Category: cd Reviews

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Review – Valence (LINE) – 2012 – Dusted Magazine – USA

Valence on LINE  054 – 2012

The Montreal based sound artist and curator, France Jobin, has been releasing albums for well over a decade. Devoted explorers of the finer sides of noise will have likely come across the name i8u — Jobin’s exclusive nom-de-plume up to this point. i8u has been an effective outlet for Jobin, where she’s shown an aptitude for transforming analog and digital geekery into music with substance.

The press release for Valence — Jobin’s first work to break from the i8u guise — claims the album was created entirely from “transformed field recordings.” While neither Jobin nor the label hint at the source of these recordings, fans of i8u needn’t fear a drastic change from the spectrum-spanning minimalism that’s become her signature sound. In fact, Valence, from start to finish, feels like a further honed version of i8u’s pointillist analog-synth explorations, as opposed to a shifting of paradigms.

While it’s not a drastic change, the music feels more congealed than past efforts; the reticent mids and ear-piercing highs of i8u’s 2010 effort, 29 Palms, for example, tended to float along nicely enough in parallel, but didn’t posses the same give-and-take relationship expressed on Valence. This refined sound likely is linked to Jobin’s transformation of the more digestible low to high-mid frequencies; they flutter, cascade, and always translate a hint of effervescence in the way that heavily time-stretched field recordings do.

While ambient and drone focused music in general dictates a sort of unspoken modesty, Valence, in its scope, is not a humble record. In many ways, it’s reminiscent of a number of epic Eliane Radigue works. But this doesn’t always come easily for Jobin, as the liner notes explain her struggles in always finding the right mental and emotional state in order create her art. Considering she decided to include these thoughts here, I’d imagine Valence was of particular challenge. Perhaps then, this album does represent a sort of shift for Jobin — not overtly in terms of ideology, but in terms of an emotional weight, one that has never carried so transparently into her music.

By Adrian Dziewanski

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Review – Valence (LINE) – 2012 – ATTN. Magazine UK

Valence on LINE  054 – 2012

Working exclusively with processed field recordings taken from across North America and Europe, Jobin’s conscious mind dances cautiously with her source material; she is compelled by its potential significance but reluctant to unveil its mystique by sparing it too much thought. As she states herself: “there is a likelihood of finding a certain emotion in a piece, but it is not guaranteed, nor do I know exactly when or where I will find it. The act of looking for that emotion in of itself will distort it. Although one would think experimental music grants complete freedom, when composing, I feel constrained by both my mental state and the way in which I build the piece.”

There is therefore a paradoxically heavy tension present within the practically weightless ambience. Jobin wrestles with her own curiosity, letting impulse prise the reins from the heavy steering and assertion of rational thought and letting the decision-making process flow as it will. Each of the three pieces goes through a most delicate evolution, guided gently between harmonies and into higher volumes by intricate tilts of axis. Comparisons are understandably drawn with the microscopic drone modulations of Eliane Radigue, with Jobin’s music carrying a similar attentiveness to the tiniest details; gaseous sonic emissions mutate at an imperceptibly slow speed, drawing both composer and listener into a micro-world of heightened focus.

Despite originating from the recordings of actual spaces, attributing Valence to a particular type of landscape is difficult. The gentle flickers of drone feels as though they’re drifting around the perimeter of a space in nature – perhaps a large open field or desolate green forest – yet those occasional beeps of ultra-high frequency reside outside of an organic frequency spectrum, tugging the mental visuals toward the realms of artificial machinery and laboratory electronics. But just as Jobin avoids trying to excavate the “meaning” within her work, it’s perhaps wise for the recipient to question the music with care; the ethereal, intangible beauty of Valence is brittle and always ready to unravel at the hands of any heavy-handed attempt to decipher its implications.
(ATTN:Magazine, UK)

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Review – Valence (LINE) – 2012 – Hawai

