Tag: Baskaru

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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) – 2014 – etherreal – (FR)

KARU27_1440x1440

France Jobin
The Illusion Of Infinitesimal

BASKARU KARU:27 CD (2014) France

Nous n’avons jamais parlé de France Jobin sous son propre nom, mais nous suivions son travail depuis qu’on l’a découverte fin 2010 avec son projet i8u chez Dragon’s Eye Recordings. C’est donc un plaisir de la retrouver, cette fois chez Baskaru avec cet The Illusion Of Infinitesimal qui formait un trio avec les sorties simultanées des albums de Laurent Perrier (Plateforme #1) etYoshio Machida (Music From The SYNTHI).

Des trois albums publiés par le label français, c’est de celui de France Jobin que l’on se sent le plus proche, certainement pour son épure, son style minimaliste, sa simplicité pourrait-on dire aussi, oscillant selon les titres entre l’ambient, le drone, et la vague microsound, le tout s’étirant en moyenne sur des pièces d’une vingtaine de minutes. Il ne nous a pas fallu longtemps pour être conquis puisque l’on se fait immédiatement happer par les nappes limpides, à la fois claires et feutrées de -1/2. On perçoit tout de suite le minimalisme de la musique de la Canadienne, et une finesse qui se manifeste ici de façon étonnante, par de brèves sonorités, entre le glitch électronique et le tintement régulier d’une note de piano. 

Cette première pièce surprend également par sa forme, avec une nette cassure, un changement de style au bout de 8mn qui nous amène vers un jeu de boucle ambient, feutrée et lumineuse, assez entêtante, qui contraste fortement avec la dernière partie qui allie un drone sombre et linéaire à des micro-tintements suraigus. Un final de toute beauté, précis et contemplatif.

Avec 0, France Jobin adopte une approche différente, amenant notamment ses évolutions plus en douceur. Superbe entrée en matière avec une douce boucle de basse, quelques nappes tronquées, mais surtout des cliquetis et ce qui nous fait penser au balancier d’une horloge. On sent le temps filer lentement, accueillant ensuite de nouvelles strates enveloppantes pour arriver à mi-parcours sur une ambient ample, aérienne. Celle-ci s’estompe sur le final et nous permet du même coup de retrouver les éléments de l’intro, subissant ici quelques effets de hachage et cassures.

+1 est à la fois le dernier et le plus long des trois titres qui composent cet album. Là encore l’approche est différente avec une introduction beaucoup plus difficile d’accès, abstraite, composée de micro-sonorités qui demanderont à l’auditeur de tendre l’oreille. Petit à petit ces expérimentations s’estompent au profit de cette même ambient, linéaire et minimale, étrangement relancée parfois par une sorte de tintement strident. Enchainement de nappes douces, minérales, qui ne cessent de prendre de l’ampleur avant une ultime montée d’une nappe/drone qui pourrait être produite par un violoncelle.

Douceur, minimalisme, apaisement et contemplation sont donc au programme de ce superbe album.

etherreal – Fabrice Allard – 31.01.2016

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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014 – feardrop (FR)

KARU27_1440x1440

France Jobin
The Illusion Of Infinitesimal
FRANCE BASKARU KARU:27 CD (2014)

