Burno Duplant — Chamber And Field Works (2015-2017)
This two-disc set appeared in February of this year on the Sheffield based Another Timbre, who always have the knack of putting out interesting & creative improv/ modern composition. As we’ve come to expect from the label the two discs come in the minimal white gatefold package- and this features a selection of sparse/ stark black & white pictures.
Frenchman Burno Duplant has been creating work since around 2009- releasing so far around nearing fifty full-length releases. I’d heard his name in the past, but this is the first time I’ve checked out his work, after being impressed by the samples of this release on the label's website.
The release is evenly split between the two discs- on the first disc, we have a selection three pared back & unbalancing drone-based compositions played by Tokyo based Suidobashi Chamber Ensemble. And on the second disc a forty-four-minute blend of minimal guitar & field recording based work.
Each of the three tracks on the first disc fall between the thirteen & eighteen-minute mark. And first, up we have “All That I Learned And Then Forgot”- this composition is from 2015, and utilizes a blend of bassoon electronics, soprano & contrabass clarinet, electric guitar, bow & E-bow, Flute, Violin & Viola. This work is built around a selection of wavering & stretched tones that are fed out into a wonderfully unbalancing & sparse sound river of pitch shift- the whole thing seems to be constantly deflating & running down- yet at the same time there’s a wonderfully moody glow to the proceedings. Both Duplant’s composition & Suidobashi Chamber Ensemble playing wonderful blend together to create a very effective feeling of stretched unsettlement & wonky simmering brood.
The next track is entitled “Where Our Dreams Get Lost”, and this is from 2017. On this track, we have a blend of bassoon, soprano sax, electric guitar, E-bow, harmonica & Violin. This composition is made up of selection of sustained tones, their fading, and silence- with the occasional picking dart from the string instrumentation. Once again there is a feeling of waving pitch shift un-balance-ment in the work, but as well there’s a feeling of slightly jarring sprightly-ness when you get the sudden string pics. All giving one the feeling of staring out of a barren autumn vista of striped tree , which is ever so often broken by the brief flight of grey birds.
The final track on the first disc is another 2017 composition, and this is entitled “A Place Of Possibilities”. This track is built around a mix of female voice, Suparno Clarinet, bowed mandolin, harmonica, and violin. To start with we have the extremely pared back mix of just sustained female humming & scratching violin repetitions- as the track progresses we get more wavering & sawing tones are added into the mix, along with the occasional high pitched feedback nip. Altogether the track summons up an effective sonic feeling of wavering heat & sourness- almost like the composition is wrapped in a pressing sun haze, and at moments it has an almost slurred industrial or subtle noise feel to it.
The second disc is taken up by "lEttEr to tAku( field music for guitar)"- this comes in at the 44.25 mark. The track is a blend of sporadic/ subtle picking ‘n’ twanging guitar, and field recordings- playing the guitar is by Taku Sugimoto, and the field recordings are from Hanegu Park in Tokyo. The track was recorded on a September day last year, and it’s certainly a curio- much of the track's runtime is taken up by the sounds of the park, and this takes in distant birdsong, drifting people chatter, passing traffic, a garden strimmer, etc. Ever so often sudden clusters of notation appear from the small amplified guitar, and these are seemingly picking out in a vague sort of pattern, which at times leans towards the harmonic structure. The track is both soothing & intriguing, as ones hearing darts from the foreground of the field recordings & the sudden close-up darts of the guitar. I’m not sure what is actually composed/ arranged here- as the inlay notes don’t indicate, but I certainly found the whole thing appeal in it's pared-back manner. The whole track rather brought to mind a more stark & pared-back version of the type of thing Australian electro/ acoustic Seaworthy did on their 2009 release 1897.
Chamber And Field Works (2015-2017) is certainly another worthy & intriguing addition to Another Timbre’s growing catalogue. And I can see this very much appealing to those who like creative drone based modern composition and guitar/ field recording blends. And I’ll certainly be on the look-out to sample more of Mr. Duplant’s work in the future.