The illusion of infinitesimal on Baskaru

France Jobin
The Illusion of Infinitesimal
KARU:27
CD (digipak)
Edition of 500
February 11th 2014

Perfection and Uncertainty

The thing about France Jobin’s music that never fails to impress is that it works on so many levels. Listen to it at the threshold of perception (the way it is mastered) or at very high volume, on headphones or through loudspeakers, and you will hear new sonic relationships, new structures, a new logic every time. Things simultaneously are and aren’t as they seem; sounds you hear are and aren’t really there.

Montréal sound/installation artist France Jobin has come a long way since her days as a blues keyboardist in the 1980s. In 1999, after a hiatus that lasted a decade, during which she raised two sons, she turned to experimental electronic music of the very quiet, rumbling, abstracted kind, and started performing and releasing music under the moniker i8u. Slowly but with great assurance, she built a much-lauded career and kept on refining her art, ever digging deeper into the core of sound. When the revered LINE label offered her an album (Valence) in 2012, she abandoned her alias and started using her own name.

In her own words:

«The Illusion of Infinitesimal represents another chance to refine the unique essence of each sound and composition, in an effort to better communicate intent without influencing its unfolding, a delicate balance between perfection and detachment.

A parallel could be drawn from particles of matter, which, “as far as we know, are infinitesimal points of zero size, yet they have measurable amounts of angular momentum. Does the concept of rotation even make sense for a featureless speck? Angular momentum seems to be a more foundational concept than rotation itself. The angular momentum, or spin, of a single particle is restricted in strange ways. It can have only certain values, and not all values are allowed for all particles.” (1)

Perfection and uncertainty.»

(1) Collage of quotes from Jim Pivarski, “Spin”, Symmetry Magazine, March 2013.

Tracklisting

1   -1/2
2    0
3   +1

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Livingvoid compilation

livingvoid – A compilation of self-portraits in audio and image designed for shuffle playing is now available to pre-order!

Jack Chutter of ATTN magazine  UK put together a special USB memory stick pack, including:

1 x engraved wooden USB memory stick
1 x small painting by Jack, created while listening to livingvoid. Each will be unique.
1 x livingvoid A4 flyer, featuring a list of all contributors.

Orders will be sent out on 30/01/2014. Order here:

http://livingvoidcompilation.bandcamp.com/

Artists included are :

Adam McFillin / Alex Rumboldt / Alfie Cooke / Anatole / Andersen Viana / Anla Courtis / Anthony Galante / benjaminwillems / Brayden Bagnall / Budhaditya Chattopadhyay / Cauterised / Cindy Wegner /cjmann / Colin Taibi / conversationswithrocks / Craig Johnson / Cretin Dilettante / Daniel Barbiero / Dante Palmieri / David Fenech / david ian griess / Derek Piotr / Emile Milgrim / France Jobin / Gregg Davies / Ion Plasma Incineration / Jack Chuter / James Chuter / Jay Howard / Jean Drop / Jeremiah Cymerman / Jeremy S. Adams / Jim Barker / Joel Pearson / Josh Ronsen / Joshua Hummel / L’eclipse Nue / Laurie Tompkins / Leslie Deere / Liberez / Lisa Hogan / Luke Lund / Mark Chickenfish / Matt Warren Matthew Cheshire / Matthew Lee Knowles / MEANHAWK / Michael Roth / micromelancolie / Mike Cooper / Mike Perdue / modus op / morteza shirkoohi / Mountains On Fire / My Cat Is An Alien / neeeeeill / Norman / One Qwarter Horse / Pete Simonelli / Phil Taylor / Philippe Petit / protofuse / RADIO HUMMINGBIRD / raxil4 / Robomatix Rebirth / Ryan Muar / scutopus / Sebastian Engelhardt /Seth Guy / Shaun Duke / SOLARCIRCLES / Steve Sachse / Stu Von Geel / Stuart Craig / swefn / The Dan Haynes Experience / Thomas Evans / Thomas Rex Beverly / Vagabond Dog x Geoff Smokes / Vincent Euliano

