Pierre Schaeffer / Pierre Henry "Symphonie Pour un Homme Seul" / "Concerto des Ambiguïtés" Vinyl, LP, Album,

The two giants, or as I like to say "the two Pierres'" are the great poles of the French Musique Concréte.  Side one is a work by both Pierres, ' and it's a masterpiece.  The piano riff alone is worth the price of the album, and what comes within its mix, the textures, is something, in one word, awesome. Side two is Pierre Henry's "Concerto des Ambiguites, important" and it's foundation is two pianos but filtered through layers of electronic effects.  Speeded up, slowed down, it's like a world turned over, or at the very least a soundtrack to a Warner Brothers cartoon from the 1950s.  Both pieces were written in 1950, which must have been like a new horizon or possibilities in what one can do with the aural world.   As necessary, and a joy to listen to.  

Jacques Lejeune - "Early Works 1969 - 1970" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, 2015 (Robot Records)

I picked this album up because the artist is French and due to the oversized bird sculpture or the puppet on the album cover. It reminded me of either Jean Cocteau or Franju film.   So, in the world of chances, this album must be good.   Jacques Lejeune is a composer who I gather is focused on musiques concréte or tape manipulations.  

The piece on side one is "D'une Multitude En Fête," and there is something ceremonial about its presentation.  It's a series of sonic snapshots of an event.  There's a focus on crowd noise, mechanical sounds, and music coming from another recording or radio.  In that sense, it's very much like the David Tudor/John Cage recordings/happenings that took place in the late 1950s, where everything is going on including the kitchen sink, and the hot stove.  Lejeune's piece is humorous.  There is a sense of fun in its process and of course, the listening part of the relationship as well.  My emotional state in listening to this cut is one waiting for the main artist or piece of music to be played.  There is lots of anticipation as the music gets quiet, and one feels something big will happen around the corner. 

Side two starts with "Géodes" is music for tape.  The overall sound is what seems like objects that come with an audio aspect to it but filtered through a process where the noise comes in waves like an ocean.  Lejeune's music is very naturalistic in that it conveys the world as one experiences it.  Of course, it's subjective, but there is something "every day" about what is confronting us on this album.  He's very much of a composer of that moment. 

"Petite Suite" is five pieces of music.  This is an impressive work due that it is based on a traditional musical form, the orchestra.   I'm not sure if this is total work on tape or real instruments filtered through a tape.  There are "voices" that sound like seals or dolphins singing, with the backing of a real drummer and electric guitarist.   Then comes the sound of the audience, laughing or at the very least being amused in what they are hearing. 

With my understanding, this is Lejeune's early works, and here it seems he's fascinated with the idea of transforming everyday performance noise into something compositional or with a foundation attached to the presentation.  I sense that this is not an album to listen to at home, but actually to be in a particular location to get the full flavor of the music by Jacques Lejeune. Impressive work. 

Jacques Lasry - "Chronophagie 'The Time Eaters'" LP, Album, Vinyl, 1969 (Columbia Masterworks)

Hearing this without reading the liner notes you think it's acoustic instruments (Tabla, Flute, Bass Violin) with electronics.  That is not the case whatsoever.  the instrument is actually sculptures made by François Baschet who often worked with his brother Bernard and the composer Jacques Lasry.   The sculptures work as a visual art work, but also are instruments, and often when shown in public, the audience can play or make noise on these beautiful sculptures. 

Lasry's compositions are similar in the vein of Pierre Henry but again done on Baschet's sculptures.  These metal or plastic sculptures are strong, in that they need to interact with viewers including children, not known for their gentleness.  I don't know how the music is composed, but I suspect that it's not improvised.  There is an arrangement, and I feel that space and sounds convey a relationship that is controlled by the participants or the composer.   Voice and flute (Tedd Lasry) match perfectly with the sound sculptures. 

Similiar not to Harry Partch's music, but in the theory of building instruments that also serve as a sculpture or artwork in itself.  There is a great deal of eccentricities in Partch's aesthetic and music.  Lasry and the Baschet brothers are not outside artists.  Perhaps because one is American and the others are French that separates their aesthetic but not their art.  "Chronophagie" is a beautiful piece of work. Also, I have to note that this vinyl album (in excellent condition) sounds incredible on my stereo system.  The room becomes part of the sculpture.  Time and space even work on a piece of vinyl. 

