cover scan dude by Bernard Petit

http://www.fringesrecordings.com

Album enregistré par correspondance en 2003 / 2004 par David Coulter (UK), Michael Gira (USA), Jean Marie Mathoul (B) & Charlemagne Palestine (USA).

David Coulter (ex Pogues e Test Department), Jean Marie Mathoul (artista belga dedito alla manipolazione sonora) e il maestro Charlemagne Palestine (che non ha certo bisogno di presentazioni) avevano già collaborato un paio d’anni fa ad un disco per la Young God di Michael Gira; lecito era aspettarsi che a questi tre si dovesse prima o poi aggiungere anche il boss della stessa etichetta, Michael Gira (che con i primi ha già collaborato), cosa che puntualmente è avvenuta e che viene adesso documentata dalla Fringes di Giuseppe Ielasi. Il cd si divide in tre parti che non direi separate ma piuttosto sezioni di una stessa sinfonia. Ai quattro si aggiungono anche vari prestigiosi ospiti come, nella prima parte (che è anche la più lunga e avvincente), Tony Conrad, Terry Edwards, Bob Feldman, Deborah Glaser e Jean-Jacques Palix. Le tre composizioni sono lunghe ma non su quei standards a cui Palestine ci ha abituato: l’inizio sembra “Schlingen blangen” dello stesso maestro newyorkese arrangiata dagli AMM, quindi una musica stratificata con l’organo di Charlemagne Palestine a stendere il tappeto su cui si innestano i tanti strumenti utilizzati dagli artisti. Nel finale, le varie istanze (minimalismo, drone music, avanguardia ed elettronica) si incontrano sul terreno di un folk apocalittico dalle parti degli Angels Of Light (Gira docet). La seconda parte è quella più dronata ed elettronica con Jean Marie Mathoul che rappresenta l’elemento di disturbo mescolando al minimalismo generale tapes ed interferenze radio che più che estraniare coinvolgono in maniera efficace l’ascoltatore come se si fosse nel bel mezzo di un live show. L’ultima parte vede l’organo di Charlemagne Palestine giocare un ruolo di primo piano, quasi un piccolo saggio delle sue straordinarie qualità, per poi venire sommerso nella parte centrale da sonorità classiche contemporanee e da un finale in puro spirito elettronico.
Non gli manca nulla per essere un gran disco: il sound è spettacolare, minimale, dronato, avanguardista, ipnotico, fluido ed articolato, spietato e coinvolgente. Ben pochi, quest’anno, hanno saputo fare lo stesso." - on Sands-zine website - 2004 (Italy)

"The music for GANTSE MISHPUCHAH was conceived and recorded 'by correspondence', then mixed and presumably moulded structurally by Mathoul. The result is a striking noise of a dronescape with lots of incident and activity occurring beneath a fairly constant surface level. There is a point in 'Part # One' where the clanking metal and long intertwining lines of instruments and found sounds (with guests including Tony Conrad on string drone and Terry Edwards on trumpet) reach an extraordinary intensity. But the most shocking moment is when someone, Gira presumably, starts strumming an acoustic guitar. As it continues in a similar vein for over 50 minutes, this initially intriguing cacophony doesn't really engage over the duration. Gira manages to grab the attention in 'Part # Two' with loops featuring snippets of Jarboe's vocals from his 1998 album THE BODY LOVERS. Depending on how they are looped they sound like coughing, laughing, sexual excitement or someone sobbing in pain. This cryptic activity clashes with some of Palestine's street recordings, making them doubly disturbing, although they are ultimately blurred by more gathering clouds of multi-textured sonic fog. As an exercise in detailed listening, this has an extraordinary density, especially on what sound like keyboard notes held to infinity on 'Part # Two'. But its very mulching and layering of activity make GANTSE MISHPUCHAH less than satisfying. Its three lengthy pieces don't carry the purity of a pared-down drone composition. And despite the emergence of rhythmic elements and string arpeggios on 'Part # Three', they also lack the dynamics or harmonic incident that would have given them some shape. Overall, GANTSE MISHPUCHAH feels like a sonic equivalent of mixing up all the colours in the paintbox and ending up with a dirty grey/brown." in The Wire - 2005 - (UK).

"C'est l'histoire de Jean-Marie Mathoul, un hutois vivant dans une hutte mansardée, timide et casanier, déétenteur d'archives sonores inédites glanées au gré de correspondances parfois nourries. Cette fois, le hutois délaisse son habitacle traditionnel, celui du combo 48 Cameras. .Il frappe à la porte de Michael Gira (Swans, Young God Records),, réinterpelle Charlemagne Palestine, et houspille David Coulter, son pote de toujours. Les échanges s'acheminent par voie postale ou électronique, sans véritable concertation préalable. L'avant-projet devient projet. Mathoul supervise. Boucle et déboucle. L'album prend corps. En trois parties. Longues et étirées. Le brouhaha est bouillonant, broché et énudé. Nous l'aimons à sa juste valeur, moi et toute mon équipe.""
     in Rif Raf - 2005 (Belgium)
    

"Quand Jean Marie Mathoul nous a confié ce CD, il a ajouté : "Si tu parviens à encaisser les premières minutes, cela devrait aller".. Derrière cette provocation déguisée, il y a un fond de vérité. Que les curieux tentés de découvrir une expérience parallèle à 48 Cameras (dont Mathoul & Coulter sont deux des hommes forts) ou aux Swans (groupe mythique de Gira) passent leur chemin. (...) Apprécier cet album n'est pas donné au premier mélomane venu... que du contraire. On entre aussi ici dans l'univers complexe (minimaliste fut le terme à la mode) de Charlemagne Palestine, soit un gars dont l'oeuvre a souvent cotoyé celles de La Monte Young, Terry Riley et consorts. Et si Jean Marie Mathoul parvient de réunir autour de son projet des pointures comme Gira, l'accord express de Palestine et le financement d'un label italien, dites-vous bien que les auditeurs avertis y trouveront leur compte" in Le Journal du Mardi - 2005 (Belgium)

"Holy crap, this is intense. Three dense electro-acoustic drones that never let up and chill your bones. An album apparently recorded by correspondence between main players David Coulter, Michael Gira, Jean Marie Mathoul, and Charlemagne Palestine (...). I have no idea what Gantse Mishpuchah means (is it Yiddish? Whole Shebang?), but one thing is clear: the apocalypse is upon us, and it is a drone. Part # one (22:17) : Sounds as if inspired by an L.A. traffic jam. Makes the floor shake. Some bells/gongs/pianos are chimed along the way, and towards the end somebody is actually strumming a guitar. Part # two (15:35) : Sounds as if the sounds of your Louisiana back porch was partially interpreted as a drone. Things that sound like frogs, owls, and creepy-crawlies interrupt the grasshopper-like drone. A thumping Afro-cuban beat melts in and out, as do some vocal and/or radio samples. Part # three (15:47) : Sounds as if inspired by an orchestra of one-stringed cellos and basses tuning up before a concert. Unyielding organ. Faint clips of people talking – possibly an urban street scene, looping of said voices. It ends abruptly then is followed by a few seconds of sounds of wind." - KFJC On-Line Reviews / USA - September 2005