As we begin this series of articles on various catalogue-related themes, why not start with the hardest artist to pin down from the Ambiances Magnétiques collective: prolific and eclectic drummer Michel F Côté.

A late arrival to the Ambiances Magnétiques roster (joining in 1988), Côté readily put himself on the fringe of various geometrically variable groups. He could be heard for the first time in the debut Bruire album, Le barman a tort de sourire, a surprise box with no less than 14 guest musicians. Bruire is Côté’s very poetic project-group, in which he plays with the language of avant-garde, song and ambient music. This album launched a trilogy which continued in an increasingly mature vein with Les Fleurs de Léo, to end with the unforgettable L’âme de l’objet. This travelling in three steps has given us the chance to hear collaborators such as Geneviève Letarte, Jerry Snell, René Lussier, Ikue Mori, Claude St-Jean and Jean Derome, all of whom helped to feed our drummer’s fertile imagination.

More than six years passed before a new Bruire project could be heard, this one a very different beast: Chants rupestres, an improv quatuor with Jean Derome, Normand Guilbeault and Martin Tétreault. In fact, during these six years, Côté had been working on other projects which were increasingly more… deconstructed. The first sequels of this could be seen in a collaboration with Diane Labrosse, a slightly obscure CD purposely entitled Duo déconstructiviste. And if the first (double) album from his new project Klaxon Gueule, Bavards, was to sport a fairly recognisable “rock” energy, this project would soon see Côté at his most abstract.

The least we can say is that the release of Muets, a shiny minimalist jewel completely at odds with Bavards, would be a surprise to most listeners. One thing was for sure though, this new CD, released in 1999, was certainly more in phase with its era than the Duo déconstructiviste which was, in retrospect, perhaps too much in advance on its time. But this change was also due to the aesthetic evolution of doublebassist Alexandre St-Onge who, from a relatively “classical” playing, was to suddenly turn to a rather more conceptual approach towards his instrument. Côté and guitarist Bernard Falaise were thrilled to follow their bandmate in this new direction. Their latest album, Grain (recorded with Sam Shalabi and Christof Migone), confirmed this tendancy while pushing it even further into sophistication, making this work one of Côté’s most accomplished of his discography.

But the drummer did not stop there and reappeared where no one was expecting him. Thus, with Éric Bernier and Guy Trifiro, he created a new group, Bob, whose new disc, Unstable Friends, just came out. Under some fairly deviant and attractive cover artwork, a return to the bizarre “pop” music from Bruire’s beginnings is taking shape! We also heard through the grapevine that a new project called Mecca Fixes Clock (in which we can recognise the composer’s initials!) which could be described as orchestral ambient. Is Côté returning to his first loves?

If it isn’t so easy to give an overview of Michel F Côté as a musician, then that might be because his work goes beyond just music. In fact, one can often hear our protagonist at the theatre and in performance art, with such creators as Robert Lepage and Catherine Tardif. This aspect of his work finds its echo on Compil zouave, so far the only disc released under the composer’s name. We should also mention Côté’s previous involvement as a radioshow host at Radio-Canada amongst others, and his writing for contemporary arts magazine Esse.

Michel F Côté may best be seen as a kind of barometer of Ambiances Magnétiques’ creative activity throughout the years: from the song-form experiments of the 1980s through the peculiar lyrical impro-composition which was the signature sound of the AM catalogue in the 1990s, to continue with a more extreme form of improvisation, based on the physical existence of the instrument.

On his eclectic recording on, Côté has assembled varying groups of notable French Canadian musicians to play mostly original material in a very unorthodox way. His bands range from duos to sextets and each uses an approach to music that is certainty atypical. The music has an eerie sense of illusionism to it, being comprised of electronic and acoustic effects that make the listening experience a strange one. Côté is not a traditional percussionist. He uses various objects and electronic devices to set up odd and asymmetrical rhythm patterns and special effects. He is also a strong advocate of using electronic impulses, dial twisting, and recorded insertions with his music. For example, Chet Baker is in the background on the Let’s Get Lost trip, and elsewhere, turntable static and odd effects filter into the mix to substantiate further the nonuniform nature of the program.

All of his cohorts join in on the fun to give the session its flexible. unpredictable appeal. Derome’s strong playing on baritone and the other reeds is more accessible as is the untypical mellow blowing from trombonist Walsh. Most others go off regularty on diverse tangents. Fradette and Falaise allernate with their unusual approach to guitar playing and others wander in and out of the music in theatric, off-the-wall style. Côté mixes Japanese koto music with etectronic imputses on one piece, white overtaid operatic voices or weird time changes suddenly seem commonplace on other tunes.

Côté appears to be trying to convince us that weirdness is the standard but just when you start gening used to this styte he switches to a very straight-ahead, tongue-in-cheek rendition of a song to prevent you from getting comfortable. His music seems to be designed to keep you off balance. and he succeeds in that endeavor.