Je suis prêt à soutenir, aussi paradoxal que cela puisse sembler, que cet album, ou plutôt sa musique, cette expression du fragile aux portes de la perception, cette expérience intime du minimalisme formel et tonal, entretient un rapport serré avec le langage. Je pourrais ne prendre à témoin que la suite numérique qu’offre la liste des trois morceaux : -1/2, 0 et +1. Mais c’est d’autre chose qu’il s’agit. Lorsqu’il est question d’exprimer un sentiment délicat, il arrive que la parole défaille, se fragilise, proche de chuter ou de disparaître. Il convient d’accorder alors son discours à son esprit et plus encore aux rythmes de son corps. Plonger ainsi en soi requiert le don de la microscopie et de la lente navigation. C’est ainsi que vogue France Jobin sur la musique qui est un calme miroitement, sur une surface faiblement fluctuante, soumise à la brise la plus faible. Pourtant, sous l’effet d’un tropisme lunaire, le flux et le jusant guident le retour incessant du motif que l’on ne songe même pas à qualifier de répétitif tant il semble appartenir à la séquence naturelle, bien plus qu’à l’artifice de l’homme. Ce fredonnement de lumière s’éloigne comme le jour au crépuscule, mais, ainsi qu’au pôle pendant certaine période, la nuit ne tombera pas, laissant le couchant s’éterniser. Mer et ciel se fondent en un harmonique unique, un filin légèrement vibrant, une quasi-monochromie. Avec ses fuselages bleutés, ce minimalisme évoque les beaux sons des frères Voigt, Gas et Sturm, sans le rythme. C’est une musique qui laisse au regard, à l’oreille, le soin de la compléter, car elle s’exile aux abords du perceptible sans délaisser la vague mais en la filtrant, sans sacrifier sa densité mais son volume.
On nous prévient d’ailleurs, sur la présentation que le label offre à ce disque, que le volume d’écoute, mais aussi sa modalité (écouteurs ou haut-parleurs) conditionneront l’approche et la réception de la musique, que de nouvelles formes, de nouvelles structures se dévoileront selon le contexte. Je me suis cantonné à un volume toujours assez faible, mais la double expérience des enceintes et des écouteurs offre effectivement des paysages, non différents, mais un panorama infime bénéficiant d’un éclairage, d’une hygrométrie, d’une attention au relief qui varient ainsi sensiblement. Il me semble également qu’avec le casque les épiphanies d’harmoniques s’exacerbent, alors que les enceintes offrent un empan plus large. Pareillement, le casque permet un rendu quasi tactile des minuscules effondrements qui traversent de loin en loin la vague lumineuse, retrouvant alors le panorama car dénonçant telle la vigie la rotondité de l’horizon.
Le langage, lui aussi, ne permet-il pas diverses interprétations selon, que sais-je, l’heure, le temps, la fatigue, l’humeur, la connaissance du lieu, le rappel à un contexte antérieur, le ton… Je parle avant tout d’un langage murmuré, proche du secret que seul peut révéler complètement le retour au non-langage, et l’on sait ce que cela implique. Alors, pour s’approcher, rôdant dans ce domaine flou où les perceptions sont toujours sur le point de trahir, on s’accorde aux respirations, aux teintes changeantes, au frisson sur la peau, à la musique.

feardrop, Denis Boyer, 2014-09-17
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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014 – The Sound Projector (UK)

France Jobin
The Illusion Of Infinitesimal
FRANCE BASKARU KARU:27 CD (2014)

One of the more ‘silent type’ sound art selections to cross my path of late; volume’s now up so high so I’ll probably be blasted into next year when I forget to reduce it for the next CD. Though drifting for the most part in a zero-gravity bliss state, these minimalist compositions do distinguish many a frequency between remote rotary rumbling and a fan-like spreading of sine waves that pierce the head bone, bleach neglected skull lining and fill the sterilized space with a waft of hygienic vapour.

France Jobin returns thus inspired from the realm of subatomic particles and their nebulous existential status, engaged this round by the quantum conundrum of angular momentum: as I understand it, the directional attribute possessed by gyroscopes and Frisbees. Particles possess a more limited version of this; a matter quite mysterious given that they have no discernable size. Moreover, their tendency to alternate with the wave state has rendered objective analysis a notoriously tricky business.

The compositional parallel Jobin draws from this involves working from a given emotion while neither pursuing nor exploring said state, just as one keeps an eye floater in view by keeping the eye still (to paraphrase inexpertly). From this point she painstakingly pares sounds down to their ‘unique essence’, from which point she is equipped to ‘communicate intent without influencing its unfolding, a delicate balance between perfection and detachment.’ This definition of ‘intent’ – perhaps less commonly used – can be found in meditation and internal martial arts with specific reference to the manipulation of the opposing forces of yin and yang. It can designate ‘intention’ divorced from ‘desire’: the information the brain sends to a limb for example. This neutrality is well demonstrated across these three unemotional yet involving compositions, which reveal and conceal different attributes with each listen.

