Review

Diving into experimental, improvised music can be a risky venture. Without knowledge of the artists involved, you never know whether you’re about to buy a fascinating series of sound collages or a recording of someone pushing toy trucks down a flight of steps. It’s fine if a disc isn’t musical, in any conventional sense of the word, as long as it’s interesting.

ElTractor, a group of like-minded audio and video artists, knows how to be interesting. They even know how to be musical. They’ve structured ElRadio, a series of studio-tweaked real-time improvisations, like a conventional album, giving each of the disc’s nineteen pieces a manageable — if not downright fleeting, by “art” standards — length. While a few of the pieces make relatively difficult listening (Exorcisme Rond springs to mind), ElRadio is refreshingly free of the “endurance test”-type material that many sound artists use to frighten away weak-willed newbies. It’s not a disc you’ll hum along to — at least, not very often — but it won’t drive you to suicide, either. Its sonic textures are intriguing, mixing music and dialogue samples, “found” audio, instruments and voices to frequently fascinating effect.

ElRadio is nothing if not variable. One minute you’ll be listening to Retard Tard’s punishing combination of industrial drums and industrial machinery; the next you’ll be in Easy’s creepy world of keyboard chords, cartoon and television samples, and dreary horror movie ambiance. And that disturbing, slowed-down voice? Sure sounds like John Wayne, doesn’t it? Throughout the album, there’s a sense that all of ElTractor’s compositions are built from familiar elements, obscured by only the most casual of disguises; you’re compelled to listen again and again, aware that you’re on the brink of “cracking” a naggingly familiar sound source. This jigsaw-puzzle complexity gives ElTractor’s music a life beyond that of more sedate electroacoustic pieces, which can rarely be described as “fun”.

When musical instruments are allowed to take center stage, the results are surprisingly mix-tape friendly (as long as the tape in question is going to an open-minded, IDM-loving friend). Rien is far more than its name implies, thriving on a jazzy, chaotic blend of piano, drums and horns, while Fumette Vindicatrice makes effective use of an upright bass melody. If you’re feeling more adventurous, witness the piano-devolution of Évidence, which pulls familiar sounds into alien territory.

While even these comparatively accessible works will likely prove intractable for many listeners, my only real beef with ElRadio is that it doesn’t give us the full spectrum of ElTractor’s work. We hear the work of audio boffins David Michaud and Fabrice Montal, as well as contributions by familiar names like Jocelyn Robert and Marc Tremblay, but video artist Boris Firquet is not represented here. Fortunately, his efforts are addressed on a separate release (which we’ll cover next week).

All told, if you’re ready to venture beyond the sonic event horizon, ElRadio is the way to go — a powerful kick in the ass for your tired musical worldview.