Maurice Lemaitre - "Poémes et Musiques Lettristes et Hyperphonie"
This album is a limited edition release, and therefore an important purchase for one who wanders into the world of European Avant-Garde and dwell into it's charm and seduction. Maurice Lemaitre is by all means, a Letterist. Letterism was a movement that started in Paris in 1946 that co-piloted by the great Isidore Isou. Also involved was Gabriel Pomerand, Gil J Wolman, and, of course our artist here, Maurice Lemaitre. With a theory of 'Kladology, ' which is a branch of knowledge that is somewhere between the figurative and the abstract. Letterism is the little brother to DADA. It eventually rolled into the realm of The Situationists, but that's another narrative.
"Poémes et Musiques Lettristes et Hyperhphonie" is a compilation of recordings made by Lemaitre from the 1950s to 1968. Every track is vocal orientated. Yet there are mixtures of sounds. For instance, Lemaitre uses French rock n' roll instrumentals as a background to his vocal gymnastics - and without a doubt, Lemaitre can project his voice across the room. When you look at the Discogs site for this album, it mentions the genre is "Non-Music." I do not share that insight, because these recordings are very musical, but maybe not in the way that one has experienced music.
Most if not all of the pieces here are in French, but some are clearly just sound works. I may be missing out some important aspect of the work not knowing Frnech, but on the other hand, the performances take the listener to a new landscape, and I like the new territory! This is a superb album on so many levels. As a document of Avant-Garde Paris in its early days of post-war, as well as a dynamic listening experience. It's all exceptional. For those who want to focus on the roots of The Situationists (Guy Debord world) and those who want jump into the eros/politics/drunkness of that period in the St Germain des Prés world - this is simply a must to have.
