The recording moniker of the very talented Emmanuel Scarpa, as Might Brank he brings his vast experiences with both punk and classical, and many places in between, to this drum focused journey.

“Tempus reductionis” opens the listen with harmonic singing alongside playful percussion and plenty of Eastern influences inhabiting the layered climate, and “Onomato” follows with soothing chanting that flows into an ominous quality of medieval like sounds.

In the middle, “onoff” gets quite primitive with its furious and precise drumming acrobatics, while “Sur la harpe” gets a bit hazy and drones with a progressive appeal that’s hypnotic. “Circum ambulatio” exits the listen, and benefits from mysterious percussion and drumming that truly showcases the immense skill that Scarpa possesses.

ASBA drums, gongs, jiny cymbals, Chinese cymbal, bells, metal tubes wood block, voice, vocoder and effects pedals are all handled by Scarpa here, and it’s about as unusual a listen as those instruments imply. It’s also alluring in a trance-like and spiritual sort of way.

C’est un disque court, à peine une demi-heure. Pourtant, sa brièveté ne dérange et ne déroute pas. Elle apparaît au contraire comme une durée idéale à une démarche qui relève davantage de la jubilation et de la fulgurance qu’à l’exercice de composition. Emilie Škrijelj délaisse ici son accordéon et s’installe derrière une platine à vinyle à laquelle elle a joint divers appareils électroniques. Pour sa part, Tom Malmendier reste fidèle à sa batterie qu’il agrémente d’objets divers. Le dialogue qu’ils instaurent dépasse la simple collaboration complice, il tend vers l’osmose. Un sorte d’unisson de sons bigarrés qui couinent, grincent, vagissent, piaulent, piaillent. L’autre soir encore, la paire Malmendier / Škrijelj, qui avait rejoint pour l’occasion l’iconoclaste Pavel Tchikov dans un jardin privé liégeois, démontrait avec brio l’intrigante connivence qui est la leur. Enregistré aux Pays-Bas il y a deux ans et fraîchement réalisé sur l’aventureux label français Carton Records, « Tropism » est leur deuxième album après « Les Marquises ».

Probing the immensity of percussion textures is Belgian drummer Tom Malmendier in these duets, propelling resonances that range from the unexpected to the unforeseen. Cordially stroking parts of a regular kit on Vanguard, he’s paired with another unconventional player Belgian guitarist Dirk Serries. Providing a boost to abstraction on Tropism, Malmendier uses drums and objects to match pulsations from French turntable and electronics player Émilie Škrijelj.

In musical intercourse with Škrijelj, Malmendier’s usual partner, on the other disc her synthesized collection of judders, buzzes, whistles and glitch vibrations cause the percussionist to respond with fragmented rhythms and emphasize twisting and pummeling. These reflex reactions are given the most space to evolve organically on “Patoko Mata”, which at 20 minutes is twice as long as the other two tracks combined. Besides the rugged plops and frenetic beats, in response to Škrijelj’s pennywhistle-like shrills, percussion vibrates timbres that sound like slapping on plastic bottles. As backwards-running tape-flanges that include sped up voices create a section demarcation, the partners reverse roles. Now it’s his paradiddles that are light and understated with her harsh turntable rubs and screeches creating a percussive bottom. Eventually power pumps and cries give way to samples of squealing multi-tracked voices that yowl and yodel beside subtle drum rotation, finally giving way to a concluding drum pop and electronic squeak.

Not what many would imagine when confronted by percussion duos, there are many unexpected and surprisingly positioned textures to be heard on these CDs.

Carton/Insub, 2021

8/10

A trumpet wizard, improviser and composer with a very innovative mind, even though Louis Laurain uses trumpets on this very unusual effort, you’d hardly even realize brass is involved as white noise, air sounds, vibrating metal, and nature, among others, are part of the inimitable formula.

“Franzform” starts the listen with what sounds like a helicopter as this percussive effect emanates from a pair of trumpets used like a stereo PA, effectively setting the tone for the record, and “Rhypnoptic” follows with a polyrhythmic pattern built from a sequence on the values amid feedback on the mixer.

Halfway through, “Satellites For Nawel” manipulates feedback from inside the instrument, as well as copper leaves on the bell, for a very distinct form of distortion, while the title track gets ominous, where the improvisation with an open window allows the sounds of birds, a tractor and even kids alongside the skittering, unclassifiable electronics. “90’s” exits the listen and might the most exploratory track, as the trumpet is transformed into a percussion instrument in Laurain’s very creative approach that involves a loop inside a mixer and valves altering the pitch to make a provisional drum pad.

An extremely original outing, Laurain has a history with jazz, electro-acoustics, visual and performance arts and experimental sounds, and he brings all those facets to a truly fascinating listening experience here.

Carton/Coax, 2021

8/10

A highly unusual effort by the artistic and atypical JF Riffaud, the French musician brings his training as a visual artist and many years frequenting jazz clubs to this electric guitar and synthesizer fueled effort that unfolds with an abstract vision.

“Leaf” starts the listen with 9+ minutes of fascinating repetition that leaves it unclear as to what type of instrument is being utilized in a percussive sort of fashion, and “Nut” follows with a mysterious ambience of almost spacey sounds.

The middle spot is occupied by the firm, mesmerizing “Paan”, which also showcases complicated guitar playing in a very raw delivery, while “Teeth” plucks and wanders in meticulous, even perplexing ways. “Smile” exits the listen, and does so with a bare but impactful sequence of light keys.

