, and Éliane Radigue. These tiny albums are perfect for gift exchanges.

Of course, all of the above are only recommendations. The best sound path to discovery is the one you follow by yourself, little by little.

Best listens!

Ten years after the publication of his milestone album, Canadian composer Paul Dolden offers us something more than just a re-issue but a gigantic reconstruction of his work. Indeed, the hundreds of tracks which makes each of the works featured on both Intoxicated by Speed’s two volumes were re-processed, re-mixed and re-mastered with the most recent digital technologies. No comparison is possible with the previous analog mixes! A third album stems from this impressive revamping task, Seuil de silences, featuring previously unreleased compositions and works from the 1990 album The Threshold of Deafening Silence.