Member:
Did Sprinting Die?
Date:
1/9/2005
Here's a treat for fans of blistering free improv AND the squelchy analog synths of yesteryear. This album had been out of print for decades. That is until in 2003, when Israel's MIO Records reissued it with the help of Jean-Jacques Birge, the only member still active in the music world today. Not only has the album, which has had cult status since its original release (thanks in part to the Nurse With Wound 'influences list'), been reissued, but recordings scrapped from the original album have been added. And it gets better. There is a second disc (a DVD) with a movie by Birges and a long dead friend, along with 6 hours worth of additional music by the trio. Overall these two discs make up their complete recorded works, most of which have never been released before.
The overall sound of all this music is unlike anything I've ever heard. The only other group that comes to mind is AMM, although the only reasons are that both groups have this sound that is very unnerving and perplexing and the recording quality conjures up all sorts of claustrophobic places in my mind. But that's where the comparisons end. Unlike AMM, you can tell what instrument is being played and how it’s being played. And speaking of which, thanks to the exotic instrument collection of the studio's owner, the instruments on here are ones that almost never appear in the realm of free improv. Some examples include cello, Jew’s harp, chimes, zither (prepared zither, anyone?), pipe organ and more.
Back to the sound, the most prominent sounds come from the eerie synth work and tape manipulations by Birge, the jangly guitar excursions of Francis Gorges, and the sporadic and very hyper drumming of Shiroc. There's also a bit of sax here and there, and the worldy instruments spread throughout. The drumkit work also collides with all sorts of different percussion instruments from time to time. Sometimes, the music drifts off slowly, and then come portions that are very energetic and fast.
The movie is one that seems to match the music. Translated from French to English, it means "The Night of the Seal". It is very bizarre, and not unlike Monty Python, only this is more edgier. You see everything from an erect penis getting sprayed with silly string, to people being blown up in telephone booths, to Isaac Newton wearing sunglasses and scaring children.
This is a completionist collection for the ages. Whatever those may be, and this is one of my favorite reissues ever reissued. The best European free improv group you've never heard.
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