Autumn 2015

Blue As An Orange, new album announced 24th November on Morphine

After his last album Machinations released on Aphex Twin’s Rephlex label in 2012, Pierre Bastien joins Morphine’s program with a new record, Blue As An Orange, following the release of the deep listening pioneer Pauline Oliveros’ Water Above, Sky Below. On this latest work to be released November 24th 2015 (vinyl and digital), Bastien recycled components of his Silent Motors live set and assembled new mechanical organisms—using amplified Meccano parts, motors, fans, rattles, paper, and nails—to generate rhythmic patterns. Live instrumentals, from prepared trumpets to the African Kundi harp, Javanese rabab, sanza, electric harpsichord, bass, drums, and gongs, were then superimposed on top, offering “a fresh symbiosis of speculative anthropology and the smoke-and-mirrors melancholy of old-world Paris dives.” The LP was produced by Rabih Beaini, mastered by Neel, and designed by Tankboys, with original cover art by Nathalie du Pasquier.

> First announces : Fact magazine | Resident Advisor | Juno Download
> Distributor’s page : Rush Hour | Streaming link on request 

Silent Motors all across Europe but also in Rio and San Francisco

New live set Silent Motors (live recording by National Dutch radio) of Pierre Bastien which features paper instruments along his machineries has been performed recently for Night Of Suprise at Stadtgarten in Cologne and MUDAM – Museum of Modern Art of Luxemburg. It will be performed soon in Bologna at Mast. October 23rd, at PostModernissimo in Perugia October 27th, at Time Zone Festival in Bari with Tomaga November 6th, at Foyer in Eupen, Belgium, with Meakusma November 14th and at Energy of the Sound in Wroclaw, Poland, December 12th 2015.

Silent Motors will also do its South-American premiere for Novas Frequências Festival happening in Rio-de-Janeiro Dec 1–8 with performers such as Tyondai Braxton, Mika Vaino, Phil Niblock & Thomas Ankersmit as guests. Pierre will as well be part of the Resonance series at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, April 14th 2016, thanks to our friend Colleen who recently performed there (video). A US tour is currently on works, in partnership with Front Porch productions, around that appearance. Be in touch if you’re interested to set up a show!

Motus with Emmanuelle Parrenin on tour in France in November

Motus, the project of Pierre Bastien along French folk icon Emmanuelle Parrenin will tour France in November with shows in Aurillac (Nov 10th, Théâtre), Rennes (Nov 17th, Le Tambour), Brest for Festival Invisible (Nov 20th) and Paris (Nov 21st, Fleury Goutte d’Or Barbara). Recently reworked under a new retroprojection set up, including new machineries, Motus is the meeting of Pierre’s mechanics, trumpet and Kundi african harp with Emmanuelle’s experimentations on traditionnal instruments such as hurdy gurdy and harp.

> More info on Motus

Installations : Paper Orchestra and creation for Mast. Bologna

After recent exhibitions such as in Kraftwerk for Berlin Atonal (Mecanology in 4 rooms) and Comix Home Base in Hong Kong for Beyond the Sound, Pierre’s installation Paper orchestra (video) will be presented from Nov 4th at Médiathèque de Blanzat in Clermont-Ferrand for Musiques Démesurées festival. Pierre will also present soon at MAST. in Bologna, on an invitation of Angelica for Foto/Industria, a special piece Lyrical machines (1977-2015), a sound installation specially composed for F/I 2015 with electro-motors, fans, Meccano parts, paper and music instruments.

“These fourteen Lyrical Machines cannot be found in the music shop. I make them in my studio, with a screwdriver and a soldering system. They don’t hide in a steel case labelled by a Japanese top brand. They exhibit their mechanism from the electro-motor that is activating the wheels and gears, to the musical result. The visitor is at the same time listener and watcher: he travels into the sounds, he takes a walk inside the composition.”

In 2016, his installation Paper orchestra will also be part of the exhibition of Collection Morel on bachelor machines (Les machines célibataires), from February 18th to March 13th 2016 at Lieu Unique in Nantes, France. More info soon !

Tourdates and exhibitions

Categorised in: News

This post was written by constance