Category: cd Reviews

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Review of Modulisme 123

In a series that has already delivered so many innovative performances, Jobin’s contribution feels both essential and personal. Modulisme Session 123 is a fascinating addition to her already stellar discography and a testament—proof that in the right hands, modular synthesis can become pure poetry.

France Jobin’s Modulisme Session 123 is a stunning contribution to the long-running Modulisme series—a platform that has consistently championed modular synthesis as both an art form and a philosophy. As a long-time fan of Jobin’s work, I was especially thrilled to hear her take on this session, and she does not disappoint. True to her refined style, this release is rich in intricate detail, with a meticulous arrangement of clicks, blips, and microscopic textures that form a beautifully precise sonic architecture.

Jobin’s approach here is disciplined yet expressive. Each sound feels carefully chosen and purposefully placed, creating an evolving structure that’s as intellectually satisfying as it is sonically intriguing. There’s a tactile sense of space and movement—sounds dart, flicker, and pulse in and out of focus, like signals from a distant, beautifully functioning machine. Rather than rely on sweeping gestures, Jobin leans into the micro—the hum, the glitch, the shimmer—and in doing so, constructs something quietly monumental.

A dedicated platform for left-field modular synth artists

To appreciate this session fully, it helps to understand the context of the Modulisme (translates Modularism). Curated by Philippe Petit, Modulisme sessions launched in 2019 as a dedicated platform for left-field modular synth artists working across genres and geographies. Each session is a standalone work, all featuring exclusive compositions recorded live with analog modular gear. The series roster is a who’s who in contemporary modular music, showcasing artists such as Todd Barton, Thomas Dimuzio, Ian Boddy, Jack Dangers, Scanner, Benge, and many more.

France Jobin’s Session 123 is a standout in this context. Her sound design feels effortlessly precise, full of restrained energy and clever asymmetry. The use of clicks and blips gives the piece a rhythmic undercurrent that never becomes obvious, always skirting the edge of pattern without locking into repetition. It’s music that rewards close listening—offering new details with every play.

In a series that has already delivered so many innovative performances, Jobin’s contribution feels both essential and personal. Modulisme Session 123 is a fascinating addition to her already stellar discography and a testament—proof that in the right hands, modular synthesis can become pure poetry.

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Track Premiere: France Jobin “A Ritual / For a Daydream”

I am thrilled to have been included in this project by Robert Crouch, my remix is featured on Foxy D

Listen here: Foxy Digitalis – The full album will be released May 6th on ROOM40

Here is what Foxy Digitalis has to say about my remix:

The opening track on Robert Takahashi Crouch’s last album, Jubilee, is the 19-minute “A Ritual,” culled from a longer, two-hour improvisational piece. For Ritual Variations, out on May 6 via Room40, he commissioned seven friends and artists to use the original two-hour recording as source material for further investigations and contemplations on the intimate nature of the music. The entire release is fantastic, but France Jobin’s stunning 37-minute “A Ritual / For a Daydream” stands out. 

Few artists create longform works as enveloping and engaging as Jobin. On “A Ritual / For a Daydream,” she gently pushes open the sound structures of the original to let the daylight pour in. Where Crouch’s original captures a deeply personal exchange between two people, Jobin builds a world where can all find connection and communion. Glacial tones are infused with grit and stretched across delicate architecture to create gossamer sound webs that hold us close together. It’s a beautiful treatise on how the most intimate aspects of sound can be building blocks for deeper, wider bonds. 

Ritual Variations is available to pre-order from Room 40 HERE and will be released on May 6 with reworks from France Jobin, Lawrence English, Yann Novak, and more.

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My last album opens with a piece called A Ritual. I think of this piece as a somewhat aggressive, long-form meditation on intimacy and ecstasy. There’s a reason I think about it like this.

The 19 minutes that comprise the track were taken from a much longer recording; a 2 hour improvisation I performed privately for my partner, Yann Novak. Performance is always a personal experience, even when offered communally, but this particular performance was very much about a shared moment, in an environment that foregrounded the personal. The low, undulating frequencies in the piece underscore a sense of the physical for me. I’d like to think it’s a work that dwells on upon the vibrational qualities of sound, and offers a respite within its mesh of rich harmonics, pushing a listener towards the ecstatic.

