“This is an anthology of unpublished works by the nine active members of Ambiances Magnétiques; an unforgettable musical odyssey for unexpecting music lovers.” Tells us the cover of this compilation. This compilation is different from the first 2 volumes. The music on this CD sounds more as comtemporary classical music and modern jazz. We have here compostions, no songs, with classical instruments and sometimes voice, used on a non-conform way so that true intelligent music is created. And again musical experiments that goes beyond contemporary classical music.

For the third installment in its compilation series, the label Ambiances Magnétiques decided to give the fan something new: the first two volumes comprised only previously available material and were targeted toward the neophyte, but Inédits (Unreleased) was a fan-pleaser. This CD contains tracks from all nine members of the Ambiances Magnétiques collective: René Lussier, André Duchesne, Jean Derome, Robert Marcel Lepage, Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, Danielle Palardy Roger, Michel F Côté and Martin Tétreault. Most pieces were recorded at Studio 270 with engineer Robert Langlois (Ambiances Magnétiques members’ usual hang-out — therefore, sound quality is often excellent) and represent transitional experiments. Some others were recorded by Radio-Canada (Canada’s national radio) and document live projects that never made it on record. It is interesting to note that some performances already hinted at the direction these musicians would take in the late 1990s (especially Côté’s trio Klaxon Gueule, Lussier and Hétu). Inédits contains valuable contributions from Lussier and a noisier-than-usual suite from Derome (very nice) but the album is most noticeable for the contributions of more discreet musicians. Since his 1992 CD Locomotive, André Duchesne has been very quiet and even though his Les Barrages (“The Dams”) is an unremarkable excerpt from a symphonic work, Les toasts brûlées (“Burned Toasts”) is the only existing document from his short-lived band Diesel. Danielle Palardy Roger is another discreet artist; her two performances exemplify her work outside Ambiances Magnétiques’ “girl groups” (Wondeur Brass, Les Poules, Justine}). Finally, the excerpt from Martin Tétreault’s Chronique du disque (an unreleased radio piece) is one of his best performances. Fans of Ambiances Magnétiques will find a lot to explore and be surprised about on Inédits.

Samplers tend to be the orphans of most labels’ output, often incoherently compiled hand me downs from previously released discs they are frequently overpriced and tend to be acquired by accident or misfortune. Few people would openly admit to considering them worthy purchases. Inedits (from Canadian electro-acoustic label Ambiances Magnétiques) is such a rattlingly entertaining set which is so well conceived and organised, it comes over like a single piece of work rather than a sampler. The performers work predominantly in small groups; duos trios and soloists, but their use of cut’n’paste montage techniques combined with turntables, tapes and live electronics adds a whole world of dimensions to the proceedings. Amongst the stand out tracks is Martin Tétrault and Marc Tremblay’s fabulous Chronique du disque which opens with a blast of vinyl scratches that sounds like a thunderstorm then segues into a cheesy jazz vibes ensemble which is overtaken by a plunderphonics sequence that resembles the work of cartoon composer Carl Stalling. Elsewhere Jean Derome contributes 8 duo and trio’s (with Tétreault again and Joane Hétu) from a film project entitled Retour au Blanc. It sounds improvised with the players going at it with a variety of weapons including queasily manipulated orchestral music, fidgeting hand held objects. air emptying out of a balloon, groaning sax, manipulated percussion and a bit which sounds like the laser gun fight out of Forbidden Planet. René Lussier contributes impeccable solo guitar piece that (in my mind at least) recalls players like Fred Frith and Gary Lucas in it’s brightness of tone and attention to space and texture. There are so many other terrific moments (André Duchesne & Diesel playing fiddly, Henry Cow like fusion; Robert Lepage pitting his Clarinet against the electric scrapes and flutterings of The Impromptistes) that warrant attention that I’m ay a loss which to describe next. That alone is a singular achievement and one that makes this complation well worth your attention.

I haven’t heard Volumes 1 or 2, but here we have a 24-track compilation featuring, amongst others (you guessed it); René Lussier, Jean Derome, Joane Hétu, Martin Tétreault, etc. All this material is previously unpublished, so it’s a good buy as a way to get into the label. Musically it covers the ground described above and works remarkably well as an album. Not at all disjointed, as it shifts from artist to artist, it is interesting to hear some musicians not appearing as composers on the other CD’s reviewed.

