OISEAUX-TEMPETE Unworks & Rarities 2012-15
Description
Pushing new boundaries, this opus crystallizes precious moments of sonic bloom, from ambient soundscapes to free-noise and krautrock inflected improvisation.
This is the volume I of UNWORKS & RARITIES, a new serie compiling unreleased and miscelleanous pieces by OISEAUX-TEMPÊTE. Following their two acclaimed first albums on Sub Rosa (ÜTOPIYA?, 2015 & S/T, 2013), UNWORKS & RARITIES is putting up more than a collection of outtakes.
Since 2012, French 'free-rockers' OISEAUX-TEMPÊTE have been making instrumental and experimental rock that's heavy, provocative, and in no way intended for just a casual listen. The band, formed in Paris, is the core duo Frédéric D. Oberland & Stéphane Pigneul beside drummers Sylvain Joasson, Ben McConnell & Jean-Michel Pirès. Their music was initially made alongside photographer Stéphane C. in order to document the existential conflict caused by the political and economic upheavals in Greece. For ÜTOPIYA? the travels moved to Istanbul and Sicily, the group expanded with the addition of G.W.Sok (The Ex's former vocalist) narrating Nazim Hikmet's poems and Gareth Davis on bass clarinet, providing the food for its urgent energy and indomitable drive; still free, more punk, pursuing their sonic odyssey around the Mediterranean Sea. Including the same previous guests, UNWORKS & RARITIES features also unreleased cosmic sessions with ondes martenot's virtuoso Christine Ott.
More than mere music, the heft behind this project translates directly into the sound. It's not always dark and brooding, but it's definitely always potent. The landscapes they create through their soundscapes are always rich, stirring, full of colour and texture, and entirely cinematic. What's more, and what's most important, is that it feels so human. Using, at times, audio realia from the times of turmoil, the sounds and the music work together to shine a light and lift heads towards it. Commanding more than just your ears, from guts to gray matter, OISEAUX-TEMPÊTE will hijack your insides.
Titles
01. Eclipse & Sirocco
02. Quai de l'Exil
03. No Go(l)d No Master
04. Black As Midnight On A Moonless Night
05. The Strangest Creature On Earth (feat. G.W.Sok)
06. Nec Mergitur
Press
Prog Resiste (FR · Luc Evrard / Thierry Istace · 01/01/2017)
Après 2 albums reçus avec enthousiasme par la critique, le collectif parisien a décidé de compiler les inédits sur Unworks and Rarities 2012-2015 publiés chez Sub Rosa (Mandaï). Sans surprise, il propose toujours un rock énergique à la frontière du Noise mais totalement maîtrisé puisqu'il flirte avec les sonorités ambiantes cinématographiques et les impros estampillées kraut dans leur développement progressif. Leur cohérence va bien au-delà d'une simple collection de morceaux de fond de tiroir.
