Francis Dhomont is a composer from France who has been composing ‘musique concrète’ and electroacoustic music for over 60 years, along with composers like Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer. Besides composing, Dhomont also lectures at the University of Montréal and writes articles about music-theory. Dhomont taught a lot of other composers, like Robert Normandeau, Christian Calon and Yves Daoust and many more.

Jalons is Francis Dhomont’s 7th CD release (his 6th on empreintes DIGITALes). The eight pieces contained on this CD were composed between 1985 and 2001. The music ranges from subtle soundpatterns made from various recorded or ‘found’ sounds to very organic sounding storms of drones. Dhomont seems to play with the recognisable element of sounds a lot, since a lot of the sounds are on the edge of recognisability. Some are totally recognisable while others are totally abstract. This makes the compositions very intriguing and an exciting listening experience.

Dhomont seems very fascinated with the sound of voices of humans or animals, since this seems to be returning on every release. Voices are obviously a source of great recognisablity, but they are also very useful for manipulating. Although certainly not all works contain vocal samples, other sounds used in his compositions often seem to turn into vocal-like parts. Most of Dhomont’s works therefore seem to turn into both organic and industrial sounding waves of sound. Dhomont’s works sound something like a flock of mechanical birds chattering.

Mind, electroacoustic compositions are often meant to be ‘performed’, mostly in theatres or at exhibitions. This means that there is nothing else for the listener to focus on, so the music is often very demanding (difficult). Therefore this CD is not exactly easy listening ambient work (although it can of course be used as such). To be able to fully experience its potential it requires dedicated listening, preferably on a perfect installation, or with headphones.

The works of Francis Dhomont will certainly appeal to those who like musique concrète or electroacoustic music, and to those who are willing to give a CD a really thorough listening. It will prove to be a very exciting listening experience.

I’ve never heard of Monique Jean before, but she surely made an impression with her first CD on the empreintes DIGITALes label.

Jean lives in Montréal and is a student of Francis Dhomont. She works with dance, video and media installations. This is perhaps why her work is a bit soundtrack-like (in a slightly abstract way). Because of this it also sounds far more industrial than other electroacoustic releases.

The CD consist of 6 highly abstact tracks that are quite noisy. Blasts of concrete noises turn into drones which seems like the howling of the wind in a sandstorm. Spoken word sometimes surface to be blown away in the next moment. Suddenly we are in an old Metro with a bunch of children and some drunk old people, to wake up again in a city being bombarded. This creates a ghostly atmosphere that should certainly appeal to those who like the darker sides of ambient, or perhaps horror-movie soundtracks.

The work of Monique Jean can best be compared with a droney version of Brume, and with the works of Thomas Dimuzio or Alan Lamb.

Fans of the local actuelle/noise scene should already be familiar with the highly acclaimed Web-based label No Type. For the last five years, No Type has been offering up a quality assortment of experimental noise and actuelle CDs, vinyl and MP3s from a large roster of North American artists. Among these artists is the computer vs. sampler duo of Dontigny and Labrosse, whose April 2002 show at the Casa del Popolo is immortalized here. A soundscape in collage form, ranging from electronic bleeps, hisses and bursts of noise to organic squelches and crumbles and pitter-pats, the sound is at once playful and disturbing. 8/10

Magali Babin se fraye un chemin à travers la matière grise. Matière froide, sans âme, elle tente de lui donner vie. D’une lame en acier trempé à un couvercle de casserole, Magali Babin explore tous les alliages du métal. Fonte de l’enregistrement. Elle forge les sons. Torsion, martèlement, étirement, soudure, cisaillement. Les voix se multiplient et bientôt se perdent dans la grisaille d’une pluie de limaille de fer. Corrosion. Le rythme s’oxyde progressivement. Les enregistrements (tels des photographies) sont punaisés au mur en guise de souvenir. Estompage de la mémoire. Grattage de la surface rouillée pour lui redonner son éclat. Donne à réfléchir.

Diane Labrosse takes pleasure in absurdity, harmony, dissonance, structure and improvisation. Her fascination with unconventional sounds has led her to digital sampling, to which she brings a hard-core approach. For the last fifteen years she has regularly appeared on contemporary, improvised and avant-garde music stages both in Canada and in Europe. Some of her projects are done with Île bizarre (Ikue Mori & Martin Tétreault), L’Oreille à vincent with Christof Migone, Michel F Côté, Martin Tétreault and sound sculptor Jean-Pierre Gauthier.

A self-taught composer, Aimé Dontigny is one of the founding members of the “free-noise” collective Napalm Jazz and of the electronic duo morceaux_de_machines. Dontigny has been working for empreintes DIGITALes and Ambiances Magnétiques. He devotes himself eagerly to the challenges of improvised music and is particularly interested in the development of new electronic music in Canada. His compositions are full of subtle quotes and his sonic palette adapts itself to many aesthetics, as reflected in his recent collaborations with Diane Labrosse

This collaboration is found on Télépathie a new release by No Type records. It is an intense listen, with a loud blend of sounds, movement and ambience. Recorded live on April 20th, 2002 this release captures the direct approach of their unique improvisations. Télépathie is a must for fans of noise, collage, explosions and just plain weird stuff. It definitely pushes the boundaries in music, composition, writing methods and approaches.

After a couple of years of building up an impressive catalog of MP3 and CD-R releases, Todd Drootin of Books on Tape has really pulled out the stops for his first official full-length album. Recording live in the studio to 24-track tape using a set-up based almost exclusively around oid school sound gear, and inviting in a slew of guests including Kerri Kirchheimer on drums and his sister Stefanie Drootin of Bright Eyes on keyboard and vocals, Drootin has put together an exciting and dynamic set that wonderfully meshes his punk and indie-rock roots with his current proclivities for knob twiddling and key pressing.

The material on Throw Down Your Laptops sounds unlike pretty much any other record I’ve heard in quite some time, which is an achievement in a genre that is strewn with so many sound-alikes. Drootin throws down a strong base of thick electro melodies and beefy beats that range from downtempo cool to a jackhammer frenzy. These elements are often left alone to happily co-mingle, but Drootin is also generous with his guests, allowing them to have a strong influence, especially on tracks like The Contenders, a short but sweet collaboration with electro-noise-rock trio Rose For Bohdan. So while Throw Down Your Laptops may not be a record that will change your life, you can at least be guaranteed that it won’t sound like anything else in your collection, and when it comes to today’s electronic music scene, that’s really saying something.