These are various field recordings from Belgium. I used several microphones to hear what is somehow first hidden.
Review on A Closer Listen :
acloserlisten.com/2012/10/15/flavien-gillie-encore-un-peu-de-ce-monde/
When making field recordings, sometimes it’s best to stay away from the obvious. There will come a time when listeners have had their fill of sparrows and seas and begin to wish for something else. That’s where artists such as Flavien Gillié come in. The Belgian recordings of Encore Un Peu De Ce Monde aspire to capture “what is somehow first hidden” – turbines, tunnels and other resonant resources. The more unique the sounds, the more they draw the attention.
The album is not completely unfamiliar; the crying sound of the turning turbine in track one is followed by the playful banter of children near what sounds like a drainage pipe in Josaphat Park. Gillié’s microphone work is pristine; we hear every nuance, from distant traffic to nearby footsteps, without distortion or momentary mute. But as the tracks progress, they grow less familiar. Cooing and public service announcements are left behind in favor of droning motifs – although the “music” in this case is in the ear of the beholder. ”Enfants Sous La Pluie” (“Children in the Rain”) sounds nothing like its title. High heeled echoes grow rounded and metallic; a sinister hum is joined by Raster Noton crackles. The fuzzed-out ending of “Abattoir d’Anderlecht” again sounds like the work of a drone artist, while the accompanying sirens add an intriguing texture. Oddly, despite the presence of animal noises, “Abattoir d’Anderlecht” sounds less like an abattoir than the subsequent track, recorded on the metro; the shrieks of unlubricated brakes sound strangely like the squeals of terrified pigs.
The variety of field recordings on hand inspire the question of how this album might sound as a single-track soundscape; there’s certainly enough raw material to create a dynamic long-form piece. Such a project would require only a slight overlap and a shuffling of the track order, perhaps from the quiet and familiar to the abrasive and strange. As it stands, the album is a fine collection of sounds that are thankfully a bit off the beaten path. (Richard Allen)
Review on The Field Reporter :
thefieldreporter.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/flavien-gillie/
by David Vélez
Hélécine, une éolienne
A dry swinging sound starts in an annoying way but after a few seconds the annoyance and dryness become enjoyable.
Parc Josaphat
Running water in a way it has been presented before.
Voie Quatre
A rattling sound whose source I couldn’t recognize helps the work to become really interesting at this point. The moving car sounds feels a bit intrusive in relation to the rattling sound but the piece is actually quite effective, subtle and yet powerful.
Une petite pluie et un avion
Water and birds in a way they have been presented before but at 0:24 a soft grunting sound emerges and takes the piece to another level. Later the grunting sound is gone but its absence makes now that the water and birds to sound different. At 1:30 the sound of what seems like an airplane takes the piece to a new place, the plane droning sounds create a piece within a piece; finally when the airplane is gone the birds and water sound better than ever before. A piece that points out to interesting questions.
Enfants sous la pluie
The piece sounds a little too electronic but have to say that at the end the textures, voices and drones make me to feel good about it.
Abattoirs d’Anderlecht
I enjoyed it so much I completely forgot I was actually working on a review. Very simple and still very effective.
Métro Clémenceau
The piece starts in a crowded, chaotic and mechanical manner reaching a peak at 0:50; then things start to fade out and then a swinging sound similar to the one in ‘Hélécine, une éolienne’ enters in a sort of disturbing, repetitive, rusty and frictional way. The piece takes an amazing turn at 1:50 when something happens in terms of movement and friction: seemingly the swinging sound that we were listening was a moving train and at this moment the breaks violently slow down and finally stop the train in a sequence of events that totally impressed me: beautiful.
Tubulaire au balcon
This is the piece that made me wanted to review this work in the first place. Very cinematographic and emotional. The tubular sound that goes through all the piece draws a beautiful tension that sort of glues the other sounds into an amazing emotional structure. The absolute peak of the release and of the really nice pieces of concrete composition that I heard through 2012.
released September 27, 2012
Picture by Alexia Goryn