A listen that’s influenced by names like Tony Conrad, Morton Subotnik and Sunny Ade, Riffaud manipulates sound in intimate, exploratory and often unconventional patterns that provide much insight into his creative prowess.

9/10

A veteran in the area of electronic music, Julien Boudart brings his skills in Serge Modular synthesizer, field recordings and nonlinear speakers to this highly creative listen that balances bareness with busy textures.

After the 30 second opener, “Ankrousis”, leads the listen with lone bell, “Gorgo” follows with ominous, innovative electronic sounds that resembles snakes slithering in another dimension, effectively intriguing us.

Things only get more unusual from here, including the dark rumbling of “Lambikon”, where sci-fi buzzing roams alongside aberrant, space like moments, while “Perseus (Spondelon)” unfolds with bell manipulation that’s hypnotic, unorthodox and entirely alluring.

Landing close the end is “Golden Rain”, where a cinematic quality is met with percussive like sounds that resemble water, but not in the conventional sense, and “Song Of Libation” exits the listen repetitive, soft and mesmerizing in its artistic delivery.

An absolutely absorbing effort that excels at both synthetic and organic ideas, Boudart’s profound use of the Serge Modular takes us on an unpredictable journey that makes this first solo album a truly genre defying experience.

A quintet consisting of some of the brightest and most talented players in France, Trojan Panda’s Sophie Bernardo, Léo Dupleix, Jozef Dumoulin, Julien Pontvianne and Hugues Mayot bring rock, jazz, experimental and improvised skill to an unclassifiable and fascinating listen.

“Black Madonna” starts the listen with an adventurous 13+ minute track, where hypnotic guitar lines build into a heavily layered mashing of noise and melody that’s both firm and mysterious, and “Mythomane” follows with a calmer approach that’s percussion focused as strategic guitar lines and low bass work weave in and out of the atmospheric landscape.

The middle tracks bring us “Christus Der Uns Selig Macht”, which shimmers lightly for just an exciting minute, while the fragmented “Sylvie Coiffure” displays a cinematic quality where grit and power interact in orthodox yet hypnotic avenues.

Residing near the end, “Joie De Vivre” pushes and pulls with both tension and beauty amid its textured guitars and playful drumming, and “Animal” finishes the listen drenched in reflective beauty that’s more bare than the rest of the album, but certainly no less interesting.

Rumor has it that Trojan Panda traded in their pianos, saxophones and bassoon for guitars, drums and bass, and it wouldn’t surprise me as the artists’ atypical formula and sonically unconventional movements are clearly rooted in immense talent that you’re not going to hear anywhere else.

A scientist and longtime music fanatic, Gilles Poizat releases his first instrumental album here, where he’s armed with just trumpet, modular synth and a very fertile imagination.

“Galet Dérivant (Drifting Pebble)” starts the listen with bare, soulful trumpet as much atmosphere settles into a unique jazz meets electronica hybrid, and “Traversée De La Table (Crossing The Table)” continues this theme with buzzing synth as soaring brass lingers in the background of the very stylish tune.

The middle tracks bring us the manipulated and precise “Amont Des Chútes (Upstream Of The Falls)”, where soft trumpet aligns with skittering electronics that are very subtle, while “Cérémonie De La Brume (Mist Ceremony)” is a minimalistic adventure of meditative electronics as the trumpet enters faintly near the end. “Lignes De Fuite (Vanishing Lines)” exits the listen, and brings an ominous quality where a cinematic appeal floats with both mystery and fascination.

A very adventurous effort that’s also quite intimate, all the electronics other than the last track were done live, and Poizat relearned the trumpet- his first instrument- for this highly creative and absorbing listen.

A true renaissance band, Sebastian Brun is a drummer, producer, composer, and mathematics enthusiast, and here he adds a healthy amount of electronics to a very exciting and often mesmerizing effort where distortion, repetition, and looping are used very artistically.

After a barely audible field recording “Prelude” opens the disc, “Bob Zarkansyél” uses light vocals and playful percussion in the gentle, almost meditative setting of quiet beauty that’s as precise as it is inviting.

Elsewhere, “Ker” spends 8 minutes embracing a sort of New Age tribal approach that builds into a hypnotic and fascinating display of electronic manipulation, while “Interlude I” recruits an almost sci-fi angle of creative and experimental prowess. “Koroll”, one of the record’s best, then takes on an almost robotic ambience with sublime acoustics, too, that you’re not likely to hear anywhere else.

Near the end, “Empty” glides with a mechanical feel that bridges noise and melody, and “Frozen” finishes the listen with 9 minutes of mysteriousness as innovative drumming and adventurous electronica meet at a very iconoclastic intersection.

Brun always has a lot on his plate, including projects like Paraquet and Horns, among others, but let’s hope he still finds time for solo work as his unique vision is some much appreciated ingenuity, that, amazingly, was recorded with no overdubs.

link

Two of the festival’s stand-out sets artfully balanced control and blissful abandon. Late on Thursday night at the Nexus stage, the remarkable new power trio Abacaxi—“pineapple” in Portuguese—summoned an exhilarating fresh sound, geared around maverick guitarist Julien Desprez. Elements of abstraction, snarly noise and prog mixed with the guitarist’s gymnastic, dance-like maneuvers on an array of floor pedals, including stage lighting controls. Premiering at last year’s JazzFest Berlin and a highlight at May’s FIMAV festival in Quebec, Abacaxi is one of the more exciting, genre-blurring and multisensory new ensembles around.

full article