André Hodeir - "L'écume des jours" OST, 45 rpm Vinyl Single, France, 1968 (Philips)

André Hodeir is a fascinating figure in French Jazz.  Think of him as sort of a more adventuresome Gil Evans.  Musician, composer, arranger, and author.  He wrote numerous books on Jazz aesthetics that were published by Grove Books in the 1960s.  Hodeir is also a challenging artist to find record wise.  Even in Paris I had trouble locating his works, but now, with the internet, it's a tad easier, but not a whole lot of recordings are readily available.   One of the hard finds for me, is this record, the soundtrack to Charles Belmont's French film "L'écume des jours."  It's based on a fantastic Boris Vian novel ("Foam of the Daze" which I published through my press TamTam Books).   

Header uses jazz as a foundation, but he also had an interest in Musique Concréte practices as well.  "L'écume des jours" in parts, is almost electronic in that he processes the children's vocals into a hypnotic and haunting sound.   There is nothing on this French EP that is predictable. Incredibly melodic in parts, but also obsessed with the sound process as well.  Hodeir was a genius and very worth while to locate his recordings.  I think I have most of his work in my collection, as well as a huge Boris Vian presence in my sound and book library.  

Pierre Henry - "Le Voyage" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1962/2013 (Doxy)

For the past two years, I have been picking up albums by Pierre Henry.  I have a fascination with the nature of electronic music or Musique Concréte.  The 'noise' have called out for me, and it's a hard habit to break.  "Le Voyage" is a big Henry project.  I believe it's music with dance choreographed by Maurice Béjart.  I know very little of this piece except that it's based on The Tibetian Book of the Dead, and it represents from birth to death.  Seems like a topical subject matter for a ballet and its score. 

As far as my ear can tell this is music that is entirely electronic.  No organic sounds processed through electronic means, but machines manipulated by Henry making music.   Some parts are almost ambient but with an intensity where you can't really ignore the music.  Toward the end, it becomes a majestic piece of noise that's an incredible ear wash.  I listened to this vinyl in a room with a very high ceiling, and the music just encaptures the landscape that is the room.  I don't know who Doxy is, although I suspect that this record company takes advantage of copyright laws in Europe. Still, they do a great job in curating album titles with great sound. 

Erik Satie/Alan Marks - "Vexations" CD Album, 1990 (Decca)

This piece of music by Erik Satie is one of keen interest.  To quote the liner note:  "It consists of a single page of music, only three lines long, and its full duration is calculated to be a whole day and night."   This, of course, is a masterpiece.  Satie wrote "Vexations" in 1893, yet it took John Cage to give the music its world premiere in 1963.  Cage did an 18-hour performance of the piece using various pianists throughout the day and night.   Which in theory, the piece should last for 24-hours, but alas economics and intensity of the promoters of such a work would be a great challenge.  "Vexations" is made for the CD format.  A regular 12" vinyl usually lasts for 40 minutes, but a CD can last for 80 minutes, and you don't have to change sides, like what you have to do with vinyl.  Still, to be true to Satie's vision, it would take 21 CDs to complete the official work.  Us Avant-Garde fans are waiting for the boxset.  

The late pianist Alan Marks did a 70-minute version, and as far as I know, this 1990 release is the first recording that lasts that long.  There was a vinyl edition made by another artist, and recently there is a recent CD by Stephane Ginsburgh which is one hour and nine minues long.  Nevertheless, all the versions I have heard (Ginsburgh and Marks) are exquisite.  

Whatever Satie meant this piece to be a joke or a serious statement on an aesthetic and the philosophy, we may never know.  The truth is this piece of music is one of the great ambient works on disc/CD.  I play Marks/Vexations to stamp out the world outside my head.  It's a perfect time length to focus on either the music or if you are doing some writing or creative work.  I can imagine just playing the music while you're mopping the floor would be OK as well.  Yet, the piece due to its length is a very demanding work.  For the musician, it must be either a sense of hell or enlightenment. For the listener, it is music that draws you into its world.  There are pieces like "Discreet Music" by Eno that is furniture or wallpaper music, but there is something more demanding in "Vexations."  Perhaps the live aspect that the work lasts so long with a living musician actually following the instructions of the pace, which is slow, or just how one can take so much repetition in a work of aural art.   For me, it's music that makes me both focus on the music lines, but also clears my head to focus on my writing.  It's crucial work.   Joke or art, or both, Satie's "Vexations" is one of the great wonders on this planet. 

Pierre Henry - "Variations For a Door and a Sigh" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1967 (Philips)

On one level, probably the most 'difficult' album in my collection.  On the other hand, it's everyday life as being interpreted by the great Pierre Henry.    From awakening to death.  All is exposed on this concept album of life being lived on a physical level.  Musique concrète all, or mostly through what sounds like a door being open and closing.  

