liberum arbitrium

morceaux_de_machines, or the noise that freedom makes

So here’s the latest happenstances of our favourite miscreants of improvised music. If you thought “speed jazz” & “death ambient” musics were never really what they claim, if you think computers don’t make nearly the amount of noise their CPU should allow them to, then you need morceaux_de_machines.

Recorded on an artistic residence at the Avatar studios (Québec City) in the Spring of 2001, this first CD by the duo lays down the bases of a promising body of work which doesn’t seem to run the risk of running thin anytime soon. Listening to these 8 tracks is like looking at a Riopelle. Based on the theme of freedom of choice (with quotes from Burgess and Russolo to get the point across!), the album is also a genuine expression of the right to freedom in creation.

Very little silence, for sure. But very much of noise accumulations in an increasingly dynamic fashion. With liberum arbitrium the duo reinvents improvised computer music with so much brio, we’ve got to wonder what could stop them now…

To top it off, the cover artwork is filled with drawings from Montréal comix artist Guy Boutin, as well as brilliant watercolours from Sophie Dowse. Images at once contradictory and complementary, just like the music…