For Ritual Variations, I reached out to friends and artists whose work I respect and admire for various reasons. I gave these seven artists, including my partner, access to the original 2 hour recording and invited them to create new compositions using it as source material. It was a chance for them to also consider the private, intimate nature of the recording itself.

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SAH 0​/​1 – Review – Ondarock – Pepe Trotta

by Onda Rock – Italy

Black – white, full – empty, all – nothing. How much tension can arise from the comparison between these poles? How many shades are contained within them? How can this translate into sound? These are the questions (pro) posed by Edoardo Cammisa’s Sounds Against Humanity to the ten musicians involved to give rise to “0/1”. The resulting publication, in its elegant graphics conceived and edited by Camilla Pisani , makes use of the supervision work of Angelo Guido ( meanwhile.in.texas ) and sees Marie Rose (Marie e le Rose, Moon Ra, MonoLogue) in the cabin of direction.

The responses received and collected by the small but precious labelthey are multifaceted in form and substance, mirror of lines of thought and musical attitudes, which although belonging to the same field, are extremely different and peculiar. The sound and emotional density of Shedir ‘s drone-ambient , on which the beneficial influence of Lawrence English continues to hover , captures and transforms the energy arising from the contrast between extremes. Along the same lines, but in a different form and with a lesser outcome, the nervous and irregular flow conceived by Philip Sulidae and the saturated frequency studded with micro-variations shaped by Stefano Tashi develop.

The industrial echoes of the concrete modulations of Monte Burrows, on the other hand, refer to a process of disintegration projected towards zero, as does the rough current, all too static and similar to white noise transmitted by Seth Cluett . Greater stillness and brightness, but also less incisiveness, animate the synthetic dance composed by Emile Bojesen and the environmental saturations of anthéne. A more structured and complex representation, which refers to an infinite and repeated process of constant transformation, is that suggested by the binary symphony chiseled by France Jobin , by the dark and profound electroacoustic itinerary conceived by Attilio Novellino and by the essential and spectral dramaturgy signed by Luigi Turra. These are certainly the three best moments of the harvest, apexes of an itinerary of variable intensity but always enjoyable.

As a whole, what is outlined is an interesting sequence of possible interpretations, sonic mutability that finds visual echo in the 12 postcards attached to the deluxe edition , from which all the vitality of a sensorial territory rich in ideas and suggestions emerges.

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Death is perfection, everything else is relative on Editions Mego – Touching Extremes – Massimo Ricci

Touching Extremes

Editions Mego

Subsequent to a series of personal losses, France Jobin – Montreal’s minimalist composer of deserved renown – was forced to come to terms with something that haunts the existence of countless beings. As pathetic as this usually appears (courtesy of the average human’s shallowness), she attempted a rational collocation of chaos in her life, at the same time recognizing death as the ultimate symbol of a not better specified “perfection”. The introductory notes quote an excerpt from David Deutsch’s book The Fabric Of Reality, grounded

on the theory of phantom photons. Now, when it comes to photons this writer’s cynical experience translates as follows: interesting stuff on paper, yet inevitably destined to become, in most cases, food for pseudo-intellectual exhibition of the self (though I’m convinced that Jobin doesn’t belong to that category). After all, everyone is entitled to clutching at the straws of unearthly conjectures to put a measure of order in their own mind. Particularly when the grim reaper comes around waving us hello under various guises, which – in this day and age – happens quite frequently, including the cerebral demise of selected wannabe “authorities” dabbling in issues beyond their reach.

Fortunately, besides any cognitive necessity Jobin is an expert sound assembler. The music she created for this album derives entirely from a Buchla 200 analog synthesizer, except for a shorter and less assuaging track – “Soar” – made with Klara Lewis and exclusively available in the digital version. The longer pieces “Inertia” and “P”, however, represent everything that needs to be (un)told. There’s an answer to every question, there’s calmness behind any anxious doubt if only one delves in the right combination of frequencies. Jobin concocted textural trails that stay with the listener unobtrusively, typically projecting one or two suspended chords. The result amalgamates perfectly with our environment when played at moderate volume. Still, the apparent stasis is perturbed by the very pulsation that it contains. We detect imperceptible subsurface discolorations, brief dissipations of energy across the harmonic flawlessness, a few dynamic weaknesses and slight distortions in an otherwise rather narcotic flux. It’s sorrow-inducing, brain-quietening, and profoundly individual.

