Castor et compagnie

Castor et compagnie

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Radio ›› Castor et compagnie
21 December 1997
By Ireneusz Socha in Studium #10 (Poland), December 21, 1997

Press Clipping

blogue@press-3233 press@3233
1 June 1997
in Hollow Ear (USA), June 1, 1997

Text

“acidic voice plays hard against all of this, and she takes the most obvious themes and makes them her own in surprising ways.”

On this side of the Atlantic, the experiments continue in a more agressive fashion in Montréal. Joane Hétu, wondeur-brasser and composer has released another jarring adventure, Castor et Compagnie. This is her first “solo” recording, although she is joined by AM regulars Diane Labrosse (keys and accordion), Jean Derome (brass, woodwinds, percussion and effects), Pierre Tanguay (percussion) and some bass tracks from Luc Bonin. The beauty of all the music Hétu makes is its refusal to be described by genre or comparison: jazz, new classical, punk-funk, experimental noise; Stockhausen, Glass, Beefheart and Zappa all seem vaguely appropriate until you really listen. Castor et Compagnie adds another element, one of erotic romance. The texts that inspire these pieces come from Hindi love recipes, Arabic sex-play games and old ribald folk songs, and the music created around them is a rich mix of lush and lustful, one moment a Brazilian cliché, the next a raw revel or a scream. Her edgy, acidic voice plays hard against all of this, and she takes the most obvious themes and makes them her own in surprising ways.

blogue@press-1067 press@1067

Other texts in

  • Border Zone Zero (Germany), June 1, 1998
  • Gränslöst #2 (Sweden), June 1, 1997
  • Norra Skåne (Sweden), April 12, 1997
  • Quarta-feira (Portugal), January 8, 1997
  • La Presse (Québec), December 12, 1996
  • Voir (Québec), December 12, 1996
  • Le Journal de Montréal (Québec), December 11, 1996
  • Musicworks (Canada), June 1, 1996
    “… Ce disque présente un très heureux mélange de textes et de musiques d’une grande qualité.”
  • ImproJazz (France), April 1, 1996
    “… Castor et compagnie est un cycle de chansons pour les amoureux de sens, du sens et des sons où se côtoient avec bonheur érotisme, bruitisme et mélodie.”
  • Revue & Corrigée #27 (France), March 1, 1996
    “… Si Joane Hétu se révèle être une chanteuse expressive, à la voix tendre, ou enjouée et gaie (selon le thème abordé), elle est aussi, et surtout, une compositrice et une musicienne/instrumentiste confirmée, qui fait de ses chansons de véritables chefs-d’oeuvre d’orchestration, faits d’arrangements subtils, malicieux, savoureux, auxquels ont contribué Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse et Pierre Tanguay…”
  • Octopus #4 (France), March 1, 1996
  • Margen #5 (Spain), March 1, 1996
  • The Wire #142 (UK), December 10, 1995
    “Highly recommended.”
  • Informator “Ars” 2 #17 (Poland), November 1, 1995
  • Voir (Québec), September 14, 1995
    “… une poésie musicale où se côtoient allègrement amour et érotisme, tendresse et tensions…”
  • Montreal Mirror (Québec), September 14, 1995
    “… If your notion of a good time takes on the heretofore unfathomed form of Nina Hagen scatting, Nina Simone squawking, or Nico rocking, have I got a girl for you!…”
  • Cadence #19:7 (USA), July 1, 1993

Also available in digital format (MP3, etc.) at your favourite online store.

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