Yves Bouliane – Champ | 10 Opérations (TNZR054)

« Montreal’s Tenzier is one of the most laser focused archival labels in Canada with a dedication to the under-documented Quebec avant-garde. Its latest missive is a solo cello recording from Yves Bouliane, a heavily active free-improv musician of the early 1970s. Throughout a relentless 30 minutes, Bouliane bows, plucks, and hammers his stringed instrument into a springboard for all manner of mind-scrambling sounds. The initial run of the LP include a bonus cassette with tributes to Bouliane from modern-day Montreal free-improv heads Jean-Sébastien Truchy and Alexandre St-Onge. » (Jesse Locke, Aux.TV)

« The two LP sides total just over thirty minutes, providing a complex web of multithreaded intensity, a whirlwind of sound continuously unfolding at a frenetic pace. All available digits are hectically engaged in striking, sawing, and pounding every surface of the instrument simultaneously. Lines of choked notes interweave with a bombardment of percussive textures, and together with the low cello tones create the illusion of an improvised noise trio. On the cassette St-Onge and Truchy appropriately employ the same extended techniques while adding their own twists. St-Onge somehow manages to be even more intense, thumping away on his bass in an all-out assault. Truchy is more relaxed only by comparison, alternating bristly sections with quieter moments that overlay distinct strands in orchestral fashion. Overall, this is a coherent package that rediscovers the past while demonstrating a robust continuation of Quebec’s tradition of improvised music. » (Lawrence Joseph, MusicWorks)

Format: LP / 180 gr / Tirage limité
Graphisme: Dominic Vanchesteing
Encre sur partitions: Yves Bouliane (1977)