Pierre-André Arcand - Eres + 21 (Avatar / Ohm Editions, 1997)

Closing five laps in the Eres series and Arcand and his Macchina Ricordi have barely broken a sweat. If anything, they've hit a confident stride and are now refining their form. Arcand gives his voice a bit of a break here, opting instead for several Ricordi-induced manglings of bowed somethings (may be violin, may just be a piece of metal), tubing, and his sounding book. In each, there is a period of development as Arcand presents the base elements-- be they the fluttering of the bow or a deep, throaty burst--then a stacking and piling occurs, until Arcand peels back the elements to their essential form in conclusion. The sole vocal piece, "Chamomix", could almost count as showboating on Arcand's part, managing in its eleven minutes to run the gamut of his chosen modes and doing so in dizzying stereo. There is something magnetic in how each piece builds (and that's not meant as a tape pun). Arcand manages over the course of this and the first and second installments to establish a process and get inside it without ever being trapped by it.


Eres + 21

Pierre-André Arcand - Eres + 16 (Avatar / Ohm Editions, 1995)

Nine more steps through Arcand's Eres series, this time transporting his looping processes into a live setting. Beginning with the spiraling scrawl of his sounding book, he then launches into a diatribe in French that his Macchina Ricordi subsequently dices and scatteres until left with a brigade babbling "blah blah blah" in a cadence befitting of tree frogs. The adrenalizing leap onto the stage manages to elevate Arcand's sound processes, revealing a grit and immediacy not always felt in the first seven pieces. With the macchina in tow, he conjures a swirling storm of chuckles and a dizzying blitz of unidentifiable reeds. Arcand delves into throat works that would no doubt delight Henri Chopin, guttural to the point that one finds bubbles in the belly.

Eres + 16

Pierre-André Arcand - Eres + 7 (Avatar / OHM Editions, 1992)

These are the first in three installments from Quebecois sound artist Pierre-André Arcand's Eres series, the flagship expedition for two of his self-made instruments. Primary vehicle here is his Macchina Ricordi, a modified recorder that accomodates both the tape loops and simultaneous overdubbing that enable his impromptu modernization of Revue OU lineage sound poetry. Sometimes added to this are tones produced by his sounding book, a small metal box played by scribbling on its surface with a microphone heard most prominently on the beginning two pieces. These frantic washes provide a sound bed for Arcand to lay his guttural ululations, which become alternately scattered and hypnotic via the macchina ricordi's capabilities. In addition to voice, Arcard unleashes the macchine on what most likely is a violin, dicing the scrapes with anything but a precise cut.

Eres + 7