À son retour du 20e FIMAV, où il participait à l’un des rares concerts qui ont suscité une belle unanimité, Martin Tétreault s’attelait à la tâche de préparer 500 nouvelles copies de ce coffret de 3 mini-CD tout juste paru chez Ambiances Magnétiques. Avec son comparse Yoshihide, Tétreault a d’abord enregistré une séance live au New 28 Studio, en France, dont certains extraits forment le premier disque. Repartis chacun de leur côté avec les bouts non utilisés pour ce premier mini-CD, Tétreault a produit un montage sur magétophone et Yoshihide sur ordinateur. On est ici dans le ronflement de la lutherie: frottements de l’aiguille sur le plateau du tourne-disque, respiration électronique, sifflements parasites et vents stellaires. C’est dans les petites boîtes qu’on trouve les meilleurs bruits. 4/5
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press@2218
Une rencontre symbolique entre deux générations de créateurs, Télépathie fait le pont entre le cercle d’Ambiances Magnétiques et la culture mp3 de l’étiquette No Type. Diane Labrosse manie l’échantillonneur comme un poème: identifiables ou non, ses sons nous arrivent métamorphosés. Aimé Dontigny (du duo morceaux_de_machines) a une approche plus bruitiste, carrée. Son ordinateur crache plus qu’il ne susurre. Et ce disque voyage entre ces deux pôles. Atmosphérique, truffé de textures crépitantes au début, il se laisse pervertir par le bruit blanc et les hurlements numériques vers la fin. Dénué de rythmes et de mélodies, ce disque est néanmoins captivant, grâce à la télépathie des improvisateurs. 8/10
Vous êtes artiste en devenir? Imaginez l’opportunité de jouer dans un film avec Robert De Niro, ou bien de peindre aux côtés de Cézanne. C’est celle que vit présentement le jeune guitariste montréalais Antoine Berthiaume, qui sort cette semaine son tout premier album enregistré en collaboration avec deux légendes de la guitare électrique.
Soshin, sur l’étiquette de musique actuelle Ambiances Magnétiques, se veut une exploration des possibilités infinies de la guitare. Sur toutes les pistes sauf une, Berthiaume improvise en duo tour à tour avec les guitariste britanniques Derek Bailey et Fred Frith. Soshin est une présentation de la démarche artistique du jeune musicien, le dévoilement de l’apprentissage en improvisation qu’il entreprend depuis des années.
La musique actuelle, dite «free music» ou «instant music» dans le milieu, est l’aboutissement moderne des courants du jazz. Cette musique peut sembler dépourvue de sens et quelque peu cacophonique à première écoute. Pour l’oreille avertie, elle captive, obsède, et surtout elle fait vivre des émotions rebelles.
Les carrières des anglais Bailey et Frith s’étendent sur plusieurs décennies déjà. Musiciens de jazz connus en Angleterre, Bailey a enregistré plus de deux cents albums tous genres, et Frith enseigne aujourd’hui au prestigieux Mills College en Californie.
Bailey et Frith sont de grands innovateurs. Ils m’inspirent tant au plan musical que professionnel, ils sont tous deux généreux et humbles. Je n’étais donc pas nerveux lors des enregistrements» explique Berthiaume, lors d’une entrevue accordée à Voo. Malgré toute la fierté qu’Antoine Berthiaume ressent en collaborant avec deux grands musiciens, il affirme ne pas pouvoir s’enfler la tête. «Mes amis et ma famille ont aucune idée qui sont Bailey et Frith, les gens qui m’entourent ne sont pas impressionnés. Seules quelques personnes sont venues me féliciter» dit-il en souriant. À noter que la plupart des amis d’Antoine étudient à l’École Polytechnique.
À 25 ans, Berthiaume jouit déjà d’un horaire bien rempli. Il étudie présentement à l’Université de Montréal en composition de la musique contemporaine, sous la direction de Denis Gougeon. Il se donne en spectacle plusieurs fois par semaines avec diverses formations de jazz traditionnel. Et il y a Soshin. Berthiaume explique «J’aimerais pouvoir éventuellement n’avoir qu’un seul projet et y inclure tous les styles musicaux que j’affectionne. Mais pour l’instant, c’est noir ou c’est blanc.» Pour plusieurs, Antoine Berthiaume deviendra une importante figure de relève de la scène montréalaise. Malgré cela, il ne voit pas toujours la métropole en rose. «La culture du spectacle n’est pas aussi forte ici qu’elle ne l’est en Europe, par exemple. Il n’y a pas beaucoup d’engouement pour les nouvelles choses. Généralement, ce sont les mêmes visages dans tous les spectacles. Cette réalité est un peu triste, mais j’ai tout de même confiance.»
