0701 Eric Cordier:::: Osorezan~ Selected field recording 1993 - 2007

Osorezan 19:53 (excerpt, vbr mp3)
- L'Air dans l'eau (05:48)
- L'Air dans l'air (04:33)
- L'Air et l'eau (09:31)
Recorded in Niseko, southwest of Hokaïdo and in Osorezan, northern of Honshu in August 2006. Gas emanation of volcano in Japan. The sound recordings were carried out in the depths and then re-organised. We listen to gas bubbling in water, gas mouths, gas that creates rhythms while escaping from under a dead leaf down in the clay, whistling…All panoramic movements, repetitions, effects of phasing have been carried out during the time of the recording, travelling at the mouth to gather the sound of sulphur gas as a sound pallette.

Transbordement 07:50
The outward and return journey of the ferry, crossing the Seine River between Heurteauville and Jumièges, downstream from Rouen (with the unloading of the cars). Recorded in Heurteauville on July 17, 1993.

Dekishima 02:19
Recorded on the 1st january 2005. It is the sound of the wires of a ’"bridge" at the sea side during a small storm (north Honshu, west coast, Aomori area). A "bridge" because it is a typical useless Japanese object built just for giving work to the construction industry. A surealistic place, a road to nowhere as if it were just to throw cars into the sea.

Le feu de Saint Clair 14:20
La Haye de Routot is one of the more interesting villages in Normandy, a meeting point of ethnology and tourism. It has preserved rare traditions; it has an extraordinary heritage, two yew trees of two thousand years old, both large and hollow with vaults carved within. And since a few decades, an eco-museum specialising in bread and wood-shoes was established there. I know this place well, 3km away from my native village. It is this place too where I had recorded part of my second CD (U.n.a.c.d.). The recording takes place on a festival day, it was an occasion of participation for my grandfather who set up once in a year the electrical supply brought by a mobile generator and my father who thereafter wired the sound system for the festival and especially for the mass in the small church. Every year on July 16, of my childhood, I assisted with the kindling then the combustion of the 14 meters high bonfire.

- Le Montage du feu (07:13)
The brotherhood of charity, once in a year collaborates in the building for this bonfire, which will be set ablaze in the evening. They are a team of volunteers, who work on the building site (with good mood).

- Les Tintenelles et le feu (07:03)
Standing in a central point of the cemetery, halfway between the church and the fire, precisely under one of these giant trees, the happenings according to my perspective. One hears successively the harmonium during the end of the mass resounding in the cemetery, then the drum of the garde champêtre (a kind of rural policeman), which opens the way to the procession among crowd. Then the tintenelles (bells) played by the master of the brotherhood of charity. The audience becomes quiet for a moment in respect for the religious authorities before returning to hubbub. The tintennelles disappear behind a low wall and then the fire begins. Field recordings caught in 1993.

Par temps Sec 18:11
(In dry weather) The beginning of a summer afternoon in a small hamlet Le Mazel, Champy, Ardeches, south of France. Microphones set up behind a hedge, close to a small country path catching the activity at a precise moment. This recording did not undergo any editing or mixing.

Texts Translations by Eric Cordier.

Audio CD, 6 panels digipak includes an extensive booklet of site photos and text in English.
60 minutes+
Release date: July 2007
12 Euros + shipping order

Related resources: 
Also by Eric Cordier
Eric Cordier / Seijiro Murayama: Nuit

Musically connected
Murmer :::: Framework 1 - 4
Lasse-Marc Riek :::: Harbour

Geographically connected
Battus / Marchetti / Petit: La Vie Dans Les Bois  
Pascal Battus: Simbol / L'Unique Trait D' Pinceau
Eric La Casa: W2
Eric La Casa / Cédric Peyronnet: La Creuse
Jean-Luc Guionnet: Non Organic Bias

Review(s)
Bixobal 3
subtitled "Selected Field Recordings 1993 - 2006", this release does better then your average disc of recordings made outdoors by presenting some rather unique locales. First up are the bubbling gas emanations of the volcanic sites at Niseko and Osorezan in Japan. Illustrated by photographs in the triple-fold cover and 12-page booklet, both in full color, a clear image is created of these special spots full of the sounds of simmering and jetting gases coming from the earth from underneath pools of water or directly through the mud. The sounds are of an unstable environment. After the opening trio of nature sounds, the disc moves on to concern itself with human related activities. Although a clear theme eludes me, the pieces all make fascinating listening featuring as they do the unloading of a French ferry, the wires of a "bridge" on the seacoast of Japan, which leads nowhere (another construction kickback), the building and subsequent burning of a 46-foot bonfire, and activity around a country path - the last two in rural areas of France. What strikes me is that there places are ones that most people would not know about, let alone visit. I'm sure we have all considered volcanos at various points, but their manifestations are numerous leading many sites to be different. And how many outside of Japan know of the huge sums of government money siphoned off by well connected constrators for essentially useless projects, let alone consider what there lonely sites are like? finally, while I could picture a festival in that island nation still burning large pyres, I didn't realize that such a practice was still active in France. The second piece in that section, "Les tintenelles at le feu", is a mixture of the dying harmonium from the church, a few drum beats, the wandering sounds of bells, various voices, and the sounds of burning wood. Captured with clarity, the pieces are little aural movie.
- Eric Lanzillotta