Valence on LINE  054 – 2012

E l disco de la pareja feliz no es lo único que ha aparecido por las líneas dirigidas por Richard Chartier. Con la misma fecha, febrero de este año, sale editado el estreno de la artista canadiense France Jobin en Line,y que además es el primer disco bajo su nombre real. Jobin es una músico de Montreal que desde hace unos diez años viene editando bajo I8U. Más de una decena de trabajos, la mayoría desconocidos para mí, y que por tanto hacen que mi ingreso en su vocabulario sea del todo nuevo. “Valence” fue creado enteramente desde grabaciones de campo transformadas, inspirado tanto en los enlaces de valencia (VB) y las teorías orbitales moleculares (MO. “Una órbita atómica es una función matemática que describe el comportamiento ondulado de un electrón o de un par de electrones en un átomo. Esta función se puede utilizar para calcular la probabilidad de encontrar cualquier electrón de un átomo en cualquier región específica alrededor del núcleo del átomo. El término puede también referir a la región física definida por la función donde el electrón es probable que esté”. Buscando las zonas en donde se cree se encuentran las partículas más pequeñas de la vida, France crea una órbita en donde los sonidos viajan en campos donde la percepción no es la misma, más cercana al silencio que al ruido, en perfecta sintonía con lo que el mismo Chartier hace. Sin llegar al nivel se sutileza sonora a los alcanza el jefe del sello, los postulados de Jobin de todas maneras obligan a permanecer atentos para no descuidar el instante en que los rumores mudos dejan de ser tal y pasan a ser la banda sonora para este viaje de búsqueda atómica. Siguiendo trayectorias circulares quizás pueda parecer extraño, para mí lo fue, pero efectivamente uno al escuchar cuidadosamente estas tres piezas –entre los dieciocho y los veintisiete minutos– siente y sobre todo imagina a aquella partícula, la más ligera de todas viajar alrededor del núcleo, me imagino orbitando y dando destellos de luz en la eternidad de lo invisible al ojo, ajeno a la vista, pero palpable al oído, el sentido que nos perite ver más allá de todo. Una verdadera y agradable sorpresa la que nos tenía deparada France Jobin, quien crea un universo a partir de lo microscópico, que contrarresta con las inmensidades al vacío teñidas de gris de Stephan Mathieu y Caro Mikalef. Line por dos en el comienzo del año, diez sobre diez.

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Review – Valence (LINE) – 2012 – Boomkat.com

Valence on LINE  054 – 2012

*Limited edition of 500* Montreal’s I8U, known for releases on Room40 and Atak, presents her first recordings as France Jobin. This switch to her own name signifies a purification of aesthetic on ‘Valence’, offering three beautifully deep and meditative compositions swimming in the same infinitely tranquil waters as Eliane Radigue, Franca Sacchi or Celer. The work overall takes it’s inspiration from her interests in quantum physics and digital composition, and finds parallels between the “wacky world of subatomic dimensions” and the elusive emotions she encounters within experimental electronic music. We’d love to delve deeper into this, but our quantum physics diplomas were actually bought in the Arndale market. Instead we can tell you this is a beautiful piece of work to behold, defined by incredibly subtle microtonal shifts and pure, tactile frequency isolations which are thrilling to experience (if you’re thrilled by that kind of thing), all delicately strung between icily crisp digital highs and lushly resonant harmonic coloration.

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review – Trilogy and Epilogue (and/OAR) 2010 – by Clive Bell – The Wire

Michelangelo Antonioni: Trilogy And Epilogue
Various

and/OAR 2 X CD

“I am personally very reluctant to use music
in my films, for the simple reason that I
prefer to work in a dry manner, to say things
with the least means possible,” said
Michelangelo Antonioni in 1961, the same
period in which he shot the films
L’Avventura, La Notte, L’Eclisse and Il
Deserto Rosso. So, it’s appropriate that this
collection of 24 homages to those films,
following two previous and/OAR collections
dedicated to Ozu and Tarkovsky, contains
few obviously ‘musical’ elements:

Dale Lloyd and Marihiko Hara both feature tentative
pianos, and Kyle Bruckman plays cor
anglais on EKG’s fine track, but otherwise,
we’re in a workd of vast spaces, ambiguous
soundscapes, changing weather and
glowing noise.

Atmospheric works by Juan José
Calarco and Richard Garet could easily be
soundtracks in their own right. i8u (aka
France Jobin) is hyper minimal,
shifting curtains of colour just barely there.
Asher has possibly buried a string orchestra
in his back yard, while Tomas Phillips
melds chiming bells with intake of breath
(lifted) from an Antonioni soundtrack?).
Also excellent are Olivia Block with Adam
Sonderberg, and Pali Meursault’s filmic
concrète, a dream of trains with squeaky
window hinges. All these tracks are
consistent with one another, meaning the
collection works surprisingly well as a
straight-through listen.

And and/OAR,s Ozu homage came
accompanied by an online booklet of
photos and track info, but here the link
between music and films is never discussed,
which suits Antonioni fine. Stuck in our
memories, his images become the music’s
context. Its ambiguity fits them like a glove:
Monica Vitti’s bleak couplings, those
urban landscape where something or
someone is missing.

