Jazzland Recordings, Bugge Wesseltoft’s label, is 10 years old this year. To celebrate this event, Bugge and friends are on tour all around Europe. On march 8th, the Jazzland Crew was in Paris, at the New Morning club.

For starters, Bugge played solo with his piano and machines, looping himself (with a few technical problems). Then came Eivind Aarset and his band, joined by Hakon Kornstad (Wibutee’s saxophone) and the singer Sidsel Endresen.

I am not very found of jazz female singers. But the words (and the work) of Sisdel Endresen are something unique, peculiar and very interesting : bleeps, sounds, bubblings, imitations of a magnetic tape…  and also a warm and wonderful tone of voice. After a few moments of Sidsel’s magic, DJ Strangefruit added some energy to this norvegian night at the New Morning.

I loved the concert (experimental, inperfect, but vibrant) and buyed the record (Jazzland remixed). I was quite disappointed by the result : the presence of the artists is really missing on the CD. But I’ll try to listen to it again… It takes usually a dozen passes to fully appreciate a new Bugge Wesseltoft opus.

We went to see Eric Périer - C.Schtomb Dehault (de cologne) - artistic director of OPA, at Beaux Arts School for a very successful performance. He mixed on images projected by OxO factory (mix vidéo). Images were projected behind a half canvas tent in which we could go to be surrounded by loudspeakers who were diffusing enveloping sounds. I was convinced that was the result of a common work but in fact Eric had just seen video on the afternoon. The result = a harmony during the show and a wounderful final scene !

Yesterday we discovered a new place : l’Etage, 77 rue Faubourg du Temple 75010 Paris (have a look on our other website Anotherparis). We went there to see Congo Punk, a solo project of Cyril Atef ( Bumcello drumers),with “Docteur Kong”. Doctor Kong may be noisy but he is not a musician. He is a bearded and jovial ogre who is on the stage and tosses pancakes with a little stove. Later in the evening, Doctor Kong plays with elastics, lies down in a tent, yells and sometime dances. Trash and Frenesy ! While Doctor Kong plays with a delighted public which is singing “I’ve seen the crepe in the air”, the brilliant Atef plays drums, uses beatbox and other implements. Virtuoso of live looping, he creates chorus, hypnotic rhytms and improvises what he calls “Trances”. The result is the most decadent and hilarious show we’ve seen for years. If CongoPunk is closed to your Home, don’t forget your Nutella !

Bruxelles, samedi 16 décembre 2005, peu après minuit, nous avons enfin découvert Jamie Lidell sur scène.
Décrire l’instant est une chose difficile. En quelques mots : il a une classe folle, une voix sublime, il est filmé en permanence par 6 caméras, manipulées par un VJ déguisé qui gesticule et court dans tous les sens, il parvient à restituer les atmosphères de son album, mais aussi à créer des moments d’improvisation totalement inattendus. Il fait du funk, mais aussi de la techno. Il s’agite derrière son amas de machines avec une virtuosité impressionnante, il émet des sons sales et saturés, des rythmes déchaînés, et ne nous laisse pas souffler un instant. Il peut passer à tout moment de la folie à l’inspiration, de l’inspiration à l’émotion, et s’offrir une seconde d’humour avant de revenir à la folie.

Voilà, c’est tout. Maintenant, on est prêts à entreprendre de grands voyages pour assister de nouveau à l’un de ses concerts. Mais doit-on appeler ça un concert ?

• Souvenir d’un voyage en train
• Visiter le site web de Jamie Lidell

4.500 € …… that’s what I need to buy the Photo I saw in this Thibault Cuisset’s exhibition presented by the “Filles du Calvaire” Gallery. Next time !

We like a lot this Photographer. We discovered it with its photos of “Japanese countryside”.

The exhibition “Le dehors absolu” (The absolute outside) is a collection of big photos where nature is presented without any human tracks. As precised in the subhead of the exhibition : “Islande and Namib Desert : two territories not moulded by human being” . Technique, Colors, Gigantism and details. Bravo !