The Sound Projector

 

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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014 – adverse effect – (PL)

Three rather subdued pieces hewn from shimmering, light yet warm, tones and smooth textures by this Canadian artist already known for her sound art and installations. Whilst this work may not sound readily distinguished from so many others of a similar disposition, there is a depth to it obviously arriving from a deft hand. The fact that Lawrence English has his hand in this via the mastering job likewise indicates a wholesome grasp on matters, too. Most pleasant. (RJ)

Richard Johnson (a.k.a. Richo)
adverse effect 

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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014 – Liability Webzine (FR)

Connue précédemment sous le nom de I8U, la montréalaise France Jobin sort désormais ses disques sous son propre nom. The Illusion of Infinitesimal est le deuxième du genre. Celle qui a créé le concept d’Immersound, c’est à dire un concept d’écoute pendant les concerts qui invite l’auditoire à l’exploration de sensations quels qu’ils soient, développe une musique ambient qui ne peut que s’écouter à fort volume si on veut percevoir tous les détails les plus infimes que France Jobin place astucieusement au gré de ses flottements sonores. L’infinitésimal donc. Mais où se trouve l’illusion de ce qui est infinitésimal ? En fait, ce que nous montre France Jobin c’est que ce qui est petit ou difficilement perceptible n’est qu’une vue de l’esprit. Pour percevoir ce qui semble invisible ou négligeable à l’oreille il faut que les conditions adéquate soient réunies. Cette notion d’immersion est alors indispensable et rien ne doit perturber la concentration nécessaire à son accomplissement. Et c’est à cet instant que l’on se rend compte que même ce qui est infime peut nous atteindre et nous émouvoir. La démonstration de France Jobin est, dès lors, éclatante et elle prend ici une signification toute particulière. En soi, France Jobin ne révolutionne pas en tant que telle la musique ambient mais elle lui donne des moyens de perception différents, une nouvelle approche en somme. Elle nous fait comprendre que jamais il ne faut s’arrêter à la surface de l’ambient et qu’il faut pour cela se donner les moyens afin de tout recevoir intégralement. Au lieu de se contenter des grandes allées, France Jobin nous incite à visiter ces alcôves que personne ne soupçonne. C’est une tâche qui demande de l’implication ce qui peut difficilement être dans l’ADN de tous. A une époque où la musique est devenu jetable et un produit qui ne dépasse rarement que sa valeur pécuniaire à court terme, celle de France Jobin est faite pour ceux qui n’ont pas cette écoute altérée et qui va bien au-delà des instincts les plus primaires. Il n’est pas certain que cela fasse l’unanimité.

Fabien Pondard

Liability Webzine

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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014 – hawai (CL)

review – The Illusion of Infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014