Clive Bell

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review – Trilogy and Epilogue (and/OAR) 2010 – by Ron Schepper – Textura

Trilogy and Epilogue on and/OAR
Michelangelo Antonioni’s filmography offers such a rich source of imagery and
themes it’s a wonder no experimental music project has appeared until now
based upon it. All credit goes to and/OAR, then, for choosing the Italian auteur
as the third in its film director series (previous volumes honoured Andrei
Tarkovsky and Yasujiro Ozu), with the two-disc set, formally titled
Michelangelo Antonioni – Trilogy and Epilogue, focusing on L’Avventura (1960),
La Notte (1961), L’Eclisse (1962), and Deserto Rosso (1963). Antonioni is, of
course, the master of ennui and alienation whose works are populated by
wandering souls who either vanish altogether (L’Avventura) or co-exist but
with the littlest of connection to one another. Not surprisingly, he preferred that
his films be generally unencumbered by music’s presence, believing that his
stories would breathe better without such interference; in that regard, Giovanni
Fusco, whose music appears in most of Antonioni’s films from the late 1950s
to the early ‘60s, apparently declared, “The first rule for any musician who
intends to collaborate with Antonioni, is to forget that he is a musician!”

A few other background details are worth noting before turning to the contents
of the release itself, specifically Antonioni’s sensitivity to the importance of
natural sounds—what he regarded as the “true music” of a film—and the
pioneering electronic music that Vittorio Gelmetti contributed to Deserto Rosso.
Such dimensions of the director’s work draw a clear line connecting the artists
featured on and/OAR’s recording, all of whom in one way or another share like-
minded sensitivities to environmental sound and to the role of electronics in
current music-making practices. The set features over two hours of lower-
case, electro-acoustic works peppered with the kinds of pregnant pauses and
empty spaces that characterize Antonioni’s films. Some of the pieces (all
untitled) are heavily electronic in nature (Marc Behrens’ turbulent setting, Antti
Rannisto’s throbbing drone), while others inhabit an interzone where acoustic
instruments (clarinet, cello), natural sounds (industrial creaks, cavernous
rumbling), and electronic manipulations reside. The artists involved will be
familiar to those conversant with the microsound genre, with figures such as
Roel Meelkop, Ben Owen, i8u, Lawrence English, Steinbrüchel, Jason Kahn,
and Tomas Phillips taking part. The piece by Pali Meursault (with Ici-Même)
stands out as one of the settings that is most rich in outdoor sounds, with train
clatter, traffic noise, and bird sounds threading their way into the mix. Richard
Garet’s sub-lunar exploration sounds like the essence of La Notte and
L’Eclisse distilled down to a seven-minute form. Dale Lloyd’s brief piano
rumination arrives as a breath of fresh air amidst such abstractions, as does
Marihiko Hara’s at album’s close.

The package for the release includes two quotes taken from Seymour
Chatman’s 1985 book Antonioni: Or, the Surface of the World, one of which in
particular merits inclusion here for the clarity it brings to the director’s
approach: “Antonioni asks us to take a slow, steady look at the world around
us, to forget our ordinary preoccupations, and to contemplate that which lies
slightly athwart them.” Michelangelo Antonioni – Trilogy and Epilogue

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review – 29 Palms (der) 2010 – by Adrian Dziewanski – Scrapyard forecast

29 Palms, i8u on Dragon’s Eye Recordings

I was initially introduced to Jobin’s work under the i8u guise from her contribution to the magnificent Physical, Absent, Tangible compilation released on Richard Garet’s own Contour Editions label (read my review). Expanding greatly on that comp track, 29 Palms is a 41 minute piece for field recordings, processing and analog gear that remains true to the austerity of past i8u releases yet feels more of an organic effort. The effervescent drones that fill in the space between Jobin’s clinical frequencies during the latter half of the composition are especially note worthy, reminiscent of John Duncan’s Phantom Broadcast. Very nice.

Jobin’s pacing remains quite brilliant throughout, especially evident in the very quiet midsection, where one has to remain focused to discern for changes, and although subtle, they are there. The choice to opt for more lower range frequencies as opposed to ear splitting highs – highs that I’ve heard Jobin achieve in the past – works to her advantage here. Some of those high frequencies make themselves known though are rarely at the center of attention, existing more as appendages to a wider body of sound. Simple yet elegant packaging, edition of 200.
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The Outsider 3 | Women in music by Adrian Dziewanski

 

scrapyard forecast

The Outsider is an on-going feature that pertains to ever changing themes within the world of sound art. More specifically, it highlights micro-niches within this world, commonalities through place and style, organizations that facilitate sound practice, important sound documents, etc…Hence, the Outsider pertains to anything outside of a typical album review. Previous Outsiders have included Select Music From Australia and the Framework 250 Compilation ++.

As the title suggests, May and June will see the unfolding of an eight part series dedicated to women working in varied fields of experimental music as both curators and musicians. Over the three years of managing this blog I’ve rather embarrassingly, though unintentionally, overlooked much of the fine work produced by talented females across the globe. Let this feature make up for those years of neglect. The format for the series is such that each artist is given their own post featuring a photograph, a pre-existing bio, and a review of a select work.