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Solitude– on Silent Records (USA) – Toneshift (USA) by TJ Norris

Honestly I sit here and wonder how much solitude this lady is getting these days, after spying on social media, what looked as though an all-encompassing trip around the world to down under, only to return to wintery Montreal where she is labouring in her spare time on water damage in her home. France Jobin‘s Solitude on Kim Cascone’s reborn Silence Records, is this globetrotter’s follow-up to the recently reviewed Duos(w/Richard Chartier) as well as her solo Intrication. The incredible (+ underrated) Canadian minimalist composer has broken into a deluxe territory of dreamstate sensation on this record sustained by luminous ambient texture and depth.

Here Jobin has arranged two long tracks, Solitude 1 & 2. The first part (33:30 run time) emerges slowly and keeps rising, wavering slowly expanding and filling the room with a robust yet fleeting array of resonances. It may be appropriate to note that sounds for this were mastered by Stephan Mathieu and recorded in various locations in Medellin, Colombia, perhaps this is a place where she manages to get away, find this solitude, or had a residency? Either way, these are most definitely tones that feel worn, and are well-thawed. The variables between vinyl crackle and wavy synth drone are active and mediating counterpoints. The deeper it goes the more fluid these disparate elements seem to align, reminding me of a gentle wake upon a crystal clear body of water.

The mid-tonal range is a bit of a traversing tunnel allowing the sonic flow to travel through and around the listener. It can be seen as ‘solitude’ yet more a bit detached than completely isolated. When Solitude 2 starts Jobin is playing with tonal separation and multi-directional cadence. The way the timbre moves from right/left channels is slightly off-putting at first, it’s asking my brain to move with is, back and forth, almost like a subliminal listening workout. After some variables in weight and other momentary abstract drifting drone, this begins to glide with its glitchy choppiness, on its own accord. Once things start to become textural and granular, and their are pockets of airy punctuation added you begin to understand the larger concept here, one of release, of breaching the everyday for a sense of respite, however fleeting.

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Solitude– on Silent Records (USA) – noCovision (FR) by Thierry Massard

Here … very very close to the ground, rough and dull, the imposing certainties, sticky, indolent, the renunciations, the voluntary withdrawal, the successive contempts, the secularized arrogances, modeling clay of disillusionments, the hermetic evidences, the silent tumult, sordid observation of bankruptcies without stakes, the precise glances, chilling, the sealed lips, the sharp entrenchment, the futile and disembodied hobbies, the petrified virtuous reason, the strict instructions for use …
There, perhaps also here, the awakening, the vagabond vision, the synchronicity, the founder doubt, the nomadic gesture, the air weight, the crackling of a eurythmic pendulum, the brightness, an ephemeral interstice …

Ici … très très près du sol, rêche et terne, les prégnantes certitudes, poisseuses, indolentes, les renoncements, le repli volontaire, les mépris successifs, les arrogances sécularisées, la pâte à modeler les désillusions, les évidences hermétiques, le tumulte silencieux, sordide constat des faillites sans enjeu, les regards précis, glaçants, les lèvres scellées, le retranchement aiguisé, les hobbies futiles et désincarnés, la vertueuse raison pétrifiée, le strict mode d’emploi …
Là, ici peut-être aussi, l’éveil, la vision vagabonde, la synchronicité, le doute fondateur, le geste nomade, le poids de l’air, le crépitement d’un balancier eurythmique, l’éclat, un éphémère interstice …

Thierry Massard / 13 avril 2019 – 05:51

noCoVision

> silent records
> theQ::

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DUO – on mAtter (JP) – France Jobin – Richard Chartier – Toneshift (USA)

My ears have been open to both these artists since the late 90s/early 00s, and though they have each evolved in direction over these decades, and I’ve heard collaborations they have done with others, separately, this may be the first time I’m hearing them play in both ears at the same time. A natural pairing. Both use subtleties to a fault. Both create an atmosphere of voluminous, restrained suspense that looms in space. And together it becomes more amorphous and wide.

The duo offers five long tracks which “creates an “intemporelle“ and pervading atmosphere” that are like the fault lines on thin ice (DUO.1), yet also have the ferocity of a jumbo jet poised to take flight. With the incredibly sensitive mastering by Stephan Mathieu, these two are in the best hands to allow their luxe patina to be showcased as quiet and raw where need be. The sensation, like floating amid embryonic fluid (or in a bath of ash), comes to mind.