Perfection and uncertainty. La última de estas ediciones publicadas por Baskaru es también la última de las publicaciones de una artista que anteriormente recogimos en este pequeño sitio, una pequeña cobertura para una historia desarrollada por más de quince años, la cual se cruzó con nosotros justo en el momento que descubrió su personalidad de manera explícita, justo cuando iniciaba una nueva etapa que tiene con este trabajo su segundo capítulo. France Jobin fue antes I8U, nombre con el que publicó, sola o acompañada, catorce obras entre 1999 y 2011, para prestigiosas editoriales como Pandora, Bake, Oral, Room40, Atak, Non Visual Objects, Murmur y Dragon’s Eye. Una historia importante de esta compositora y artista sonora canadiense nacida en 1958 y residente en Montreal. Hace apenas dos años es que decidió emplear su nombre propio para firmar sus composiciones. Ese trabajo fue“Valence” (LINE, 2012) [184], un inmersión en las partículas de audio silente dentro del mutismo del label dirigido por Richard Chartier. “The Illusion Of Infinitesimal” es la continuación temporal, donde la artista se encierra todavía más en las panorámicas silenciosas. Tres piezas, tres prolongados desarrollos de minimalismo electrónico y ruido ambiental reducido a su expresión más esencial. Como France señala “‘The Illusion Of Infinitesimal’ representa otra oportunidad de refinar la esencia única de cada sonido y composición, en un esfuerzo de intentar comunicar mejor sin influir en su desdoblamiento, un delicado balance entre la perfección y la separación”. El universo sonoro de Jobin se concentra en si mismo, una introspección que limita lo más posible cualquier estridencia, dejando que las explosiones de sonido se conviertan en implosiones. El volumen al que son reproducidas las materias de esta obra alcanzan niveles muy bajos, al límite de lo perceptible, y solo con una cuidada atención logran percibirse las ricas capas que quedan subyacentes a la aparente quietud. La deliberada pasividad hace de este álbum uno que exige una extrema delicadeza al oírla, y solo así se descubre su misterio, las ecuaciones ocultas en el vacío. “-1/2” es, en realidad, tres fragmentos enlazados, una pista donde se distinguen tres etapas. La calma implacable de tonos vaporosos, una partitura donde el borde entre una anotación y la siguiente se desvanece, apuntado por lo que parece ser una solitaria nota de piano. Esa delicadeza enterrada deja ver la extrema belleza detrás del manto, la que avanza hacia otras formas de acordes desgastados y repetición, y más tarde a una electrónica que no es más que el brillo de una energía blanca inmaculada. “0” esta construida de remanentes orgánicos, de cuerdas extraídas de madera añeja, o al menos eso aparenta. La fragilidad de una acústica manual convertida en un loop contrasta con estratos de electrónica ínfima que incluso hacen pensar en aquel digitalismo sistémico de fin de siglo aunque cubierto de densidad, la que se posa sobre la repetición orgánica por unos minutos, dejando finalmente que los acordes sigan reiterándose. “+1” no es otra cosa que un destello infinito, el brillo de esta electrónica transparente que avanza tanto a nivel auditivo como visual. Se puede tanto escuchar como ver los sonidos que se desplazan a lo largo de los más de mil segundos de esta pieza que comienza a crecer lenta y paulatinamente, como partículas microscópicas que concentran masa y energía alrededor de su núcleo, hasta decantar en un resplandor incandescente, una eclosión tardía de estruendos contenidos. “The Illusion Of Infinitesimal”, estas composiciones de France Jobin conforman una enorme obra de ruido digital estático, la ilusión de la quietud en manchas minúsculas y notas que se desvanecen en el silencio.

Hawai

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Interview by Tobias FIsher on Tokafi – DE

tokafi

read – TOKAFI

France Jobin is not trying to understand the world – but her own place, in it.

France Jobin is a sound artist’s favourite sound artist. Minute attention to detail, a penchant for precision and an ear for beauty in unusual places have translated into a discography that may not be overly prolific, but continues to impress the true sonic connoisseurs. It is also the result of an anything but typical biography, which saw her rebelling against her classical education by performing keyboard in a blues band for many years, before discovering her affinity for the electronic medium. Despite emerging as one of the leading artists of the microsound scene of the early millennium, Jobin’s style always remained deeply personal, infused with a sense of fragility and sensitivity that resulted from an intimate relationship with her sounds and where they might lead her. After more than a decade of operating under the i8u moniker, Jobin  switched to using her civilian name on the occasion of her 2012 work Valence on Richard Chartier’s LINE imprint, a decision she would stay true to for her latest full-length The Illusion of Infinitesimal. In many respects, the album marks an acme within her oeuvre, although, as she stresses, it is merely the logical result of continuing her proven style and philosophy: “I felt it important to maintain and respect in the tradition that Richard Chartier established for his label. One of consistency and uncompromising attitude towards minimalism. With The Illusion of Infinitesimal, I attempted to push further  this notion of peeling away superfluous layers so that only the true essence of each sound remains.”
You once asked yourself: “Why do I love to hear classical music but loathe playing it?” I’d be curious about your answer to that question.
Perhaps, I have today come closer to an answer. I still love classical music but I think it was not the right medium through which I could communicate properly. I found that many of the emotions I felt were not being conveyed clearly through playing the piano and interpreting someone else’s works.  My aim was to communicate what I felt.