Antoine Berthiaume est un artiste intègre comme il en existe peu. Il est fidèle à sa complexité musicale et à son dévouement pour l’art véritable qui se retrouve dans la démarche et le travail intellectuel. Ses compositions souhaitent toujours innover, explorer et lutter contre le nivellement vers le bas. On comprend qu’il n’est pas toujours facile d’apprécier les compositions de Berthiaume. Pourtant il est certain qu’elles passionneront les adaptes du jazz nouveau.
blogue@press-2248
press@2248
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.
For once I have split the label reviews — there are two other No Types in here — because of the variety. Recap the story — web label (with host of wonderful free music) mentioned often times in &etc went ’real’ last year in conjunction with DIFFUSION i MéDIA (purveyors of the empreintes DIGITALes electroacoustic label, also seen across the issues, most recently the last). The first batch of releases were reviewed here (2002_3, 7 and 8), and now we see the next fruits.
The first release (number 1&2) was the double compilation ’Freest of Radicals’ that introduced us to some of the people featured on the ’web — but with new tracks. In an even more extensive production, here we are presented with four studio albums from improv groups representative of the new sound of Montréal, particularly centring on the Casa del Popolo, featuring a slightly overlapping membership. So into it.
First, this is improvised free jazz — furious, complex, intricate, dense and frenzied. To buy it you would have to be interested in the music — 220 minutes is not for the faint hearted. I find that I listen to it somewhat like the music — in bursts. And in the right mood — my first encounter with Po was fairly negative as I was a bit tense — not relaxing music. And finally it is also hard to describe — so these reviews will be more overviews rather than the usual detailed description. I will also work through in a non-sequential order on the basis of accessibility (to me).
The Trio is Chris Burns, Nicolas Caloia and John Heward on guitar, bass and drums, and that more traditional lineup delivers the most accessible album. While the instruments are all given fairly equal value in the mix, the guitar predominates, probably because you can do more with it in sonic terms — even more as we’ll see on the other albums. The first six tracks, titled ’Presence #X’ are relatively short, between 3 to 8 minutes, shift through relaxed twangy guitar and a solo in #1, through the faster #2 with some sliding-ping guitar, to the bass driven #3 in which the instruments gradually coalesce but remain tentative. Strange creaks twangs and scratches on #4 develops a western guitar and buzzy bass, while #5 opens with a melodic guitar/bass set, becoming scratchy and edgy before a short drum solo that presages a more extended solo in #6 with light bass and guitar behind out of which some bendy guitar builds. The final track is a more extended 20 minutes and sees the group work through moods which have been presented individually in the shorter pieces, building from a very soft scrape through some buzzing to a drum pushed noise guitar solo, dropping to a brief drum solo joined by restrained guitar and bass, then almost silence before another gradual development to a shimmeringly percussive climax then fading. The instrumentation is well balanced and the approach never gets too harsh on this disk which makes it the easiest listening — though none are easy.
Next to Belan Mecanique, the superest-group here — six members on sax, trombone, bass, keyboards, guitar and drums. This was my second choice — I initially had favourite, but this set is too diverse for favourites — because while the size of the group tends for a full explosive sound, the diversity of instrumentation provides a broad sound palette which offers the most variation. The group offer a mixture of three short pieces — basically 1 or 2 minute full on aural explosions, and four much longer pieces which allow them to explore their dynamic. The tracks tend to be precipitous rolling sound works where each member is driving away, separately but somehow providing some cohesion, easing back at times. The ear either picks out particular instruments or the engineers place people at different places in the mix at different times. ’Gypt Gore use the idea of action painting in one of their titles, but it works for this too. ’Les elephants n’oublient jamais’ for instance turns through fast honking sax with drums and sliding trombone added, keyboards whizz almost sci fi. A quieter period before the drifting vortex gets bigger and bigger, easing to allow the piano to be heard, then the trombone moves forward, gtr sax and xylophone into a restrained minimal section, piano sax and rim drums swinging in to a soft end. There is a mysterious mood throughout ’Rouages’ that builds to a choppy quacking centre before drifting back to a lighter touch via some descending guitar and trombone laughter. Some more ambient periods (in relative terms) through ’Brule-pourpoint’ emphasise the range that the group can work in while the final ’Racines’ has some nice sax swing and even beer house piano. While there is more democracy in this group, the wind instruments probably are more distinct in the wall of sound with the guitar playing a more supportive role. The keyboards — which include some electronica — provide interesting shading while the rhythm section keeps things moving. The dynamism seen here, and the variations, make this disk very re-approachable.
