1) Le prévu—low drone that comes and goes; held accordion chord; balalaika* strumming. Over them, a woman speaking.
2) En partance—younger woman. Long pauses. Accordion thrumming and some high pitched (falsetto) singing (also female). Older woman talking, then even higher high pitched, as high as only kids should be able to do. Accordion […]

The first section, of three, opens with low jet engine-like rumblings, interrupted by loud, short sounds with such short decays that I still hesitate to guess whether they’re metal or glass. Which is OK, as that gives you as good a sense of their quality as anything else. I was most taken […]

In Eliane Radigue’s music, nothing happens over a long time. As Biogenesis is one of her relatively short pieces, weighing in at just over twenty-one minutes, the nothing happens fairly quickly, especially that throbbing bass at about the halfway point. But not to worry. If you enjoy the spacious quality of Radigue’s other […]

Be warned: if you don’t like lots of high, squeaky sounds, you probably won’t like Fractals. However, since high, squeaky sounds are perfectly lovely, you should probably listen to this until you do like them. Won’t take long. If any music is going to convince you of how pretty these sounds are, […]

In its own quiet way, Philippe Mion’s Confidence is one of the wilder of the Cinéma pour l’oreille offerings. And by wild, I mean wildly out of control anything can happen and does what is he what? going to say next it’s all so crazy and what? bewildering oh fine well.
And all […]

Ducks quacking, charming old ladies talking, dogs barking, guns firing, charming young girls laughing. Feuillet after feuillet of sonic images of French countryside. At least I heard no obvious city sounds. Anyway, if my description sounds like this is a total mishmash, just remember that Duchenne is French, and that the French […]

Gloria opens with an innocent little tune which suggests without actually doing it that it could do some serious rollicking. Not until some talking, and a couple of explosive sounds, does the tune, now clearly played by an accordion, start to dance. That tune (variants of it) is whistled and sung, too, […]

Some pieces, like Sacre du printemps, sneak up on you, sweet talking you before grabbing you by the throat or knocking you over the head and throwing you in the back of the roller coaster. Some, like Metamorphose, dispense with step one. Both are lovely ways to do music; both leave you […]

Ton Dieu ne s’appelle-t-il pas ego? is subtitled “drama en huit mouvements et ½.”
1) Prélude: Bird calls over a drone. More and more electronic sounds as it progresses. Last three seconds sudden crescendo of a buzzy repeated figure, leading without break into
2) La peur de l’autre (le méchant): a busy (not […]

The accordion in France is alive and well. Very alive and very well.
At least in 1981 it was so. (Come on. That’s not that long ago, is it?) If you hate accordion, you will love this piece. If you love accordion, you will love this piece.
Excellent good noise.