Pierre Bastein - Les Premieres Machines (1968-1988)

Niewielu jest artystów, o których muzyce powiedzieć można: absolutnie niepowtarzalna. Tak jest z pewnością z Pierre'em Bastienem. Ten Francuz jest twórcą Mecanium, orkiestry robotów. Każda z jego konstrukcji, a jest ich 70, przywodzi na myśl wizje wynalazców z początku XX wieku.

I nic dziwnego, bo inspiracją Bastiena była ekscentryczna proza Raymonda Russella i sztuka Marcela Duchampa. Roboty Mecanium to mechanizmy złożone z silniczków, które wydobywają dźwięki z małych afrykańskich i azjatyckich instrumentów akustycznych.

Powstają proste, monotonne motywy, które przy zestawieniu kilkunastu takich robotów dają jednak zaskakująco oryginalny i barwny efekt. Zawiązuje się tajemniczy, egzotyczny groove, a Bastien przygrywa swym robotom na trąbce. Przypomina to o muzyce elektronicznej budowanej na bazie pętli.

I pewnie dlatego twórczość Bastiena urzekła samego Aphex Twina, który w swej wytwórni Rephlex wydaje już drugi album Francuza. (Rafał Ksieżyk)

[ENG]

Pierre Bastien (France, 1953), a trumpeter who was a long-time member of Pascal Comelade's Bel Canto Orquesta appearing on Bel Canto Orchestra (Ding Dong, 1984), Detail Monochrome (DSA, 1984), Bel Canto (1986), El Primitivismo (DSA, 1987), 33 Bars (Wave, 1990), Danses et Chants de Syldavie (1993), Traffic d'Abstraction (1993), and Un Samedi sur la Terre (1996), and who had already released two collaborations with Bernard Pruvost under the moniker Nu Creative Methods, Nu Jungle Dances (Dav05, 1978) and Le Marchand de Calicot (Dav05, 1981), and composed music for dance pieces and for string quartet, became famous when (1986) he built his first mechanical orchestra, "Mecanium", an ensemble of musical automata capable of playing traditional instruments.

Mecanium (ADN, 1988), Musiques Machinales (SMI, 1993), Eggs Air Sister Steel (InPolysons, 1995), Musiques Paralloidres (Lowlands, 1998), that added a sampler to the arsenal, and Mecanoid (Rephlex, 2001) document these robotic experiments. Many of the results are simple, warm, humorous vignettes that originate from the contrast between Bastien's trumpet and the robotic orchestra. For example Musiques Machinales includes Inanga Conga for jazzy trumpet and jungle percussion, the melodic quasi-gamelan Musique Machinale, Vipers, for trombone and violin (Bastiene) backed by harmonium, xylophone and percussion (Mecanium), bordering on the ethnic chamber music of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, the folkish lullaby Temps Meles, and high-quality jazz imitations (whether the nocturnal nostalgic Woolloomooloo Bay or the festive nostalgic Marchin' Band). It also features Mecanium's nine-minute harp solo Mangbetu.

Oblique Sessions (1997) was a collaboration with Comelade, Berrocal & Liebezeit. Mecanologie Portative (1999) was a collaboration with the duo Klimperei. Musique Cyrillique (SoLyd, 2001) was a collaboration with Alexei Aigui. Mots d'Heures (InPolysons, 2002) was a collaboration with Lukas Simonis.

Pop (Rephlex, 2005) was his most varied and ebullient set of mechanical symphonies yet. The common factor is a hypnotic rhythm that comes from the fact that these are players fueled by motors.

Teleconcerts (2005) collects three "teleconcerts" that mirror the structure of classical concertos and their division in movements called "largo", "moderato", "presto", etc.

Visions Of Doing (Western Vinyl, 2008) collects soundtracks for films.

Les Premieres Machines 1968-1988 (Gazul, 2009) collects early bricolage-based compositions.

Machinations (Rephlex, 2012) collects ten atmospheric pieces composed for soundtracks and installations, It also includes a DVD of videos about Bastiens' kinetic sculptures and robotic instruments that basically illustrates the process behind the music. (source)