The Wires
First collection of field recordings by Eric Cordier, the man who introduced Keiji Haino (in 1992) and then Jim O'Rourke (in 1995) to the hurdy-gurdy, Osorezan, though, is hurdy-gurdy free. A rigorous, near-scientific series of sound documents, it was collected on Cordier's travel over the course of 13 years. The title piece records the sounds of gas bubbles escaping though water by a volcanic Japanese spring. The extreme acoustic close-ups of water and gas fluttering, spluttering admixture make for an illusionistic experience. Dense, organic sounds are interspersed with phasing and other microphone phenomena - which Cordier assert were all achieved in situ - and gradually the organic is swamped he positions himself more neutrally, "Par Temp Sec", the sound of a hedgerow on a summer afternoon in rural France, is so uneventful that eventually the drone of a plane overhead and an insect flying within range of the microphone become deeply musical events.
- Sam Davies

TOUCHING EXTREMES
"Osorezan" is a collection of field recordings gathered by French sound artist Eric Cordier between 1993 and 2007 in France and Japan. The CD comes splendidly packaged, each piece paired to a magnificent picture somehow related to the track and the location where it was captured on tape. A booklet containing notes about the compositions completes the offer, which - let me be perfectly clear - is one of the very best assemblages of natural and human ambiences that I've ever heard. The tracks exploit totally different settings with knowledgeable accuracy and care for the particular, demonstrating Cordier's uncanny ability in describing a landscape or a pre-determined situation as a whole image while maintaining minute details clearly visible. The primary sources were the bubbling gas in the sulphureous waters of a volcano, a ferryboat on the Seine river, a "phantom bridge" in a isolated marine area, a ceremony that happens on a yearly basis near the author's hometown, the typical sonic attributes of a summer afternoon in a small village. Every environmental frame reveals its own fascinating blend of calls and presences; during the rare moments in which noise appears, it becomes an obvious consequence of something that seems to have been predicted. The preparation of a ritual bonfire accompanied by the tolling bells of a rural town. The whistling of the metallic structures of an unfinished construction elicited by the ocean wind. The innumerable species of birds. The various gradations of hiss amidst the boiling water. The majestic roar of an airplane in a silent country setting. The sense of solitude and, at the same time, of immensity that being alone in a meadow causes. It's all here, recorded without tricks or façades, no hidden meanings or subterranean intentions. The essential sounds, just as they are. That means wonderful, especially in absence of people.
- Massimo Ricci

Vital Weekly
Eric Cordier we may know from his work with the hurdy gurdy or with improvisers, but to my surprise this new CD contains just field recordings. The field recordings by Cordier span from 1993 to 2006, and we either made in Japan or in France. Some of these pieces were 'edited an reorganized', where as other pieces are presented as is. However, I believe no sound transformation was used. This is quite detailed recording, and with the useful descriptions in the booklet it's all easy to follow. The gas filled water of Japan, or the unloading of cars; the bonfire and the lazy afternoon. It's all there. Perhaps one could argue that this is hardly music, but I was listening with true fascination to these sounds. Cut of reality, they become music, simply because Cordier pressed them on a CD and we listen to it, rather than going out and listen for ourselves - we could do that later on, if we want to, but it's raining (also a nice sound event), so I prefer to stay inside and listen again to the Cordier CD. Such richness captured in such elegant and smooth way: a true treat for the ears.
- Frans de Waard

The Sound Projector
...Lastly, we have /Osorezan/, a compilation of *Eric Cordier*'s field recordings made 1993-2006. Each of these seven episodes has clearly been carefully selected from what I assume must be a substantial archive of his travels; he probably has the tape recorder turned on wherever his feet may wander, even when he's simply buying an airline ticket. The booklet is also part of the document, adding colour photographs which once again express a view of the world as a place filled with unusual beauties concealed in the most unlikely places; and the sleeve notes, which are pithy observations by the artist revealing a sound knowledge of the geophysical state of the globe. It's even more interesting when these very material documents are overlaid with his own subjective perceptions and insights, including some very personal memories. Even the simplest sounds appear to be enriched with significance.
- Ed Pinsent

Monsieur Delire
Paru en 2007 mais frais reçu. Un superbe disque par un grand artiste sonore de terrain. Cordier se limite à saisir les sons sur place, tels qu’ils se présentent. Pour varier le point de vue, il se déplace. D’un intérêt tout particulier, la pièce titre, un triptyque autour d’un volcan japonais dont les émanations de souffre font bouillonner l’eau qui s’y trouve. Aussi, un feu de joie dans la campagne française et des scènes de vie urbaines. Un beau disque où la réalité, captée sur le vif, est transfigurée par les haut-parleurs.

