If you have somewhat of a passing interest in 20th-century European experimental music, you know that musique concrète’s history strikingly resembles that of the X-Men. It all started when Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry founded the Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète, an institute for gifted youngsters willing to push electroacoustic music beyond its boundaries. The two quixotic figures mentored and lead their students through many adventures, until diverting opinions on what path the group should take — essentially how theory-bound it was supposed to stay — culminated in a split. Departing leader Pierre Schaeffer started a rogue group in 1958, under the name Groupe de Recherches Musicales, recruiting promising talents like Bernard Parmegiani, Iannis Xenakis, Luc Ferrari, etc. So, pretty much exactly like the X-Men. Just don’t ask me who of the two Pierres was Magneto and who was Professor X. Okay, maybe Luc Ferrari was Beast. But you’re not getting any more of that out of me.
With such an impressive roster and comic-book-ready backstory, it’s no surprise that the GRM archives are loaded with undiscovered gems. The ever-enterprising people at Editions Mego noticed this and created a specific imprint — Recollection GRM — to curate and release the GRM’s archival material. They’ve been doing so for the past few years, putting out retrospectives on Parmegiani, Xenakis, and Schaeffer; but also devoting the Traces series to compiling individual pieces by lesser-known composers who are groundbreaking despite their lack of celebrity.
For instance, take Charles Clapaud’s “Ruptures,” which opens this album, and wouldn’t sound out of place amid songs by Raime, Vatican Shadow, or any of today’s droney/dark/process-music-obsessed electronic musicians. The same goes for Venezuelan Servio Tulio Marin, whose “Impresiones Fugitivas” predates The Caretaker’s work by several decades. The third volume in the Traces series is rich in prescient sounds, yet also includes pieces that firmly plant the album in the mid-70s European tradition. Let Eugeniusz Rudnik’s grotesque, anti-militaristic collage “Moulin Diabolique” stand as evidence. Or the even more orthodox “Hypnos,” Janez Matičič’s homage to classic electroacoustic pieces — vintage oscillators and all.
Promising a fascinating look into experimental music’s days of future past (sorry for running that joke into the ground), Traces Three is out via Recollection GRM on June 24. Stream Janez Matičič’s “Hypnos (extrait de Trois Visions)” below:
Traces Three tracklisting:
01. Charles Clapaud - “Ruptures” (1978)
02. Janez Matičič - “Hypnos” (extrait de ‘Trois Visions’) (1975)
03. Servio Tulio Marin - “Impresiones Fugitivas” (1976)
04. Eugeniusz Rudnik - “Moulin Diabolique” (1979)
• GRM: http://www.inagrm.com
• Editions Mego: http://editionsmego.com
More about: Charles Clapaud, Groupe de Recherches Musicales, Janez Matičič, Servio Tulio Marin
