Pierre Henry :: La Ville / Die Stadt {Metropolis Paris}

Definitely inspired by Walter Ruttmann’s Wochende (1930), 'La Ville - Die Stadt' was commissioned by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (Klaus Schöning) in 1984. Hummings, drummings and tickings; this sound piece always was the true Paris soundscape to me (far from the Saint-Germain-des-Prés jazz clichés!).
Pierre Henry - La Ville / Die Stadt (Metropolis Paris) / 1994 WERGO — 

René Zosso + Clémencic Consort - Cantigas de Santa Maria

Surprisingly, René Zosso & Anne Osnowicz were playing a few weeks ago at Sonic Protest in Paris.
René Zosso is a great hurdy-gurdy performer, who has been playing with René Clemencic and his consort for quite a long time, and with whom he committed several uplifting recordings, such as Le Roman de Fauvel.
Here are a fine selection of Cantigas de Santa Maria (written during Alfonso del Sabio's reign in the 13th century), also played with Anne Osnowicz along with zarb master Djamchid Chemirani.

 

In Sonic Protest 2013, at Le Cirque Électrique, one could also discover Léo Maurel's strange music boxes, similar to hurdy-gurdies, giving all together a fascinating small scale concert…

René Zosso + Clémencic Consort - Cantigas de Santa Maria (2CD) — {Harmonia Mundi 1995} — 

Prophet 34 — Sara du Tchad

Recorded in the sixties by Charles Duvelle, also founder of the Ocora (Office de Coopération Radiophonique) collection, here are pretty rare sounds from the Sara people in the south of Chad. Listen to their nilotic language, sung in many repetitive patterns (such as 'chant et harpe' or the 'orchestre de sifflets et percussions'). The photos taken in situ by Duvelle at the time of the recording and reproduced in the leaflet are quite outstanding as well.

Sara du Tchad _ collection Prophet #34 _ 2003 _ 

Music and songs from Mauritania - Dimi Mint Abba

Dimi Mint Abba was the most famous and prominent mauritanian griot or 'Iggawin' in Mauritania. This is one of her first recording from the early 90s (originally released by Auvidis in 1989), where she plays with her husband Khalifa Ould Eide. Listen to her powerful voice, accompanied by the 'ardin', a mauritanian harp also used as a percussion. A very nice mix of arab and manding music emanates from this album.

Check the Discogs file for this recording _
1992 — Auvidis ethnic B6768 — 

Music Made In Merde - (volume 1)

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Proudly introducing my first playlist: exclusive french rarities and margin music, a mix of famous (Brigitte Fontaine, Michel Portal, Jacques Higelin, Bobby Lapointe, Jacno) and less famous artists (David Fenech, Jean-Marie Massou, André Robillard, Le Chevalier de Rinchy, Ghédalia Tazartès). The photo above was shot in summer 2011 in Limoux (south of France) and is an unexpected artwork from a nationalist outsider artist!

1 - André Robillard / "Le temps des cerises" (2002)
2 - Bobby Lapointe / "La question ne se pose pas" (1967)
3 - Brigitte Fontaine / "On n'est pas des chiens" (1966)
4 - Les Charlots sing Boris Vian / "Une bonne paire de claques dans la gueule" (1969)
5 - Le Chevalier de Rinchy / "Je ne pense qu'à ça" (2006)
6 - David Fenech / "La Boum 2005" (2005)
7 - François de Roubaix / "Indicatifs Télé Zaïre" (?)
8 - Mori Totti / "Tristesse" (Frédéric Chopin) (1939)
9 - Ghédalia Tazartès / "Je t'aimerai toujours" (2000)
10 - Dashiell Hedayat / "Fille de l'ombre (with gong)" (1971)
11 - Jacques Higelin / "Tiens, j'ai dit tiens" (1971)
12 - Jean-Marie Massou / "Complainte" (années 2000)
13 - Philippe Katerine plays Jacno / "Rectangle" (2011)
14 - Métal Urbain / "Ultra violence" (1978)
15 - Michel Portal / "Splendid yzlement" (1971)
16 - Monty / "Au bois de Boulogne (Aristide Bruant)" (1935)
17 - Pascal Comelade / "Automne" (1980)
18 - Pusse / "Le bon temps poilu" (2004)
19 - À trois dans les WC / "Contagion" (1979)
20 - Vincent Malone / "I just call to say I love you" (1995)

— "Music Made In Merde vol.1" / Les Continents Sonores 2013 _ 

Sylvain Kassap — Saxifrages!

Playing with Ensemble Laborintus and guest eRikm yesterday night at Instants Chavirés (Montreuil, France) I saw Sylvain Kassap, a great clarinet player. He is the author of one fine album originally released in 1985 on label Evidence: Saxifrages!, named after those tiny mountain flowers able to break rocks apart. The piece presents a fabulous Smörgåsbord of great french musicians such as Bruno Chevillon (dbl bass), Jacques Mahieux (dms), Pablo Cueco (perc), Claude Barthélémy (guit), Yves Robert (tb), Michel Godard (tuba), Gérard Buquet (tuba).
— Saxifrages - {Evidence – EV 102} / 1985 — 