There’s a tension of being on eggshells on DUO.5 that is quite palpable, in waves, almost industrial, yet triggered by a ghostly reverberation. The containment of static noise (or is it heavy rainfall?) is complex, and continues into the next track with an even deeper sense of query. Here on DUO.2 a sonic hum twists over and around the continued undertones in the ‘wall of sound’ just as a new reticent melody starts to emit into the cracks. A refreshing break of coloration perfumes the space, distancing itself from the pressurized mechanisms and sonic scape, yet also remains somewhat fleeting. I’m reminded of flying insects, buzzing by, teasing their variegated color, and away they go, free to the wind.

This may be considered minimal, but it’s quite complex. This may be assumed ambient, but it’s far from it. Instead, these artists, who on their own have created a world of micronoise, austere pixelations and other funky sounds, have fused a much larger picture from all sorts of finer parts. In fact, if I didn’t know better I would say DUO.3 was actually a prepared church organ in its bloated oscillation. Through patches, programming and patience Chartier and Jobin superimpose a meta world soundscape that breaks from either of their own traditions, offering a stimulating hybrid.

As this glorious sense of suspension arises and stays awhile there are other moments of contemplation. In the same stroke there is this continued fleeting sensibility that fills the air, like an impending end. On the closer, DUO.4, this only becomes much more dramatically paced at first, but within about four minutes, in a rush of circulated drone, minimal hiss and velocity, brings about a more organic sound. Together they develop a dreamy fusion of harmonic curvatures bathed in duly signature vintage vinyl imperfections, pop, crackle, etc. Towards the end the balanced nature of this blend becomes distorted, entangled, and somewhat flying saucer-like in retrospect. Satellites soften and shut down slowly in fading, static sonics.

TJ Norris (December 2018 Toneshift (USA)

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Intrication No. 919 – Toneshift (USA)

A stalwart of the microsound scene, France Jobin releases her 9th album on the No. label. Despite her previous association with the most lowercase of sounds, this album sees the Montreal-based artist expand her sound palette considerably. These tracks are noticeably fuller in scale and scope, allowing Jobin to explore wider realms of audio. Of course, her signature sine waves are present in many places here, delicate shards and pings of treble and hiss, but overall this collection embraces a warmer, richer aesthetic and it pays off.

Track titles are mysterious, possibly relating to quantum entanglement, as this heady area of theoretical physics was influential in the construction of Intrication. The first piece, “Ph”, is an epic 15-minute track that begins proceedings in style. Glitched-out half-melodies stutter from speaker to speaker, with high pitched crackles following along the periphery. Thicker drones appear, until at the halfway point everything dissolves into a beautifully atmospheric soundscape. Sunlit chords create a languid, melancholy mood. Those trademark sine waves make a sudden entry along the way, injecting high frequencies into the soft pads. It’s an amazing way to kick off the album, and is an absolute highlight for me.

By contrast, the second track, “01V”, is less than a minute long, a sketch of synths that act as a palette cleanser before another sine wave introduces the third track, “N”. This piece spends its first few minutes in typically Jobian territory: sparse, barely audible sine waves ping back and forth, as a midrange drone gradually creeps into the audio view. Ever so slowly, this template builds in volume, while extra tones are added to flesh out the frequency field.

“e-” is a much more substantial piece that starts life with smaller, twinkling sounds that create random patterns of looped melodies, but so tiny that they play tricks with the listener’s perception. Slowly, these metallic sounds are stretched and filtered into different shapes, and widescreen drones begin to fill in between their spaces. Taking its time to develop, this is another long form piece that stands out here, building in intensity until a swarm of buzzing sine waves takes over and fades into silence. Another stand out track for me.

Another enigmatically-named track, “m” starts with simple piano notes struck, that become engulfed in ever-increasing layers of fuzz and glitches. This is one of the most maximal pieces here, and I can imagine this being performed live would be an immersive experience. This thought makes me wonder: as Jobin is a prolific live performer, especially at larger festivals, perhaps her composition approach has been informed by this. The need to fill larger live spaces might steer her towards a lager sound, whereas her earlier work was informed by smaller, more intimate spaces like galleries.

