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Radio ›› Chansons d’un jour
Chansons d’un jour
Contemplation, 5m54s [excerpt]
Track 1 from Chansons d’un jour
CD: Ambiances Magnétiques (2000) AM 084
25 November 2003
By François Couture in actuellecd.com (Québec), November 25, 2003

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The Holidays are closing in. Are you wondering what gifts to buy this year? You’re looking for the original gift, the one that will surprise and please? Why not expand the musical horizons of a loved one, a colleague at work, or a cousin you haven’t seen since last Christmas? Here’s my highly personal selection of gift ideas to introduce someone (or yourself, you’re allowed to indulge from time to time!) to the wonderful world of "musique actuelle."

That good ol’ song

It may seem a bit easy, but everyone likes a good song. That said, we don’t all have the same definition of what a good song is. And the artists in DAME’s catalog take some liberties with this format — that’s what makes things exciting. But Geneviève Letarte’s Chansons d’un jour will please anyone looking for songs with intelligent, accessible melodies and poetic lyrics. The soft melancholy of Chants des adieux, chants de la solitude will profoundly move dreamers in search of a different voice (Lou Babin’s, irresistible).

You don’t understand French? The lyrics of Jerry Snell’s album Life in the Suicide Riots will make you think hard about the world we live in. And the chugging guitar riffs of André Duchesne ’s Locomotive will catch the attention of any rock fan, even one deaf to French. Speaking of rock, the deconstructed rock of the all-female group Justine can keep you busy for a while, lyrics or no lyrics. Their first album (Suite) is a powerful mixture of progressist rock, while their second Langages fantastiques leans more toward improvised songs. If you want a taste of what songwriting avant-garde artists can come up with, try the compilation album Chante! 1985-2000, a wide and wild selection of unusual songs.

Party time

A time for celebrating, letting off steam, and disobedience, the party when applied to music can give way to a distortion of admitted rules. L’Orkestre des pas perdusinjects a new form of circus life into fanfare music, an infectious R ’n’ B (rhythm ’n’ brass, of course) that will refresh any parade. Its cousin Les Projectionnistes (both bands are led by Claude St-Jean) trades circus for rock and the brass section transforms from funny fanfare to frenetic funk. Taking a different approach, the Fanfare Pourpour leaves the official parade attire behind to favor the spontaneity of a street fanfare. It’s music for "everyone" (Tout le monde, the title of their first album) without dropping to the lowest common denominator.

In a similar spirit, but adding an East-European flavor and an incredible dose of energy is the group Interférence Sardines, which features two members of the neo-trad group Les Batinses. Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms walks a jazzier road, but its frivolous side easily becomes delightfully exuberant. The group’s three albums are all highly recommended, but Carnets de voyage remains an excellent place to start. And I find the same spirit of excessiveness and raw emotion in La boulezaille (Pierre Langevin and Pierre Tanguay) and Plinc! Plonc! (Jean Derome and Pierre Tanguay), two albums where world music, jazz and free improvisation collide.

And to boldly go where few have gone before

Maybe you would like to go further and hook someone on a kind of "musique actuelle" that is more daring and abstract. Here are a few key albums from DAME’s catalogue in improvised and electronic music.

Martin Tétreault is one of the most fascinating experimental artists right now. His technique at the turntable spins 45 questions per minute. His recent album with Diane Labrosse, Parasites, puts disquieting quiet sounds under the microscope. And Studio — Analogique — Numérique, his fresh collaboration with the Japanese mastermind Yoshihide Otomo, proposes cutting-edge sonic research in very original packaging: a box set of three 3" CDs.

A pillar of the avant-garde music scene since the early ‘70s, Fred Frith remains the favorite of many connoisseurs. The two albums by the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet (with René Lussier, Nick Didkovsky and Mark Stewart) are essential listens. DAME also distributes the titles released by Frith’s own Fred Records.

One of the first groups from the DAME stables to have explored electroacoustic improvisation, the Klaxon Gueule trio revels in noisy textures and demanding pleasures. Their last two albums Muets and Grain met critical acclaim. And I also want to mention the Ohmix compilation album, a daring electronic project where select artists (including Martin Tétreault, David Kristian, John Oswald, Terre Thaemlitz, and Ralf Wehowsky) remix the albums of the label Avatar.

Finally, instead of sending out the usual Christmas cards, consider the sound post cards produced by the label Ouïe-Dire. These are regular post cards accompanied by 3" CDs from French experimental artists. And happy Holidays!

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1 July 2002
By Anna Maria Stjarnell in Collected Sounds (USA), July 1, 2002

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Chansons d’un jour is an inspiring and complex album.”

The Montréal based writer and singer Geneviève Letarte’s album is relaxed in mood and has some intriguing songs. The slowburning opener Contemplation is a great song with a slightly arabic feel to it. Just as good is the sensual La prairie de ton lit (The prairie of your bed). Le Journal sets an ironic account of someone being bored by the lack of violent news in the paper to a restrained backing. Liberté states: “There is no freedom / there is only space and time” and concludes enigmatically “Live in the world of your soul.” These words are set to jazzy tune that recalls “The Walking”-era Jane Siberry. Chansons d’un jour is an inspiring and complex album.

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24 April 2002
By Anna Maria Stjarnell in Collected Sounds (USA), April 24, 2002

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“… relaxed in mood and has some intriguing songs… Chansons d’un jour is an inspiring and complex album.”

The Montréal based writer and singer Geneviève Letarte’s album is relaxed in mood and has some intriguing songs. The slowburning opener Contemplation is a great song with a slightly arabic feel to it. Just as good is the sensual La prairie de ton lit (The prairie of your bed). Le Journal sets an ironic account of someone being bored by the lack of violent news in the paper to a restrained backing. Liberté states: “There is no freedom there is only space and time” and concludes enigmatically “Live in the world of your soul.” These words are set to jazzy tune that recalls The Walking-era Jane Siberry. Chansons d’un jour is an inspiring and complex album.

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1 June 2001
By Pierre Durr in Revue & Corrigée #48 (France), June 1, 2001

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Il y a bientôt deux ans le collectif québécois éditait d’un seul coup plusieurs enregistrements qui se caractérisaient par un contenu artistique similaire: l’improvisation bruitiste déclinée de multiples manières (Lussier / Tétreault, Île Bizarre)

Cet hiver est marqué par un autre tir groupe autour du chant. Tout d’abord une compilation (la 5e) qui resitue certaines pièces dans cet environnement thématique sous toutes ses formes (Chante! 1985-2000). Certes, elle ne comprend pas d’inédits, mais permet de redécouvrir en compact quelques titres issus des productions vinyliques des années 80’ comme celles de Wondeur Brass ou des débuts du duo Lussier/Derome avant qu’il ne devienne les Granules.

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1 June 2001
By Philippe Robert in Vibrations (Canada), June 1, 2001

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“… légères et subtiles, à la frontière de la poésie.”

Canadienne également, Geneviève Letarte évolue dans un autre registre, plus intimiste et sensuel, celui de la chanson. Épaulée par un singulier quintette (accordéon, guitare électrique,trompette, basse et batterie) elle offre ses Chansons d’un jour,légères et subtiles, à la frontière de la poésie.

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23 May 2001
By Tom Schulte in Outsight (USA), May 23, 2001

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“… warm and personal… strike the listener as familiar and nostalgic.”

Genevieve Letarte is a singer that is a poet and novelist as well. Her developed ability to communicate and express emotions comes across on this warm and personal disc. Sparse, almost Western, accompaniment by electric guitar and drums joins Letarte in delivering her original songs that strike the listener as familiar and nostalgic.

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

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