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Réédition de 1986, cette pépite d’un trio important pour l’histoire du label (formé de Diane Labrosse, Danielle Palardy Roger et Joane Hétu) offre toutes sortes de hurlements de saxophone alto, brassés par des boites à rythmes qui sonnent tellement archaïques aujourd’hui. Le jeu de batterie est bien foutraque qui confère, grâce à l’adjonction des DX7 et autres, un petit côté Tuxedomoon dérangé et piailleur. Morceau d’histoire.
blogue@press-2411
press@2411
With the notable exception of sugary pop, all music styles are dominated by the male. Whether he’s grunting into the microphone, strumming his guitar, or blowing his lungs out on the saxophone, the manly man monopolizes the image of the musician, be it in corporate rock or on the new music scene. When women venture into his domain, they are often coerced into fitting the mold of the industry.
That’s why it is so surprising to find this many creative, challenging, talented women in DAME’s catalog. But one should not forget that early in its lifetime the collective Ambiances Magnétiques welcomed three artists whose musical activities, organizing minds and determination provided a force of attraction for other women. Of course, I am talking about Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse and Danielle Palardy Roger.
Our three protagonists met at the turn of the ‘80s in Wondeur Brass and pursued their association into Les Poules and Justine. First an anarchist/feminist big band, Wondeur Brass was a laboratory to Joane, Diane and Danielle. They honed their skills — Joane, self-taught, literally learned to play music while playing music in it. Their own blend of modern poetry, free jazz and rock-in-opposition already took center stage on the LP Ravir. From the sextet featured on this first effort, the group scaled down to a quartet (with bassist Marie Trudeau as the fourth member) by the time of Simoneda, reine des esclaves. This line-up soon took the name Justine for three more albums (credited to the name of the individual musicians, La légende de la pluie can be seen as a collaboration between Justine, Zeena Parkins and Tenko) and the feminist discourse got gradually subsumed, making way for a growing playfulness that reached its peak on the phenomenal album Langages fantastiques.
Soon after the release of Langages fantastiques, the three girls launched their solo careers. Linguistic marvel and a rough delivery keep singer and saxophonist Joane Hétu close to the field of outsider art. First she formed her own group Castor et compagnie (with Labrosse, Jean Derome and Pierre Tanguay) which has recorded two albums of sensual and twisted songs in direct relation to Justine’s music. Later she turned to improvisation, first in a duo with her life partner Jean Derome as Nous perçons les oreilles (We Pierce Ears) and later solo with the intensely intimate album Seule dans les chants. She recently proved her worth in large-scale composition with her marvelous Musique d’hiver.
Toward the end of Justine’s life, Diane Labrosse traded in her keyboard for a sampler. After a solo album, Face cachée des choses, a duo album with percussionist Michel F Côté (Duo déconstructiviste) and a guest spot in the latter’s group Bruire (on Les Fleurs de Léo), she wrote a piece for improvisers (Petit traité de sagesse pratique) before devoting her time to improvisation. Parasites (her ongoing collaboration with Martin Tétreault) and Télépathie (with Aimé Dontigny) show how it is possible to handle a sampler with grace and sensibility.
Since the disbanding of Justine, Danielle Palardy Roger’s discography has been growing slowly — she’s very busy organizing concerts as head of Productions SuperMusique. Her children’s tale L’oreille enflée (featuring the voices and instruments of Derome, Hétu and André Duchesne among others) speaks to a young audience with an intelligence too rarely found in such projects. And Tricotage, her improv session with French bassist Joëlle Léandre, reminds us how refined her drumming can be.
In 1986, Joane, Diane and Danielle took a vacation away from Wondeur Brass to investigate the limits of the pop song format under the name Les Poules — The Chicks (Contes de l’amère loi, freshly reissued). Recently they reformed the trio, this time pushing the music toward a form of improvisation rich in subtle textures, blending quiet noise, active listening, and lyricism. Prairie orange is the first effort from this awaited return to collective work.
The presence within Ambiances Magnétiques of these three creators has attracted to the label other female artists with similar interests. The first one to join the roaster was Geneviève Letarte, who has recorded two beautiful albums of poetic songs (Vous seriez un ange and Chansons d’un jour). Lately, DAME’s catalog has welcomed performer Nathalie Derome, guitarist Sylvie Chenard, pianist Pui Ming Lee, along with Queen Mab members Lori Freedman and Marilyn Lerner who each delivered a solo album (À un moment donné and Luminance).