 

You have gradually moved from your background as a classically trained pianist towards different interfaces. How content are you with these interfaces compared to the keyboard?
Moving to interfaces and electronic music as a whole really freed me.  Electronic music for me flows effortlessly and is close to what I am trying to convey. I also love sound, I love the variety of sounds that exists. When I was playing keyboards or piano, I was under a traditional music sphere of time signature, keys, notes, chords, etc. It is possible to get away from those with keyboards and sound programming, but personally, I always felt restrained. I needed to unlearn all that I had learned to enable me to make experimental music. When one plays keyboards, one is playing one bar while reading the next. This implies that you know what to expect. I felt this was a hindrance for experimental music. I had to rid myself of the years of training except for one thing, the actual act of listening. Everything else had to go. I can now say that I have started incorporating elements of my old training back in my work, I have been including piano and “musical elements”, as “sounds”.

For a few years, you would be active as a performer in a blues band. What were some of the experiences that would lead you towards the discovery of ‘the room’ as part of the sonic experience?
Playing blues and touring was a great “school of sound” for me. While touring, one is often subjected to less than perfect conditions in regards to the venue, sound system etc. Jazz festivals  present a different dynamic, outdoor stages, where the sound is often lost. One learns very quickly that the most important person to a musician, is the sound man and that including him equally in the process is intrinsic to the performance. Among the things I witnessed for instance, was that the good blues players would always talk about the “feel”. No matter how technical a musician, if he did not have that “feel”, the subtleties of the idiom were not assimilated in the playing. Less notes, more feel was always the aim. I realized this was my initial exposure to a minimalist approach.
Another expression often used was ” being in the pocket” or “staying in the pocket”. This one was aimed at the rhythm section – drums and bass – and the important relationship between the two. If they were in sync, anything was possible, if they were not, the whole structure fell apart.

 

These concepts shaped my listening experience. I listened to each instrument individually, and to all of them, as one. During that time, we would have to adjust to each room we played, the guitarist with his amp and effects, me on keyboards and again, the band as a whole. If one room had too much treble, we would have to compensate, if the stage was set in front of a huge window, we knew that meant trouble as the sound had no solid wall to bounce from. I cannot tell you how many times we walked into a room and had to adjust on the fly because of so many different elements such as what the walls or floors were made of, how high was the ceiling and so on. It became such a regular occurrence that eventually, I found myself walking into a room and within seconds, know exactly what the room would sound like. When having to do our own sound – which was often the case – I was the one designated to do so. As I gained experience, it became obvious to me that the room played an integral part of the performance.
Once I switched to experimental music, I was able to take this experience further, using the room to my advantage. I feel I can really push this notion to its fullest with the use of frequencies that “bring out” the acoustic qualities of a room and exploit them.

You took a break from music after giving birth to your two sons. What were you listening to in these ten years? Did you end your compositional activities completely or are there still some productions from this period?
I listened to all kinds of music as I always do, jazz, electronic, classical, reggae and so on. Among others, this included Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thomas Köner, Richard Chartier, Asmus Tietchens, Pan Sonic, Mika Vainio, Bach, Mozart, Gustav Mahler, King Crimson and many more … Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue was and still is a regular on my playlist.
My sons were born very close to each other, which resulted in a period of chronic lack of sleep. During those early years, I proceeded to transform my studio, learn analog gear and hardware as well as get acquainted with computer generated methods. I spent a lot of time learning computer related methods while “unlearning” my previous musical training. There are no productions from this period but rather, all this work culminated in the release of my first self titled i8u CD. Strangely though, it would take me until 2003 to take the plunge and perform strictly with a laptop.

 

Especially with your most recent releases, I am noticing your use of terminology from the realm of physics for track titles and to describe the music.
As my children became older and more independent, I had more time to pursue interests. Science, physics, quantum physics were natural choices as I strived to move towards a more streamlined approach to life. Quantum physics describes the nature of the universe as being much different than what we see. This is exciting to me because every field recording I make, I listen to in this way, which is also how I view life. This pursuit of knowledge in science translated to a similar path in my music and naturally influenced my approach to sound and composition. My sound processing slowly became about  the peeling away of each superfluous layer, until I reached the essence of each sound, from that, it effortlessly moved to each movement within a piece and composition as a whole.

