Le catalogue complet de l’étiquette électroacoustique Intransitive Recordings (sise à Cambridge, Massachussetts) est maintenant disponible sur electrocd.com. Avec Nerve Net Noise, Gal, Loren Boyer et la compilation Variious.

Du 11 au 13 juillet 2003, Champs électriques (Galerie Saw, Ottawa) présente Epsilon Lab, Helvetica, Arturo Parra, Jean Piché, Monique Jean et Louis Dufort.

Tout chauds et frais sortis de l’usine, trois nouvelles parutions No Type: Hey Typical! (vinyle 10” bleu) par le flamboyant Books on Tape, May ’68 (vinyle 10” clair) de l’énigmatique Claudia Bonarelli et finalement We Remain Faded (CD) du savant fou des ondes Headphone Science.

It’s not easy reviewing a record by one of the very fathers of acousmatic music: any word is useless in front of sound juxtapositions that cross boundaries through heart, brain and studio mastery, reaching for a pure beauty that’s just visible in front of you, almost tangible. Such is the case of Jalons, the newest collection of Francis Dhomont who — at 77 years of age — can still compete and dominate among the electroacoustic composers of our time. This work is made of tracks from various years, going all the way from concrete sounds to pure electronics (Drôles d’oiseaux). I particularly love Dhomont’s use of animal voices amidst the orchestral samples, for example the dog bark coupled with a string with arco in a marvellous piece — maybe the top of the CD — called Un autre printemps. The whole release is full of splendid moments and catching audio images; in a time where any young turk with a buzzing laptop is labelled “genius” I’m honoured to listen to Francis Dhomont and watch wonderful sunlight refractions through the diamond that’s his art.

This is part of the No Type single series (and the difference in numbering places them in sequence with the on-line offerings) some of which will be 10” vinyl, though this is full length, at EP price.

Dontigny (computers) is a founder member of Napalm Jazz, half of morceaux_de_machines which has a No Type release and appears across the web-based catalogue, while Labrosse (samplers) has been in bands and is part of the Montréal music scene. This disk was recorded live at Casa del Popolo — the club reflected in the Montréal Free set.

The sound is what you would expect from the listed instrumentation — shifting moving comprised of generally small elements manipulated and modulated. And thus it is in t.s.f. where scrabbles whooshes blurt over a base of looped/slowed/sped musical samples. There are lots of echoes and it is as if we are adrift in a sea of sounds. A rhythm enters midway through and settles the music down somewhat but movement is the focus.

The second track antenne parabolique is in similar territory, with a soft thuddering, chittering, machine rumbles, squeaky scrapes with the tonal computer providing a basal stability. It continues with more elements — clattering percussive, computer music, long tones, whippoorwills and squeaky hiss. I was listening to this coming from the car where our horses are agisted and in the distance I could hear a wind pump creaking — and it fitted in beautifully.

There is a lighter more immediately ambient feel to photo satellite with a hissing that has notes and tones through, a musicality. This sequence lasts for some minutes — a greater stability. Spirals emerge, whoozy whoops, a brief wind storm and deep music. Mechanical waves crash — or it could be a train — and a lovely long slowly changing period ensues, gradually building but never exceeding.

Finally a more electroacoustic directness in média tactique as an extended vocal sample speaks through metal wash and deep throbs and bangs. Then choppy samples are woven together — disco beats, music fragments, some reggae dub — to create a dramatic rhythmic energy, over which some squeaky door electronics and growls swirl.

I was impressed by the variety across this album — there was much more than I expected. This makes it an interesting album to listen to, and also one which can form surprising backdrops to the world around us in a lowercase manner.

A Canadian duo, this is their first label release and contains two demos — the single long track and a second series of short pieces. The packaging (obliquely) and title appear, from their ’manifesto’, to relate to architectural and social dreams for a better world which always fail. ’I am fatigued by dreams of a better world. They are so many, they no longer inspire’. I read that before listening to the music, and was worried by the sense of ennui — and wondered how the sounds would reflect this.

Indulge me while I look at the second half first. There are seven tracks in about 30 minutes, and while they track across three years, they are almost an addendum to the opening track. ’Lullaby’ starts with slow backwards voice and tones and then swaps to a piano, almost straight, and soprano (singing a probably well known aria) that is very subtly and skilfully looped. Big crunchy tones, industrially ambient, with a voice entering later, ending woobly in ’Terminal’ before the brief ’No5’ where more big noises segue into tonal pulses. Something of a trend is emerging with ’Solitaire’ when pulsing industrial ambient with hypno-tape is overtaken by a building buzz, then a tapping over that before the voice loops at the end. The oldest piece on the disk is perhaps the most immediately striking (and makes it onto the sampler). A haunting ambience of scrapes tocs and washes is joined by a disturbed voice saying variants of “he’s gone”. Small breath cuts create percussive effects, then we move to ticking scrapes and heavy thudder as a different voice talks about “she’s crying”. ’Tlia3ml’ travels from a high scraping buzz that drops under soft tones but returns refreshed with some percussive, then another short compilation of rumbles choppedsamples ping and other noises rapidly alternating in ’Scission’. The final track is ’Southern yukon/northern bc (and perhaps parts of alaska)’ a slowly burning combination of soft buzz, crackles and binaural ticks that gains little tonalities, puttering, a deep dronal tone, cycling wash, pinging scratches, pulsing and clicks building to a very active state at 10 minutes, some voice, a brief dip and then a full noise assault for a minute which suddenly ends. Snap.

These tracks demonstrate a fair bit about Coin Gutter — they construct and assemble their pieces, more akin to the electroacoustic style; in that construction they shift the sound of a track quite a distance across its length; they are not averse to either noise or mellifluousness; their sound palette is broad and they focus on the details. As an album in its own right, this collection would not be uninteresting, but the wow-factor on the album comes during the 36 minutes of ’Lift with the knees’.

The first time I played/scanned this album, just to get an idea of it, the track turned me off, and it was only when I went into full listening did I get into it. The opening few minutes is a noise assault as a high buzz becomes white noises which has things in it but is quite in-there. It slips to one channel and gradually fades to a crackle, after which the piece moves into its more enfolding phase. It is a sequences of musical constructions that slide effortless into each other as an interlocking suite. Composed of all manner of sounds — tones, crackles, drips, phone tones, beats, piano, little noises, blurts and more it is varied and yet consistent. Echoes and shimmers, loops and gradual modulations, changes of pace and mood create a series of musical images, pictures at an exhibition that we are walking through, the aura of one touching onto the next and affecting our view as we bring it into focus. Some are small pictures while others are larger or more intricate. It would be difficult to try and describe each, some reflect the activity in the shorter pieces, though there is less voice in there. The whole coheres and the parts are impressive.

Either half of this release would be worth hearing and having, together they make a great impression. But definitely one where you need to listen to more than the opening 30 seconds.

The disk is part of an ’abstract’ (less dependent on beat?) series — Magali Babin was the first and another is slated for later in the year.

I was lucky enough to get a promo-sampler, and the material on that from the forthcoming albums suggests the next lot (Books On Tape and Bonarelli with 10” vinyl and a Headphone Science album) derive from the third arm (aside from improv) of intelligent and exciting ’techno’.