I morceaux_de_machines del duo canadese composto da A_dontigny e Érick d’Orion non vogliono sentire ragioni. Danno bando alle ciance e cacciano dalle loro mani una bestia di disco, efferato e distruttivo. Erano tempi che non sentivo un disco di free elettronica così compatto, incompromissorio e creativo. Il cd è composto da tre registrazioni diverse, di cui due catturate dal vivo, smontate e poi rimontate in un diverso ordine, e in cui si avvalgono della collaborazione di tre grandi personaggi, molto presenti nella scena canadese: sono infatti della partita nientedimeno che Diane Labrosse, Martin Tétreault e Otomo Yoshihide. Un collettivo di turntablists a cui si deve aggiungere l’uso sfrenato di effetti, oggetti e percussioni elettroniche. A_dontigny ed Érick d’Orion superano in ferocia la loro creatura Napalm Jazz, di cui i morceaux_de_machines rappresentano la naturale evoluzione; i punti in comune ci sono ma in questo caso i musicisti azzerano le pause, stratificando la musica fino a trasformarla in puro catrame. Estrapade è fatto di una materia impenetrabile costruita con elementi di musica concreta, elettronica e industrial e cementata con collage sonori, in un pieno approccio avanguardista e dada. Dentro ci trovate tanto noise ed elettronica, flagellamenti industriali (Estrapade) e assurde drum machine alle prese con ritmi di dance sfrenata (Onanisme, Triple fermentation); come se non bastasse, i riferimenti al jazz (il finale di Tromocrates) o alle parti strettamente free, non sono casuali: rimanendo in tema infatti, in trepanation la massa elettronica affoga in un delirio di fiati stridenti e cieche scariche elettriche.

I morceaux_de_machines riempiono il cd fino all’orlo e credo che, se avessero voluto, avrebbero potuto continuare all’infinito, avendo l’impressione che la loro musica sia formata da una massa capace di auto-rigenerarsi e svilupparsi in piena autonoma. Estrapade è un frullatore globale che vuole sradicare dal loro contesto alcune delle musiche di riferimento del 900 (musica concreta, free jazz, rap, speed metal e techno) al fine di creare però un suono in opposizione alla cultura globale e al politically correct; spacca le orecchie ma sa regalare anche delle gran belle soddisfazioni.

François Houle is the featured artist in the latest issue (#92) of Musicworks magazine, from Toronto (Canada). The magazine also presents a portrait of Joane Hétu.

Guitar player Antoine Berthiaume, who just released his second album (Leaves and Snows, with Quentin SirJacq and Norman Teale), will soon be touring Japan. {nbio:berthiaume_an} will play alongside Yuki Saga in Yokohama on July 12, 2005; with Ezaki Masafumi and Takashi Kojima in Osaka on July 15, 2005; with Takumi Seino in Kobe on July 18, 2005; with Haco, Tim Olive, Makoto Inada, Shinichi Isohata, Kou Iwata and Bunsho Nisikawa in Osaka on July 19, 2005; with the band Slow Children in Yokohama on July 21, 2005; and {nbio:berthiaume_an} will again play with Yuki Saga in Tokyo on July 26, 2005.

Following a well received first album (Soshin, his incensed collaboration with Derek Bailey and Fred Frith). Guitar player Antoine Berthiaume launches his second CD, Leaves and Snows. Recorded at Mills College (Oakland, California), this album features the young musician accompanied with pianist Quentin SirJacq and sound engineer Norman Teale.

Taxonomy, a trio composed of Elio Martusciello (member of Ossatura), Roberto Fega (from Titubanda and the Arturo collective), and Graziano Lella (from the band Dura Figura), presents their first album on the Ambiances Magnétiques label, the dark and striking A Global Taxonomical Machine. Let yourself be submerged by their talented and carefully dosed electronic noise.

Known primarily for his post-bop and avant-garde/free jazz compositions, and for playing in the eclectic Montréal jazz scene, Normand Guilbeault competently leads his combo through the many twists and turns of Charles Mingus’s compositions on Mingus Erectus. This isn’t new to him, however — Guilbeault has included Mingus charts in his band’s live repertoire since its inception, recorded Mingus pieces for his previous albums, and even issued a previous tribute record, 1996’s Homage À Mingus.

Mingus Erectus is a live document of a tight repertory band playing some of the last century’s most inventive jazz. As a composer, Mingus began with Duke Ellington’s lush orchestration, then added an extended harmonic and rhythmic sensibility. As a bassist, he redefined post-bop bass as a solo instrument to rival its rhythmic importance. Guilbeault’s homage stresses both of these sides — he holds down the ensemble with his own superior bass playing while drawing fantastic performances from his sidemen, most notably Jean Derome (saxophones and flute) and Ivanhoe Jolicoeur (trumpet and flugelhorn).

The album’s track selection ranges from the immediately recognizable favorites Pithecanthropus Erectus and Tijuana Gift Shop to the more esoteric All The Things You Could Be By Now If Sigmond Freud’s Wife Was Your Mother. Fable of Faubus (a reference to the Arkansas governor who fought against the integration of Little Rock’s public schools) is re-imagined here as the lively Fable of (George Dubya) Faubus, with appropriate lyrics: “Why is he so sick and ridiculous? / He lied to the whole world about Iraq! / And he’s a fool!” The album’s only original track is Derome’s MDMD, and it fits surprisingly well among the older charts. Guilbeault and his Ensemble do Mingus’s music justice, and then some.