Released in 2007, but it just reached me. A splendid record by a great field recordist. Cordier sticks to capturing sounds on the spot, as they occur. And he moves around to provide us with various vantage points. Of particular note is the title track, a triptych around a Japanese volcano - gas emanations making water boil. There is also a bonfire in the French countryside, and urban scenes. A beautiful CD where reality captured as it happens is transfigured by the loudspeakers.
- François Couture

BLOW UP
È un quesito antico quanto il mondo o perlomeno quanto Platone. L'arte, e nel nostro caso la musica, deve imitare la natura (e dunque la realtà) oppure raccontarla? A dirla tutta, noi non sapremmo cosa scegliere, ma forse uno come Eric Cordier potrebbe avere la risposta prontaŠ Attivo da anni in ambito elettroacustico, installativo ed improvvisativo (è peraltro un virtuoso suonatore di ghironda), gran parte della sua opera si svolge nel campo del documentarismo acustico.
In questo solco, cioè nel campo della poetica narrazione della realtà acustica, si colloca il disco solista per l'etichetta malese Herbal Records, registrazioni effettuate in situ in varie parti del pianeta tra il 1993 e il 2006. Gas vulcanici, refoli di vento, traversate in battello, sagre paesane, crepitare di fuochi, Cordier riprende tutto con un uso sapiente del microfono e della repertazione (il booklet del CD offre diario annotato e bel dossier fotografico del tour dell'autore), restituendo memoria tangibile alla realtà sonora tramite la pura archiviazione o una rispettosa opera di edizione e riorganizzazione del materiale, talvolta effettuata in presa diretta con opportuni movimenti panoramici o interventi di phasing. Perfetta in tal senso la ripresa eseguita nella località nipponica di Honshu, sbatacchiare dei cavi di sostegno di un surreale ponte verso il niente durante un acquazzone. (8 out of 8)
- Nicola Catalano

Bad Alchemy
Ausgewählte Fieldrecordings 1993 - 2006. Cordier, der zuletzt mit Breizhiselad in der bretonischen Vergangenheit schürfte, ist ganz nah bei den Elementen. 2006 in Japan bei den blubbernden und zischenden vulkanischen Schwefelquellen von Niseko & Osorezan. Nur Krähen und Grillen fühlen sich in der Nähe dieses brodelnden Gemisches aus Gas, Wasser und Feuer heimisch (‚Osorezan, (la montagne de la peur) ‘). 13 Jahre zuvor, die Seinefähre zwischen Jumièges und Heurteauville, Autos rollen von Bord (‚Transbordement‘). Dann wieder Japan, im Norden von Honshu. Stürmischer Wind lässt die Drähte einer Brücke klackern und pfeifen - einer Brücke ohne Anschluss und Verkehr, Denkmal für die leidende Bauindustrie (Dekishima‘). Zurück nach 1993 in die normannische Heimat. In La Haye de Routot, nur 3 km von Cordiers Geburtsort entfernt, bereiten die Barmherzigen Brüder und die Gemeinde am 16. Juli das alljährliche Saint-Clair-Feuer vor. Holz wird gehackt, die Helfer unterhalten sich, während Vögel aufgeregt zwitschern. Das Harmonium in der Kirche verstummt, Trommel und Tintenellesglocken führen die Prozession vorüber, der Holzstapel wird angezündet und die Flammen lodern 14 Meter hoch (‚La feu de Saint Clair‘). Dann Sprung ins südostfranzösische Département Ardeches, ländliches Idyll, Vögel, Insekten, Schritte, Stimmen, über den Köpfen grollen und propellern Flugzeuge hinweg. Jeder, der schon einmal in der benachbarten Provence war, ‚hört‘ die brütende Hitze (‚Par temps Sec‘).
- Rigobert Dittmann

Monk Mink Pink Punk
"Selected field recording 1993-2006" proclaims the cover, offering aural trips to a Japanese volcano and access to village life in the French countryside. The volcano recordings are all bubbles of escaping hot gases, probably very smelly, but a soothing listen at low volumes, and nerve-wracking at high volume. These pieces don't sound processed, but some of the high-pitched bubbles sound so strangely unreal in a chaotic place of hisses, squeaks and rumbles.
The pieces recorded in France, amongst crowds on the ferry and at a yearly church bonfire ceremony, are partly incomprehensible to me, not being about to understand the multiple conversations happening at once. It is a puzzle: to put these aural clues of motors, shouting, footsteps, birds, to a visual map of the recorded events. Cordier (see interviews in MMPP 5 and MMPP 12) also contributes recordings to the Afflux project with Eric La Casa and Jean-Luc Guionnet.
- Josh Ronsen -