If you’ve ever heard and enjoyed avant garde works like David Byrne’s The Catherine Wheel (or even The Body by Roger Waters and Ron Geesin), then you might find the sound sculptures by Diane Labrosse to be delectable. Of the 29 short pieces, I particularly enjoyed the hymn Temerite, which is graced with a surprising willingness to be musical, and the minimalist Pudeur, which features some spooky cool whispers. I wasn’t really fond of anything else, but at least there aren’t too many back-to-back-punches (like the unfathomably irritating Pondération and Discernement ) that make you want to throw a brick on her CD.

Everybody remembers some of these popular sayings found in the dictionary, short sentences presumably holding a piece of Truth. Does wisdom consist of knowing (and understanding) these sayings, or wouldn’t it be, like Diane Labrosse does, recreating them, knocking them out of their trajectory, giving them new meaning? Isn’t wisdom made in part of irreverence? Labrosse, master samplist at Ambiances Magnétiques, proposes with Petit traité de sagesse pratique (“Little treatise on practical wisdom”) her second solo album. The first, Face cachée des choses, showcased her alone in introspective pieces. This project required many guns from the Ambiances Magnétiques arsenal: Michel F Côté (percussion), Jean Derome (alto sax, flutes, birdcalls, toys), Joane Hétu (alto sax), Alexandre St-Onge (double bass, prepared bass guitar), Pierre Tanguay (drums, percussion), Martin Tétreault (turntables) and Rainer Wiens (prepared guitar).

Petit Traité de Sagesse Pratique takes the shape of a “book” grouping the 37 modernized sayings into five chapters of about ten minutes each. The sayings (in French) are all diverted from their original meaning through play of words, and would not make any sense if translated in english. If you don’t understand french, you will definitely lose a dimension of this album. But the revamped sayings are paired with musical snapshots meant to relate to determined styles (from gavotte to free jazz, symphony to medieval). These styles should be understood as inspirational sources rather than a program in themselves. The cohesion of this record is surprising: with so many tracks, it would have been easy to fire everywhere at once. Petit traité de sagesse Pratique revolves around an esthetical center consisting of a blend of sonic exploration and musical tradition. Behind the improvisations taking an important role in every snippet, one feels Labrosse’s hand firmly holding the helm and maintaining the goal. A successful project, a record full of ideas resisting to multiple listens. And one must point out the beautiful artwork, a notch above what is usually found on this label.