Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Julien Bayle - Violent Gains of Silence [Elli Media - 2018]

Here we have a release that poses, and then answers the question of what can be found in seemingly total silence. The work sees French electronic musician/multidisciplinary artist Julien Bayle recording two hours of silence in 'anechoic' room- then processing it through a Euroack Modular system- to create nine specific length tracks- and the results are both surprisingly varied, creative & often rather noisy.

Violent Gains of Silence appears in the form of a CD on French label Elli Media- coming in a six-panel monochrome sleeve- featuring on its front cover a circular representation of the two hours of recording, which on the back are split up into nine sections. You also get a brief write-up about the piece, and a picture of Bayle sitting in a padded room- which I presume is where the original recording was made.

The initial two hours of ‘silence’ were recorded in an anechoic room at the Mechanical & Acoustic Research Lab LMA-CNRS in France. The room doesn’t create any reverberate- as it's all absorbed by it’s geometric and repetitive structured walls- making it one of the quietest places on the planet.

Then Bayle carefully played back the recording- picking out tiny random variations of physical electronic noises created by the recording equipment. He then created, than cut these elements into nine separate tracks which he processed in different ways through the Modular system. The resulting twenty-two-minute release is decidedly noise-bound, texturing varied & pretty creative, considering the origin/sourced of just 'silence'.

The release opens with the billowing & rushing tonal buffeting of "Dens". Moving onto manically jittering & choppy water-ness of "Sur". Through to the spitting 'n' spurting electro feed static of "Disr". Onto the slurred electro-fed clanging of "Unpr"- which sounds like a more noise-bound & nervy flaying cousin of more abstract Autechre. Through the snapping & popping beat, meets subtle grainy hiss 'n' buzz of "Post".

Initially, I felt a little short-changed by the releases merger runtime of just twenty-two- but really it shows both Bayle focus of his concept, and his ability to not let ego get in the way. Some producers could have really milked & stretched-out the textures here- really going to town on length tracks, but instead, Bayle keeps all nine track short & shape, with runtimes between one & five minutes. So he presents us with the different facets & textures derived from his processes- lets us enjoy the scope & the variation of what he’s mined, but never gives us too much- making you want more.

I can see Violent Gains of Silence appealing to both fans of textured noise, abstract electronica & general creative sound-making. When you read about the concept of the project you may imagine that the end results are going to both over indulgent & pretentious academic, instead what you get here is a short, often sonically shape & highly creative little release.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Julien Bayle - Violent Gains of ...
Here we have a release that poses, and then answers the question of what can be found in seemingly total silence. The work sees French electronic musician/mu...
280523   Mats Gustafsson & Andreas Røy...
270523   Whose Child Am I? + Weekend M...
260523   The Haunting Of Julia - The H...
260523   Pork Chop Hill - Pork Chop Hi...
250523   Olivier Alary - Apparitions ...
250523   Two Orphan Vampires - Two ...
240523   Enys Men - Enys Men( Blu Ray)
230523   Lee "Scratch" Perry - Battle ...
230523   Koobaatoo Asparagus - Bond Girl
230523   Roel Meelkop - Viva In Pace
Latest Articles

TenHornedBeast - Into The Deep & ...
Forming in the early 2000’s TenHornedBeast is a British project that creates a rather distinctive blend of black ambience, doom, dark soundtracking ele...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
050523   Bill Morroni - The Trials & ...
280323   Magnus Granberg - Finding Emo...
230223   Trou Aux Rats - The Funeral I...
020223   The Residents & Support - Liv...
300123   Worship - In Praise Of Walled...
201222   Blood Chalice - Into The Sin...
191222   Best Of 2022 - Music, Sound &...
061222   Dr Tom Whittaker - The noto...
231122   Hastings of Malawi - Deliriou...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom