Speaking of intimacy, Jean Derome (reeds, flutes, small instruments, voice) and Joane Hetu’s (reeds and voice) presentation of Nous perçons les oreilles was a touching musical portrait of family intimacy presented by two confident and mature performers who invested every ounce of wit and playfulness at their disposal. This was one of those performances that did not hit one over the head at the time but resonated long after.

Montréal stalwarts Joane Hétu (as, vcl) and Jean Derome (as, flt, perc, vcl) combined song forms, ragged improvisation, and playful theatrics for uneven results. Derome augmented his alto and flute with his usual bag of bells, birdcalls, toys, and even a megaphone for contrasting textures to Hétu’s unpolished alto and cracked, squeezed, and choked singing. There was always a sense of personal play to their set but, too often, it carne off as forced theatrics. The presentation of the Edmonton duo of Laura Kavanaugh (video, sampler, electronics) and lan Birse (electronics) was diametrically opposite to the raw theatricality of Derome and Hétu.

Joane Hétu (voice, saxophone) and Jean Derome (voice, saxophone, small instruments) will launch the last installement of their intimate duo Nous perçons les oreilles, the moving La vie, c’est simple (Life is Simple), with a concert June 13, 2002 at Casa del Popolo (Montréal). This event is part of the “Suoni Per Il Popolo” festival of new music.

An intimate and disconcerting duo composed of Joane Hétu (saxophone, voice) and Jean Derome (saxophone, flutes, small instruments, voice), Nous perçons les oreilles presents, four years after their eponymus album, all-new abstract and melancholic songs on La vie, c’est simple. As Joane puts it very clearly: “The result is related to our relationship. This is a work relationship that gives me a lot of liberty and assumes a lot of complicity. Nous perçons les oreilles are very short, naïve and humoristic songs accompanied by radical bruitist music.”

In terms of emotional depth and sheer exuberance, however, Canada’s almost unclassifiable duo Jean Derome and Joane Hétu’s appearance at Subiaco was a festival highlight. Whether expressing rage over political hypocrisy or celebrating the human spirit, the artists’ idiosyncratic melange of French vocals, saxophones and simple melodic instruments communicated a universality of wit and feeling that rendered any language barrier redundant.

Two saxophones shriek and two voices, haunting sirens, screech on this duet of dissonance pairing of pandemonium. Jean Derome and Joane Hétu are obviously improvising here in a tradition employed by Eugene Chadbourne, Derek Bailey, etc. Abrasive and subversive, these wicked wizards of wail put first a gateway, the lead two songs Nous perçons and Le poinçon. At this entrance they stand, a two-headed Cerebus barking fear into the fainthearted. Inside a rugged landscape of occasional firm footing gibes unexpectedly way to brass-barbed, jagged promontories. Instead of liner notes, the disc is decorated with telling child drawings of dynamic and jarring contrast. Simultaneously, Ambiances Magnétiques has released solo discs (of equal challenge) on each bizarre musician. 3/5