The exhibition

Keats Project is filling out :
After having abandoned a flexible piano (would not emit any sound), we received this morning the Micromodul which will enable me (Fred) to control my music effectively.
Under my fingers: not less than 256 accessible functions in a glance. Perhaps It is a detail for you, but for me it means so much… More pleasure on stage.
Always forwards with the Keats Project !

Ca y est le Keats Project a sa webcam (ses webcams devrais-je dire). D’accord rien d’exceptionnel mais quand même … toute ronde, maniable avec sa fonction Face Tracking (la webcam se fixe sur un visage et le suit si ce dernier bouge..enfin tente de le suivre).La qualité d’image est tout à fait agréable tout en conservant le charme du rendu un peu sale. Un nouveau jouet pour agrémenter le Live et faire entrer l’environnement et le public dans les visuels.

Au fait vous connaissez l’histoire de la webcam?

Je l’ai découverte à l’occasion de cet achat.

En 1991, certains chercheurs du laboratoire informatique de l’université de Cambridge, devaient monter et descendre jusqu’à sept étages avant de constater que l’unique machine à café du service était ..vide ! Quentin Stafford-Fraser, estimant que cette situation était une “atteinte au progrès de la recherche informatique”, pointa une caméra sur la machine à café, et la relia à un ordinateur. Un programme fut écrit, qui capturait et affichait les images, si bien que chaque chercheur pouvait ouvrir une petite fenêtre sur son écran, pour surveiller l’état de remplissage de la cafetière.

Avec l’arrivée d’Internet, l’état de la cafetière était devenu disponible à l’ensemble de la planète! Finalement le laboratoire informatique déménagea et la webcam se tut le 22 août 2001. A signaler: l’une des cafetières, qui fut surveillée sur Internet d’octobre 1997 à mars 2001 fut vendue aux enchères sur ebay pour plus de 4.950 €.

Et vous, vous surveillez quoi avec votre webcam?

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/coffee/coffee.html

Matthew Herbert is an artist whose name I’ve heard for a few years, but I discovered his work only recently… In the FNAC, quite simply, because I liked the cover of his last Album “Plat du Jour” .
After listening to it, I went out with the CD (finally, Aude went out with the CD , because this day our quest for new records was so opulent that we decided to split the fees…)
Listening, for a disc, it is essential. But for “Plat du Jour” , you have to go further. It is ABSOLUTELY necessary to get the cover (very beautiful) and the booklet, because it is there that one can discover the originality and the interest of Matthew Herbert’s approach, and understand why I ABSOLUTELY hope to see this artist on scene.
The idea? Each sound of the album results from a sample, carried out by manipulating food: a track with samples of coffee beans and cups, another with eggs, chicks and shells, etc… Experimental dimension of this music, but also militantism. Indeed the choice of the “recorded” products convey message on this level also.
In short, a complete work. And “Plat du Jour” is far from being the first work of Matthew Herbert. To discover his galaxy, made a small turn on its web site: http://www.matthewherbert.net, which exists in French AND English version.

Radiohead, yes, this worship band ! This English band who makes albums with multiple musical experiments, which can be listen during a long time by always discovering something there.
Dreaming undulation, lascivious extraordinary voice of Tom YORKE, the band creates a true ghostly and lunar landscape in which I saunter on the wire. Personally, I have a small weakness for OK COMPUTER and a great weakness for KID A (Everything in its rights place, Idiotheque, Morning Bell).
The last news of this group that’s the creation of a blog since August in order to follow the evolution of the recording of their new album (the 7th one). Rather original Concept even if several Post, as “what does normal people write on Blog“, are Bizarre! Photos and texts of the members of the Band who shares this Time of Studio (but not only), we try to detect the sources of their inspiration there…. but tracks couldn’t be put on line progressively?

It is beautiful, it is strange, it attracts us irresistibly! It is the « Flexible Piano » of the honorable Yamano Company. Why this attraction? Probably an unconscious imitation with Maywa Denki… The flexible piano arrives in a few days. Result on line as soon as possible!