The glitches return in the final track, “graviton”, which could be right at home on a Raster Noton release. Again, an implied melody is staggered into rhythmic cut-ups, fluttering and dancing, and which was briefly touched on in a smaller way on a previous track, “02V”. “graviton” takes this concept and repeats it until the final few minutes, when slightly harsher sounds are permitted, but always in a controlled manner. This album seems to mark a shifting in Jobin’s sound, one that departs from the strictly ultra-minimal ethos she’s known for, and I for one am excited to hear where this goes.

Darren McClure (December 2018) Toneshift

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Intrication No. 916 – Stray Landings (UK)

Intrication No.916|   CD-Digital | February 2018

France Jobin’s latest work, Intrication, takes its cues from aspects of quantum theory I’m not going to pretend to understand with much coherence. In essence, the album looks at a process known as ‘quantum entanglement’; when particles interact in such a way that the quantum state of each cannot be described without reference to the other. The album puts the tiniest fragments under the microscope, revealing within them kaleidoscopic expanses.

Despite the fact Intrication explores these scientific complexities, it could equally be replicating religious or near-death experiences. ‘m’ is a good example of this reverent quality; like an interlude from a cLOUDDEAD track stretched to the extreme. ‘03V’ follows a similar mood, delicate sun-blushed washes of ambience lightly brushing past. Playing into France’s concept for the album, this track forms part of a larger picture. The ‘V’ stands for ‘vignette’, and ‘01V’ to ‘04V’ are interspersed between the rest of the tracks, acting as a familiar motif throughout.

While these act as palette cleansing interludes, the tracks between cover more wide-ranging territory. One of the albums greatest nuances is the combination of natural and synthetic tones. Take ‘graviton’ for example, a glorious combination of warm, expansive dub-ambience and microcopic static pulses. Perhaps the crux of Intrication, ‘e-‘, is another case in point. Delicate chimes ring across the stereo field, gentle reverberations rising and falling abruptly in the backdrop. These resonant twinkles are eventually met by undulating low-end structures, the chimes dissolving into itching twitches of static.

It’s fitting Intrication sees its release on Material Object and Atom™’s ‘No.’ label. Throughout his own work Atom™ has explored similar mediations between the scientific and the psychedelic (take a listen to his mid-90s DATacide project for example). Speaking with France about her interpretation of quantum entanglement through the album, she discussed applying the same concept to the relationship between sound and our perception of it. At this point the question becomes almost a philosophical one; as we are presented with the possibility that each of our perceptions may differ, although still pertaining to the same ‘real world’ sound. Whatever our sensory differences might be however, there is a joyous sense of wonder and cosmic discovery to be found throughout Intrication; a considered tribute to the unknown.

Theo Darton Moore (February 2018) Stray Landings

 

 

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Scènes LINE_ 093 – Fluid Radio (UK)

Scènes LINE_ 093|   Digital | November 2017

The various interlocking scenes of experimental and ambient music are geographically dispersed but nonetheless close-knit, and the effects of significant events in these genres ripple out far and wide. Such was the case with the untimely death of Mika Vainio, a founder of Pan Sonic and producer of numerous landmark recordings under his own name and the moniker Ø, in April 2017. “scènes” is Canadian sound artist France Jobin’s tribute to her friend, offered in her own distinctive language of minimalist ambient music.

The album fades in with a warm breathing chord, joined later by steadier tones. The music is quiet and subdued, barely there at times, before returning with slightly more intensity. The second ‘scène’ is more present, with major key tones gently tumbling over one another. A repeating melodic motif injects more energy, though the piece remains fairly quiet. The sense of calm and peace is palpable across the first half of the album, derived from major key harmony, low volume, and an unhurried pace.

The minor-key drone and fluttering, trembling tones of ‘scène 3’ make it the only track on the album to resemble a typical musical expression of grief. Mid-way through the piece, the drone fades almost to the point of inaudibility, then returns with stiller, more stable tones, losing some of the earlier distraught quivering. ‘scène 4’ also flutters, but rather than sounding distraught instead pulses with energy; to me, its driving rhythms feel like a positive celebration and affirmation of life. Music needn’t shy away from pain or grief, but it is also able to remind us why we struggle. “scènes” is able to look sorrow in the eye, but at the same time remembers the good, and holds on tightly to the light.

Nathan Thomas (February 2018)