This is the closest you’ll ever get to an Ambiances Magnetiques “B-Sides and Rarities” compilation — a bunch of otherwise-unavailable works from the nine artists who make up the Amb-Mag collective. The artists — Jean Derome, René Lussier and Martin Tétreault among them — should be familiar to regular Splendid readers, and the pieces are an intriguing assortment of concrete and disjointed sonic conceptualizations. Their impact is lessened, somewhat, by the looser context of the compilation format, but this is still very cool stuff.

The small but beautiful Ambiances Magnétiques label also doubles as a loose collective of nine musique actuelle stalwarts, all of whom are represented here: Côté, Derome, Duchesne, Hétu, Labrosse, Lepage, Lussier, Palardy and Tétreault. This third compilation is a collection of unpublished works whose diversity of sounds, emotions and styles is sonically refreshing, especially if listened to in one shot. The general effect is like playing back a dream in which you are inside a hollow, deeply resonant bowling ball scooting around a planet six trillion light years from Montréal. Of note are the tracks that include the voice in all of its non-pyrotechnical glory and the several live recordings that show us just how non-gimmichy improvisation can be in the hands of the musically courageous.

Au cours des derniers mois le collectif de musique actuelle Ambiances Magnétiques a produit une série de disques portant son catalogue à plus de 60 titres. Le premier de cinq nouveautés brièvement présenté ici s’intitule Inédits et est la troisième compilation des membres d’Ambiances Magnétiques: Michel F Côté, Jean Derome, André Duchesne, Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, Robert Marcel Lepage, René Lussier, Danielle Palardy Roger et Martin Tétreault. Contrairement aux deux premières compilations constituées de repiquages, Inédits présente justement 24 œuvres qui se trouvent sur disque pour la première fois.

Pierre Tanguay, batteur vedette des musiques actuelles, et Tom Walsh, tromboniste éclaté, ont enregistré Midi tapant. Des musiques qui sont à la fois planantes — par accumulation de couches sonores — et très dynamiques: Tanguay et Walsh jouent à plein poumon, à bras raccourcis.

Un trio ad hoc de bruististes improvisateurs électroacousticiens, Diane Labrosse (échantillonneur}, Ikue Mori (percussions électroniques} et Martin Tétreault (tourne-disques) offrent Île bizarre où l’oreille est attirée, menée dans tous les recoins de ce monde inventé, purement sonore, dont les sources sont méconnues. C’est un travail sur la surface des haut-parleurs et pour l’imaginaire qu’il déclenche dans mon écoute.

Chansons de Douve est un album double présentant la grande œuvre poétique de Pierre Cartier (sur des textes de Yves Bonnefoy). Hybride de musique ancienne et jazz improvisée, Chansons de Douve est constitué de 14 pièces strictement composées, mais laissant place aussi à l’instantanéité des interprètes, pour un ensemble de dix musiciens: Angèle Trudeau (soprano), Noëlla Huet (mezzo-soprano), Pierre Cartier (basse électrique et voix), Jean-Denis Levasseur (saxophone alto), Jean Derome (saxophone alto, flûte et flûte en sol), Ivanhoe Jolicæur (trompette), Sylvain Jacob (trombones alto et ténor), Tom Walsh (trombone), Pierre Tanguay (batterie), Julien Grégoire (percussions).

Finalement, le cinquième disque est le dernier à ce jour de l’Orkestre des Pas Perdus, sous la gouverne de Claude Saint-Jean, Maison douce maison avec des musiques de jazz… dansantes… qui toujours suscitent l’écoute. Avec les excellents et solides musiciens Rémi Leclerc (batterie), Jean-Denis Levasseur (sax alto, piccolo), Roberto Murray (sax ténor, flûtes), Jean Sabourin (sousaphone), Claude Saint-Jean (trombone) et Maxime Saint-Pierre (trompette, flugelhorn).

• JB, emoRAGEi, n^o 4, 1 juin 1998