Compil zouave exercice d’iconoclastie comparée à usage papal. Grand ordonnateur de l’engin: Michel F Côté, musicien — conseil — phonométriste basé à Montréal. Percussionniste sacrilège el hérétique maladif. Sans espoir de guérison aucun. Prenons le reggae par exemple. Pourquoi un tel acharnement? trauma enfantin (son père le frappait-il à coup de dreadlocks), surdose de ganja? toujours est-il que Côte fait subir à la musique jamaïcaine les pires outrages. Le musicien possède un sens aigu de la désorganisation érigée en œuvre d’art, un détournement permanent qui réjouit. Mais avoir les rieurs de son côté ne suffit pas, encore faut-il que l’exercice soit profitable à l’auditeur. C’est le cas me semble-t-il. La musique peut paraître aquatique (Lujon), spatiale (100%B. B. Q. ), dérapante (Ouyouyouille), Côté tel un brise-glace fou fend la banquise de son navire incontrôlable. Attendons avec impatience les prochaines sorties du Saint Père. Peut-être le verrons nous esquisser quelques pas de danse. Ce sera alors le signe de la reconnaissance suprême pour Côté. Le péril zouave nous menace. Préparons-nous.

Cet exercice de phonométrie populaire, tel que l’auteur définit ce recueil, très british d’approche — on pense entre autres aux altérations beresfordiennes — dégage un fort parfum de nonchalance. L’apport de la trompette de Pierre Bastien, présent sur quelques titres, des rythmes placides de ses mécaniums, n’est pas étranger à ce caractère. Mais il n’y a certes pas que cela. Il y a ces manipulations diverses, pour lesquelles Côté est réduit à créer des néologismes succulents pour les évoquer, faute de mieux: batteries cabochonnes. japonaiseries et bridages, manustuprations génétiques, qui constituent autant d’invitations à mettre son nez — et la main de sa sœur! — dans cette compil zouave à laquelle participent, outre le sus-nommé Pierre Bastien, la famille du magnétisme ambiant (Derome, Falaise, Hétu, Labrosse, Tétreault. Fradette…) et quelques autres, qui au koto, qui au feeling canin ou au crooning approximatif, multipliant les approches et les rythmes (même reggae).

Vous vous auto-flattez le rebondi d’avoir l’esprit aussi ouvert! Vous ne dédaignez pas non plus une petite épate à susciter de sincères: “Jamais entendu ça C’est bon c’técoeurant” Et vous avez le cœur résolument festif. Voici l’incontournable de votre prochaine soirée “Moi-même and friends”. Promesse de souverain pontife, la compil zouave va tous les laisser gaga et bouche la bée. Personne n’aura jamais rien entendu de pareil. Et pour tout dire, moi non plus! Le percussionniste Michel F Côté qui a l’insigne honneur d’avoir signé avec Bernard Falaise l’incroyable Encore un peu de saké?, japonaiserie extraite de la bande sonore du film Nô (Robert Lepage), s’est offert le plus insolite bric-à-brac de musiques éthyliques, question de trouver un prétexte pour s’amuser avec une vingtaine de musiciens parmi les plus actifs de la scène zouaviste québécoise! Du boulot de pros qui percute tout azimut, passant du cosmic-jazz, au lo-fly, au néo-reggae et autres indescriptibles modes d’expression dont le point commun d’ancrage est le bonheur de sa rythmique et le plaisir épidermique suscité!

Ever had one of those dreams where you have no idea where you are or how you got there but everything there is upside down, tilted to the left and backwards? And then you wind up falling down a big hole and landing in the velvet lined cocktail lounge of a hotel bar? If so, Compil zouave is perfect for you. It’s an album that defies catagorization; oh, you could try to pigeonhole it in any one of 20 musical categories, only to have it change directions 5 seconds later, leaving you right back where you started. Côté, joined by a cast of over 20 other musicians (including your favorite Ambiances Magnétiques stars! — Ed. ), has created a supernatural sound collage that’s not sure if its coming or going. Some songs sound like free jazz, others resemble drum-n-bass, percolating coffee makers, circus music or random sample-fests played on a malfunctioning turntable. The result is a wonderfully cohesive space odyssey, rather than the garbled mess you might expect of an album this musically diverse. Let’s Get Lost is reminiscent of a 60’s blaxploitation soundtrack, Bavaroise sounds like middle-eastern funk, replete with gratuitous saxophone stabs and opera-like vocals and I Can’t Give You Anything But Love is a Bachrach-style ballad that I’m sure you’ll be hearing in the bar of a Holiday Inn some time soon. What makes Compil zouave so impressive is its ability to “nail” musical genres without compromising its varied and adventurous nature. So grab six or seven different bottles of liquor and a glass, throw on Compil zouave and prepare yourself to be amazed — or perhaps, if you can’t hold your liquor, sick.