I am not so much trying to understand the world as I am trying to understand myself, in it.

If I understood correctly, you also began programming your own software tools at one point.
My stint in programming was brief and only lasted one and a half years. I took workshops for MAX/msp and managed to create one instrument that I use when I improvise with other musicians. Although I found the experience freeing and very creative, the amount of time needed for me to become proficient in programming was also time taken away from making music. I was happier programming sounds and composing.

 

One of the things that would become more and more apparent in your music was your move towards quiet dynamics. What happens when sound approaches the threshold of perception, do you feel?
Everything happens. It changes one’s perception, it forces one to listen more intently and by that very act, makes the listener actively involved with the work. It opens up the floodgates to the myriad of possibilities. Amplitude can change the nature of a sound completely. Low amplitude to me is a great tool, it creates magic as you listen over and over. It never is quite what you heard at first.

The dominant underlying intent throughout my work, be it albums, concerts or installations, is to make people stop, remove all distractions, and listen, simply listen.

Pierre-Alexandre Tremblay once asserted that “writing for electronics requires the same knowledge as writing for orchestra”. Is that something you can relate to?
Absolutely, in electronics, you are composing with sounds instead of instruments.

Why then, as you recently wrote in the press release to your new album, is it an ideal to detach yourself from the sounds?
Sounds to me, are like children, one cares for them, nurtures them and eventually, they detach, and only in that very delicate act of detachment, can their true essence be revealed.

What are some of the criteria that make you feel satisfied with a sound or piece?
I approach each piece with a sound that pleases me at that particular moment. The attention to details comes in the sound processing and ensuring that these sounds delicately compliment each other. Albums are great because they give me the luxury to “obsess” on a 3 second fade for a week or as long as it takes until I am satisfied. I recently had a discussion about this with Christopher Bissonnette and we both agreed that  “deleting the dots” is a painstaking but satisfying exercise! I feel a sound or a piece is finished when I have managed to transpose what I hear in my head as accurately as I possibly can.

 

When you’re immersed in sound all day, digging deep into the details, doesn’t it become less fascinating – because you understand the way certain things work?
Au contraire, being immersed in sound all day has become exponentially more fascinating. Unlike some, who have been conditioned to tune out background noise, I get caught in endless loops of analyzing how it makes me feel, and how I can manipulate these sounds if I could capture them. Mystery will always remain a part of the process as I try to understand what is reality.  As I try to  interpret and recreate this reality, it is clear to me that sound is the foundation of my own.

How do you see the balance between the emotional and the intellectual in your compositions?
I think this may come from my own attempts to find the same balance in my life. The emotional and intellectual balance is an inclusive one for me,  I don’t see how one can exist without the other, within us. Sounds can evoke both emotions as well as intellectual appreciation. I believe that by presenting sounds that are physical puts the listener in a state of receptivity, when that state of mind is achieved, it becomes easier to introduce the more intellectual sounds, which may not be so pleasing at first. It’s a matter of context, and how things are presented.

What is your concept of beauty?
For me, it’s one where artists or musicians are able to communicate their unique identity. If they have found that identity and refined it, it will be clearly communicated through their work.

France Jobin interview by Tobias Fischer
France Jobin photos by Sandor Dobos

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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014 – ondarock (it)

Il concetto di infinitesimo è forse fra i più dibattuti nella storia della logica, sia a livello filosofico che strettamente matematico. Quando Leibniz li introdusse come sostanziale traduzione del concetto di monade in ambito logico fu rivoluzione, poi per un secolo vennero accantonati e subordinati ai limiti per mancanza di rigore logico, salvo poi ricomparire nel secolo scorso nell’ambito dell’analisi non standard. Cosa c’entra tutto questo con la musica? Proprio a questa domanda che sorge spontanea vuole rispondere la canadese France Jobin, nota quei pochi già vicini alla sua longeva opera come I8U.