Musique Concrète is a style of music that I find interesting because it's based on the everyday sounds of a composer who captures that moment and rearranges the sounds for their purpose.  Through either tape manipulations or some other electronic means, it is giving the natural or organic sound another dimension.   "Variations For a Door and a Sigh" is not for everyone, but for those who want to dwell into the inner-world, I recommend this album. And it may be just me, but I find it sexy.  As the statement on the back cover of this album: "This recording should be played at full volume, and listened to in darkness."  Which is an excellent recommendation.    

Martial Solal Joue Michel Magne - "Electrode" Vinyl, LP, 1966 (Cacophonic)

Martial Solal + Michel Magne + Jean-Claude Vannier = Wow!   Kind of a super band or super musicians getting together for one album.  What we have here is the amazing talents of Martial Solal and trio (Gilbert Rovère on bass and Charles Gellonzi on drums) plus composer Michel Magne's orchestration and then with the additional genius of Jean-Claude Vannier's arrangements.  First of all, when you hear the very first note on Solal's piano, you're immediately drawn to Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" in which Solal did the soundtrack.   And not surprisingly, when one hears "Electrode," you think soundtrack music because there is something incredibly visual within the music. 

Magne composed the music here, and Vannier takes that music to another planet.  It is jazz, but with avant-garde leanings and sounds from Magne and Vannier, who both can be experimental on their own each recording.  So what we have here is the Solal trio doing what they do, which is magic, and Magne's composition which is pushing the envelope between the medium of jazz and 20th century written score.  Vannier then kicks the whole project into another soccer stadium.  Recorded in 1966, it's a lively energetic album.  And for those who are hung up on the sounds of early Godard (like me) will find this album amazing. 

Iannis Xenakis - "GRM Works 1957-1962" (Recollection GRM) Vinyl

I have the impression that Iannis Xenakis is a solemn thinker and composer.  There is a tension in his music that seems to be contained in a particular space.  To be corny his music can be used for a horror film, but the compositions can give one image in one's head without the visuals being projected on a screen.   It shouldn't be a surprise, but one of the pieces on this album "Orient-Occident" (1960) is a soundtrack to a film.  It's a documentary about a visit to a museum and comparing artifacts from different cultures.  The film may be wonderful, but the music I think is even better.  

Xenakis' work is a sonic/aural landscape.  Sophistication as an artform. There is nothing wasted, it seems all sounds have a proper place.  The first piece on side one is "Concret PH" (1958) commissioned by the huge company, Philips, it took place at the Brussels World Fair.   There were 400 speakers in the Le Corbusier's pavilion.  I have only two speakers, but have the volume up loud.  Xenakis thought very much of space and how to fill that area with music.  In a sense, one can imagine that he did sound poetry for that location.  

"Bohor" (1962) is the longest work on this album.  Almost 22-mintues of tension being built.  It's similar to "Concret PH" in that there are ambient touches, but in no is this a relaxing listening experience.   It's very urban with what sounds like crowd noises but more ghost-like than anything else.  The music on this album serves as a magnet where I can't help but be drawn into its world.  

Léo Kupper - "Electronic Works & Voices 1961-1979" (Sub Rosa)

Léo Kupper had an interest in making music that was totally from electronic sounds, and not with or the addition of 'real' instruments.  What his music is a landscape of some style that makes an aural statement that in turns can be scary sounding.  The electronic noise often sounds like a form of nature to me.  I hear dolphins (not in a new age fashion), electrical storms, birds, crickets, waves hitting the beach, and perhaps noise of passing vehicles - either an automobile or train.  There is something human about Kupper's work, in that it's not about electronics specifically, but how those sounds interwind within the natural life.  

There are works on this double album that features vocals.   Not singing mind you, but female voices that are either speaking in a foreign language or used as a texture to the overall music.  These pieces remind me of Luciano Berio's work with the Swingle Singers.  The Italian composer made a lot of vocal music that were either based on literary text or poems.   On one of the works here on this album, "L' enclume des forces" features text by Antonin Artaud.  Overall there is a sinister quality to the music.  Kupper captures a sense of dread or anxiety.     

François Bayle - "Les Couleurs de la Nuit" (Sub Rosa)

impressions of the dark night.   The translation of Les couleurs de la Nuit is "The Colors of the Night."  French composer François Bayle puts the mood and the visual of the nighttime in his composition.   Sometimes intense, with touches of tenderness.   The music here is machine like with the string section (at least I think there are real strings on this piece) holding one note or two to add a sense of menace.   Composed in 1982, and commissioned by the great INA-GRM, this is a work that is bold, forceful, and impressionistic with its subject matter of what the night brings.  A great vinyl to play very loud.