Richard-Garet-Dermis-project-sur-webSYNradio-9-23-jan-2014

Listen to France Jobin’s “un petit rien” on playlist one

Le projet Dermis met l’accent sur des pratiques d’atelier et des travaux sonores en cours ;  encore invisibles, inaudibles, et inconnus du grand public . L’intention de Richard Garet pour ce projet a consisté à s’éloigner des conventions en invitant des artistes confirmés à  présenter un travail inachevé ou un fragment destiné à la réalisation de nouveaux travaux , et tout ce qui normalement ne serait pas autorisé à voir le jour.  Entre l’exploration, l’enregistrement, la production ou la simple écoute, les processus et les pratiques d’atelier sont très riches. Souvent, et comme par défaut, les fichiers audio s’accumulent dans les dossiers informatiques, pour aboutir à de longues heures de matériel et éventuellement à la création de bibliothèques de sons.

Pour mieux rendre compte de cette réalité, Richard Garet a contacté ses collègues et amis artistes avec un appel à contribution rédigé comme suit :  » Envoyer une piste audio inédite avec des sons ou des débris issus de votre pratique d’atelier ( à interpréter comme vous le souhaitez) , un résidu audio, pas de field recording reconnaissable, pas de vague sinusoïdale constante , aucun drone constant, texte et approche théorique bienvenus , pas besoin de fondu en entrée ou en sortie, le son peut être d’un bloc, assurez-vous juste qu’il ne sature pas les haut-parleurs , il peut être brut ou composé , et plus d’un fichier audio peut être proposé.  »
Toutes les pièces soumises ont été acceptées et inclues dans le projet, sans réserve ni aucun travail de post production.

Le derme est un tissu de type conjonctif formant la peau avec l’épiderme et l’hypoderme. Son épaisseur est variable selon les régions corporelles mais elle peut atteindre un millimètre. On distingue usuellement le derme papillaire jouxté à la jonction dermo-épidermique, le derme réticulaire et le derme profond.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derme

« DERMIS project » focuses on sonic studio practice from artists making work that is currently in process; subsequently yet unseen, unheard, and unknown to the public. Richard Garet’s intention for this project consisted of stepping away from the obvious and instead focusing on inviting artists that could present work that was unfinished or a segment of something that could be intended for making new work, or anything that normally would not be allowed to see the day of light as is. In the studio practice of any artist working with sound there is so much that happens and that consists of exploring, recording, producing and just listening. Often and by default in this practice audio files accumulate in computer folders, eventually creating libraries of sounds and extensive hours of listening material.

 

With that in mind Garet contacted his peers and these were the guidelines that he passed along for this project. « Submit an unreleased audio track, noise or debris from a sound artist studio practice (interpret this as you wish), audio residue, no recognizable field recordings, no constant sine waves, no constant drones, text and speech welcomed, no need for fade in or out, it can be just a block of sound, just make sure that it does not override the speakers, it can be raw or composed, and more than one audio-file can be submitted. »
These submissions were not reduced in any manner and everything that was submitted by each artist was included.

 

Dermis: The dermis is a layer of skin between the epidermis (with which it makes up the cutis) and subcutaneous tissues, that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. It is divided into two layers, the superficial area adjacent to the epidermis called the papillary region and a deep thicker area known as the reticular dermis.[1] The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis through a basement membrane. Structural components of the dermis arecollagen, elastic fibers, and extrafibrillar matrix.[2] It also contains Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat, hair follicles, sweat glands,sebaceous glands, apocrine glands, lymphatic vessels and blood vessels. Those blood vessels provide nourishment and waste removal for both dermal andepidermal cells.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermis

Live improv set on Symbiose CIBL

Photography © Christopher Steven Wormald

France was invited to perform a live set during Symbiose,
a radio program dedicated to experimental and avant-garde music.

Hosted by Eric Boivin and Albérick who like to share their  latest musical “coup de coeur” as well as discuss the Montreal music scene.

France performed a new short piece entitled “dégel”. A podcast of the show is available here.