’Gypt Gore is primarily Philemon (sax) and Sam Shalabi (guitar) who were also in Balai. They carry the energy from that group, but the music is constrained by the instrumentation. The music is exciting — they are like a perpetual motion machine as the sax blows wildly and the guitar picks and plays short fast and furious. Luckily there are periods where the playing is slower or more restrained — the slow and sensuous opening to ’Flakes’ for example or ’Narcoma action painting’ which has the speed but seems somehow more relaxed. On a couple of tracks Thierry Amar (bass on Balai) joins and the playing becomes more relaxed: in ’Corridors tresses’ it adds a depth and the solos are gentler and then ’Blue soon’ has a slow bass entry and the sax and guitar are gentler and there is a sensuous sax solo — perhaps having the rhythm instrument gave the group a more grounded approach. An additional guitar (Andrew Dickson) appears on two tracks and again there seems more restraint on ’Flakes’ and there are drones and some nice duets in ’Navigation pacifique’. The full intensity and focus of this album are what make it less easily absorbed, but it is absorbing and dramatic.
Po present seven ’Provocative Operations’ that combine drums, two guitars (including prepared) and double bass in what was for me the most difficult album. It may be that the instruments have been most removed from their ’natural’ sounds here making it more demanding or the more oblique attacks. It opens with brief warming up before a bubbling machine of sound — scrapey guitar mumbles as the music drives on, and there appears to be some bowing as the music get quieter. In the second part scratching and squeaks with a slow percussion, sounds like violin and piano, building puttery, then ringing prepared guitar, strong bass stepping, a sort of static momentum of sound; lots of short notes with a Chinese feel; growls purrs and plitterplatter to a big climax. The third part has squeaks and growls (of wind?) that dialogue with twangy guitar into a dense web of notes (that sounds like some multitracking but the suggestion is these recordings mirror the live experience). An uncertain rhythm builds through the fourth, the maelstrom of sound including some sitar-guitar, and a rolling drum keeps a couple of guitars in chop. With the fifth piece Po show they can create atmospheric filmic moods, subtle with a Theremin or bowed-saw sound from the guitar. In six things hot up again, the band futzing along as a melodic guitar plays, then paralleled by a fast guitar in a duel/t, softening and rebuilding before some motor-bowed guitar. Finally another more contemplative piece, tinkling, strumming, a hollow percussion (prepared guitar), building a little but held back. This album takes the sounds further and generally brings the listener along with them, if the ears are open and clear.
This is a daring product for No Type to come out with — people who know the Montréal scene will be drawn to it, but in the wider world there may be more uncertainty. While I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone (in fact I wouldn’t for most things I review — we all have such different tastes and preferences) I would suggest that people who are interested in improvised music, tending to the jazz end, seriously consider it whether as an introduction to the form or an addition to their collection. I enjoyed these disks more than I thought I would — improv is an area I am developing my listening skills in. The variety between and within the performances means that there is much that will interest most people, and it offers a great opportunity (at a good price) to listen to some mainly intense music (though there is some light and shade which allow you to recover) which may stretch your expectations, and should definitely excite you.
(I don’t generally do this, but I looked on site and this set costs $40 (can) and had a 10% discount when I was there. As a single album costs $25 (can), this is great value.)
The album opens as a sinister laugh cackles and Fred Frith saying “That’s an interesting technique you have there.” The laugh becomes oddly infectious as Tanguay pushes the first improv off with a hearty beat, interrupted by a ruptured duck call, strange wind instruments and distant guitar strumming. Interesting technique is what defines this album, and it’s no surprise that three improvisers of this stature have created a series of works that are dynamic, encompassing, humorous, psychedelic and fascinating.
Guitarist Frith and multi-wind instrumentalist Jean Derome are well known, and equally deserving of such attention is the excellent drummer Pierre Tanguay (Derome and Tanguay are each part of Montréal’s Ambiences Magnetiques collective). San Francisco-based engineer Myles Boise might also be little recognized, functioning here both as engineer and real-time sound manipulator. The musicians are all masters of their instruments and it shows as they pull off a sometimes introspective, sometimes dizzying, often melodic display of ideas. Boise intervenes, subtly shifting the sound quality of one or all of the musicians, panning and manipulating the image of the sound or even chopping the sound out to shake up the listener. Derome here would give John Zorn a run for his money, with a host of saxes, small wind instruments, hand percussions and game calls. He provides the most melodic moments of the release, generally on breathier instruments where he plays with a kind of naivety to good affect. Tanguay is very active, cutting up and holding together the improvisations, and also providing unusual percussive elements and “objets”. Frith is perhaps the most conservative on this session, more often creating underpinnings over which the ideas are developed. The works are neither predictable nor chaotic, and everyone is clearly listening closely as they move into adventurous territories or pull back to let the music surround.
The entire album was realized in one day in a California studio, and one can’t imagine that any alternate takes exist of any of these works. They are as ethereal as they are interesting, and monumental as an almost telepathic display of master improvisers working together and having a good time of it. The music is dramatic, playful, frightening, complex, joyous, thoughtful, accessible and a little bit tilted. All improvisations should be so successful!
blogue@press-3689
press@3689