I was initially introduced to Jobin’s work under the i8u guise from her contribution to the magnificent Physical, Absent, Tangible compilation released on Richard Garet’s own Contour Editions label (read my review). Expanding greatly on that comp track, 29 Palms is a 41 minute piece for field recordings, processing and analog gear that remains true to the austerity of past i8u releases yet feels more of an organic effort. The effervescent drones that fill in the space between Jobin’s clinical frequencies during the latter half of the composition are especially note worthy, reminiscent of John Duncan’s Phantom Broadcast. Very nice.

Jobin’s pacing remains quite brilliant throughout, especially evident in the very quiet midsection, where one has to remain focused to discern for changes, and although subtle, they are there. The choice to opt for more lower range frequencies as opposed to ear splitting highs – highs that I’ve heard Jobin achieve in the past – works to her advantage here. Some of those high frequencies make themselves known though are rarely at the center of attention, existing more as appendages to a wider body of sound. Simple yet elegant packaging, edition of 200.

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review – 29 Palms (der) 2010 – by Allen Lockett – Igloo Magazine

29 Palms, i8u on Dragon’s Eye Recordings

Montreal-based France Jobin has been active since 1999, with albums on labels like Bake/Staalplaat, Room40, nvo, Atak, and Vague Terrain. Specializing in “sound-sculpture” in her i8u guise, she’s aided and abetted here by California’s Joshua Tree national park, whence she drew both inspiration and field recordings, edited and processed into the spatial environments of 29 Palms. Its single long format tract eschews a linear narrative in favour of ineffable dwellings and unwonted divergences; for all that it dwells on spaces it creates, its audio-visualizations constantly shift, between deeply textured dronal swells and billows and attenuated higher end microsonics – binaries that Jobin stitches together into audio tableaux that are at once evacuated and replete, expansive and intimate. Poking discreetly into the interstices of lower spectrum digital and analogue tone, softly prodding pulses and held back bass gesture, the trajectory of 29 Palms describes a event horizon onto which microvariations hove into view; ambiguous atmospheres unfolding out of a seemingly infinitely creatively configurable trio of materials – synthetic sustain, wavering tonalities and digital crackle – that commingle with occasional emergent harmonics. It rises and falls, building into whirling dirges (clip below), softening to mid-range pulse, descending into spectral sound and liminal near silence. Appeal – no soundalike reference intended – will be to those who cherish the likes of Richard Chartier through to William Basinski, to the ear that cleaves to a certain desertification, and the expressivity of absence.

 

Igloo Magazine

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review – 29 Palms (der) 2010 – by Fabrice Allard – EtherReal

29 Palms, i8u on Dragon’s Eye Recordings

i8u est le projet de France Jobin, plasticienne et musicienne canadienne qui collabore assez régulièrement avec Tomas Phillips que l’on a déjà croisé chez Dragon’s Eye Recordings. 29 Palms est une petite ville de Californie, connue pour sa situation, en plein désert des Mojaves, à proximité du parc national de Joshua Tree. C’est justement ce parc qui a servi d’inspiration à l’artiste qui y capté des sons qu’elle a ensuite sculpter de manière à créer une version sonore des lieux.

L’album est constitué d’une seule piste de 41 minutes, d’une ambient faussement linéaire, minimaliste et d’une finesse incroyable. Alors que le disque commence à tourner sur la platine, on n’entend rien. Il faut bien une dizaine de secondes pour commencer à deviner un souffle, 30 secondes pour se rendre compte que celui-ci va de pair avec un drone linéaire, l’ensemble envahissant l’auditeur d’une douceur cotonneuse. L’album possède un niveau sonore assez bas, certainement pour coller au mieux à la notion d’ambient, à une musique que l’on entend sans vraiment l’écouter, qui se fait oublier, et se rapprocher de l’ambiance de ce désert, vide et silencieux, seulement parcouru d’un brise légère.

On aura donc tendance à mettre le volume un peu plus fort que d’accoutumé afin de capter toutes les subtilités de la musique de i8u, un sifflement suraigu, de micros craquements et frétillements, ou encore l’apparition régulière de nouvelles strates sonores, un drone tantôt plat, tantôt ondulant, impliquant un certain rythme alors que d’autres éléments s’effacent. Faussement linéaire donc, donnant l’impression d’une succession de plans finalement très semblables, à l’image des horizons océaniques du photographe Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Au bout de 29mn, on entend distinctement le tintement d’un triangle dont l’artiste joue avec le résonance, à la manière d’une pulsation régulière et suraiguës. Les nappes oscillantes se font alors plus puissantes, plus denses, enveloppantes, mais on ne parlera pas pour autant de tension. Tout juste une présence affirmée, envahissante. Le désert s’est imposé.

Plages minimalistes et déserts sonores font de cet album un petit bijou pour les amateurs d’une ambient façon microsound. On conseillera tout particulièrement ce travail aux fans de Richard Chartier ou William Basinski, en attendant d’en écouter un peu plus.

Fabrice Allard
le 20/02/2011

EtherREAL