So, is musique actuelle a man’s world? Listen to these few hints and you’ll see for yourself.
blogue@press-3044
press@3044
Canadian trio Les Poules existed at a point where ambitious oppositional rock churned up in the wake of Henry Cow converged with the lawless new wave energies of groups like The Raincoats and lUecoex. Les contes de l’amère loi (Ambiances Magnétiques), recorded in 1986, is a concept album of sorts, addressing relationships between human emotions and technology, but there’s nothing grandiose or inflated about it. Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse and highly effective drummer Danielle Palardy Roger all play synthesizers and manage to make them gutsy and urgent. All three sing too, carefully stylised and dramatic. Added pungency comes from Hetu’s alto playing, at times reminiscent of the feisty approximations of Lora Logic. The Iyrics are vivid and witty. It’s an album that always impressed, in much the way Cassiber’s reconds have done, and arguably it sounds stronger now than when it first appeared.
blogue@press-2202
press@2202
In 1986 Les Poules debuted with the LP Les contes de l’amère loi. This LP was rereleased in 2001 on CD and maybe it is because of this that the members of Les Poules thought by themselves: “Why not make a second work?” Anyway Les Poules had some reason after an interval of some 15 years, for sticking together again. Of course differences between two albums are obvious and big. There are more differences then similarities in my perception. The first album has song-structured pieces. The music is extravert, loud, often melodic. Quirky and jumpy saxplaying. Electronics are played by keyboards. They sing self written texts. Prairie orange shows in some aspects an opposite face: the music now is very introvert, abstract and reflective. It has a non-verbal use of voice.
Comparing both albums it is also possible to demonstrate or illustrate a development that has taken place in the more experimental regions of jazz and rock in the last 20 years. Conventional musical forms and techniques have been left behind, due to integration of what radical improvised music and noise music has brought to us. The focus is more on texture, colour, musical potential of sound. For this purpose all kind of extended techniques are discovered and used.
Another point is that the pool of Ambiances Magnétiques musicians has many women amidst them. It is an important characteristic for this scene that women form a considerable part of this family. Some groups or projects have - intented or by coincidence - an all-women line up (Wondeur Brass). This is also the case for Les Poules. In 1986 and now in 2003 Les Poules is formed by: Joane Hétu (alto sax, voice), Diane Labrosse (electronics, voice) and Danielle Palardy Roger (percussions, voice). Together they succeeded in this phase of their careers and development in making an interesting album again. In 9 pieces they evoke what they experienced being in a desert, a Prairie orange.
blogue@press-2204
press@2204
Originally part of an arts project from 1986, Les contes de l’amère loi is a remastered re-release of one of the odder sections of keyboard-heavy strangepop that you’re likely to hear. Les Poules are a three-piece with largely-electronic instrumentation, and their album seems to mine the “there’s something not quite right here” vein pretty heavily. Shades of music-for-insane-royalty flow through the disc, particularly when it dips into the sort of tonal palette favoured by Drew Neumann’s score for Aeon Flux — a cross between high-tech and high-cheese.
At times sounding like a couple of kids fumbling on an old Casio, Les Poules display a naive approach to music-making that pays off immensely; the simplicity of children’s television soundtracks is invoked, only with a sense of something darker involved. The sense of an unbalanced world is perhaps best described in Chanson du pain, which sounds like it was ripped out of an episode of Inspector Gadget. There’s slightly jaunty, slightly creepy synthwork, and upbeat harmonies… sung about a missing — only to conclude with the thought that it’d be nice if she returned, because the narrator’s getting hungrier and skinnier. It’s like an evil fairy tale, and portrays the best part of the album: the sense of unease that permeates some kinds of happiness, the same sort of thing that makes some people terrified of clowns. Whatever that lurking horror is, it’s here in spades.
In short, you should really check this disc out; it’s got enough weirdness to keep any Bungle-head occupied. Scratchings beyond its dayglo carny sleeve will reveal a delightful darkness.
blogue@press-2134
press@2134
Poule, n.f. 1 Femelle du coq. 2 Nom familièrement donné aux prostituées de haut vol. 3 Trio formé de Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse et Danielle Palardy Roger, auteur des Contes de l’amère loi, mythique album enregistré en 1986. Faites votre choix. Le mien est tout fait et je me réjouis de voir enfin réédité cet OVNI déglingué. C’est que Les Poules c’est quelque chose: de l’électro artisanale, du beat garage, des accélérés et ralentis de voix, de l’absurde première classe, des contes (celui de l’amère loi justement) dont on ne connaîtra jamais la fin. Les Poules avaient trouvé un cure-dent (synthétiseurs analogiques, batterie électronique) et faisaient avec. Toutes griffes acérées, curieuses et avides d’absolu, elles s’élançaient pour le grand plongeon (Ode au parachute que n’auraient pas renié les grands frères de ZNR). Reines de la bricole, elles contaminaient la bizarrosphère. Depuis, silence radio. Pour la pétition: On veut Les Poules! signez à droite en bas de page. Prière de faire suivre.
blogue@press-2141
press@2141