Il tentativo è quello di considerare ciascun singolo suono come fosse una particella, e dunque un infinitesimo di materia a dimensione zero: le tre lunghe digressioni di “The Illusion Of Infinitesimal” ne studiano l’interazione, andando in particolare a verificare la natura del presunto movimento rotatorio che lega i suoni stessi.
La ricerca, in realtà, non si discosta troppo dalle sperimentazioni degli ultimi allievi di Morton Feldman eTony Conrad (Phill Niblock in testa), ma a questo Jobin concilia pure il concetto di musica generativa, musica che si autocrea e autoproduce a cui il compositore fissa esclusivamente le coordinate-base, il sentiero da percorrere.

Il risultato di questa mediazione è dunque un lavoro di pura contemplazione sonora, che in sostanza va a collocarsi su quel sentiero di minimalismo ambientale da sempre tanto caro a Richard Chartier – non è un caso che il precedente lavoro a proprio nome di Jobin sia uscito, due anni fa, proprio per L_NE. “1/2” lascia estendere dunque un drone docile e liquido fino a raggiungere la massima estensione, e gioca con i livelli di volume sfruttandoli sostanzialmente come lente d’ingrandimento di un microscopio. Unica forma di intervento, resa quantitativamente dal titolo, sta nel sibilo che cerca ciclicamente di fare da acceleratore per le microparticelle sonore, senza però ottenere altro risultato dal “disturbare”.

In “0”, più breve e compatta, la velocità del moto sonoro si riduce ulteriormente complice la totale assenza di azione. I ventitré minuti di pura ambient-drone di “+1” aggiungono finalmente un po’ di sostanza alla forma, ma recuperando anche il legame con la realtà che gli scopi sperimentali dei due monologhi precedenti avevano finito col lacerare.
Vien da chiedersi dove possa portare questo proliferare di tentativi di lavorare sulla natura logica della musica prescindendo paradossalmente da ciò che la distingue da un puro succedersi di suoni: il sentimento. Jobin ci riesce, probabilmente suo malgrado, dando vita a una forma la cui gracilità melodica consente un ascolto suggestivo anche a chi volesse tenersi lontano dalla complessa dimensione concettuale su cui si fonda.

Matteo Meda

ondarock

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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014 – blackaudio

FRANCE JOBIN: The Illusion of Infinitesimal CD Baskaru

Canadian sound installation expert France Jobin started her career as a Blues artist, so all in all this release under her own name is nothing but a departure from the path she started out on.

Over the course of three tracks Jobin plays on a varying degree of subtle harmonies and droning pads, the atmosphere creeping upward, approaching the ear with blissful grace and attention to detail. Understated and minimalistic, there are hidden ranges within ‘The Illusion of Infinitesimal’ that infiltrate your ears and play on your imagination, leaving you questioning the source of the sounds that filter through the speakers.

Reminiscent of the ‘live @ Synaesthsia’ 3”CD I first encountered in 2000 from Fennesz and Rosy Parlane, this approaches the listener with the same oozing warmth of Summer twilight, where the sun sits low in the sky and all is well with the world.

With a varying degree of swells and pitches, France lets her actions glide enigmatically from start to finish, over the course of just under an hour. The beauty of this creation is that time simply flies by and becomes irrelevant once everything comes to its conclusion.

Tony Young

Blackaudio

9/10

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review – the illusion of infinitesimal – (baskaru) 2014 – felthat – (UK)

 

France Jobim, a sound artist based in Montreal, Canada has a very unique, poetic approach to sound design. A very experienced sound artists with huge background in installations, participant of numerous experimental music festivals. Her philosphy of immersion is clearly present here.

A multilayered sound of minute qualities of grainy structures and clean cut walls of sound brick by brick bring the atmoshpere of  musical architecture which is embellished with both subtleness and extensive harmony that has a beautiful feminine feel.

Clean cut of technologies and back up of digital artistry have a deep influence on the shape of the tracks which haunting power has a great universal meaning – it could be perceived as something of a background music, an ambience that helps to immerse yourself into it and develop a serious mood.

On the other hand there is strong emphasis on the contextual element – shapeshifting composing like in the example of her album is definitely a great asset when you consider how much you could get of this minimalistic music – a soundscape that really heals you.

Hubert Heathertoes

felthat