0802 Eric La Casa / Cédric Peyronnet:::: La Creuse

Our project is defined by its aim: to represent in sonic terms, and in duo, a particular environment – a triangular area in the north of the Creuse département in central France. In the first place, based on cartographic representations, we set about breaking down the chosen territory, an area between the Petite Creuse and Grande Creuse rivers, into specific sites. Secondly, we placed the map ‘under surveillance’, as it were, conducting sonic surveys in the selected sites. These surveys led us to a geophonic approach, each based on a development of specific auscultatory techniques, in which the wealth of sounds collected nourished our research into (sonic) territoriality.

The aim of the project was not to replace image with sound but to give that which surrounds us a (sonic) body; to give landscape a sonic corporeality. It might be that, being unrelated to notions of admiration that go hand in hand with seeing, a sonic evaluation can go some way towards confounding our a priori notions of landscape. Thirdly, the resulting data gave rise to an ensemble of exchanges/interactions, enabling formal variations. For one of these formalisations, musical composition, we chose the following protocol: each site was given a musical interpretation by a composer, his work being based on the site’s specific sound-bank. The composer then sent his piece to a second who, with recourse to his own bank of sounds, responded to the first interpretation. The second composer redefined the composition, adding his own sounds also. The final interpretation, therefore, is based as much on the layered listenings and recordings formed at the site itself as the musical conceptions of each individual.

Translated by Owen Martell

(excerpt, vbr mp3)

Audio CD, 6 panels digipak includes an extensive booklet of site photos and text.
50 minutes+
Release date: July 2008
12 Euros + shipping

click HERE to make your order

Related resources: 
Also by Eric La Casa
Eric La Casa: W2
 
Geographically connected
Battus / Marchetti / Petit: La Vie Dans Les Bois  
Pascal Battus: Simbol / L'Unique Trait D' Pinceau
Eric Cordier / Seijiro Murayama: Nuit
Jean-Luc Guionnet: Non Organic Bias
Eric Cordier: Osorezan

Review(s):
Brain Dead Eternity
Being magnanimous, we could say that the majority of field recording-based albums is pleasant to listen once, maybe twice. True, some are much better than others; this depends on the individual predispositions and inner ear(s) of those who collect the sounds and assemble them in (optimistically speaking) cogent compositions. But there’s also a major risk of disappearance of the record amidst thousands of irrelevant collections of singing blackbirds, solitary steps on a lake’s shore and sparkling waters. Did I mention insects and wind? Face it: not everybody is a Francisco López. To craft a meaningful artifact influenced by the outside (and inside) world requires an awful lot of energy, a good dose of luck, creative talent to spare and something - unachievable by many – that cannot be expressed by mere concepts and definitely not “taught”.
La Creuse is an outstanding album that reaches the fundamental objectives of this genre. La Casa and Peyronnet (the latter typically known as Toy.Bizarre) have already established their competence in dealing with this type of project in the past, the respective careers filled with fine demonstrations of perceptiveness and open-mindedness. For the occasion, they chose to “represent in sonic terms (…) a triangular area in the north of the Creuse department in central France”, in order to “give landscape a sonic corporeality”. Each artist applied a method of reciprocal manipulation of the materials gathered by the companion, thus producing a uniquely special mix of sources that surely sounded unrefined and essentially different at the origin.
All the foreseeable factors of such a kind of release are present, yet not a single minute of commonplace can be individuated. Better still, the pieces are perceived as hybrid formations of raw matters and electronics; a few choice-defining discoveries and procedures related to the artists’ “surveys” in the region are indicated in the CD booklet (in French language). A flawless meshing of natural subsistence and human involvement, utterly splendid in any form, shape and state – liquid, solid, electric, gaseous, you name it.
Nonetheless, this is an impenetrable work: even after listening to it five or six times over a weekend, it’s ceaselessly revealing minuscule clues and previously unseen facets yet it really doesn’t want to be even tenuously remembered, except for its quintessence. It sounds like an infinitesimal segment of life with its pros and cons, just as when we hurriedly bring out a camera trying to catch that wonderful sunset: the consequent picture, as perfect as it may be, inevitably can’t enclose the full extension of the sky. Then again, who – besides yourself, having lived the direct experience – will ever be able to share the emotion? That’s right: nobody. Certainly not with words, or by showing that photo to unresponsive lookers.
This is precisely the point: La Creuse is as an inexplicable episode as being the testimony to a rare event which unfolds exactly when one happens to be there by coincidence. Neither “music” nor “environment”, it has to do with creation. No - make that “Creation”, with the capital C. It won’t give anything to commit to memory; an unusual sort of understanding, yes – that’ll be granted, only after forgetting about selfish needs.
Don’t be surprised if you feel genuinely inadequate after this. Those echoing auras heard throughout the record are the voices of your living, flowing away through the fingers of a fruitless illusion.
- Massimo Ricci

Spiritual Archives
Recordings coming from a department of the central France, La Creuse, by Eric La Casa and Cédric Peyronnet (aka Toy Bizarre), veterans of the experimental scene who deal with this genre of research from such a long time. It’s a collaborative work with peculiar attributes: each of the two artists made raw recordings in specific locations, sending the result to the other and vice versa, in order to re-edit and re-work each other the collected material. For the purpose, the area has been geographically divided into sites to explore according to this approach. Thus, the nine pieces have received two different levels of treatment, but the finished product shows a consistent continuity among the tracks. Climatic events (primarily) and other environmental situations are reported here, picked up in visual perspective (less manipulated by La Casa, a bit more by Peyronnet through electronic processes) and, as consequence, you can almost watch what you hear. Field recordings at their maximum state of purity, well representing a fascinating district of France.

Improv Sphere
Été 2006, au beau milieu de la France, dans un département qui fait rarement parler de lui (la Creuse), deux amoureux du son dressent une carte dans le but de produire une cartographie sonore de ce territoire. Pendant plusieurs jours, La Casa et Peyronnet se baladent à travers trois points géographiques, contemplent les paysages, et prennent des relevés sonores qui constitueront bientôt une banque de sons. Ressac, confluence de deux rivières, chants d'oiseaux, cris d'insectes, bruits de lignes électriques sous haute tension, moulin, barque, clapotis, cloches d'église. Si ce territoire est réputé pour être vide, les deux cartographes sonores reviennent tout de même avec des données sonores vastes et riches. D'un côté, Éric La Casa a envoyé un montage des enregistrements, montage qui donne son interprétation du lieu choisi. Puis Cédric Peyronnet a collé son interprétation sonique. Et inversement sur certaines pièces. Double interprétation sonore d'un environnement particulier. Une musique interactive, où l'imaginaire prend le dessus sur la restitution sonore documentaire. Car cette suite de field-recordings n'est pas figurative, et si elle peint quelque chose, c'est surtout les impressions et les sensations des enregistreurs-capteurs. Une peinture mentale plus que documentaire. A travers les données brutes des field-recordings, puis à travers le choix, le montage, et l'assemblage de ces sons enregistrées avec patience, délicatesse et précision, c'est surtout l'état émotif des musiciens qui ressort plus que les données sonores de l'environnement. Mais également, il ressort de cette suite l'état d'intimité entre les deux artistes qui confondent leurs enregistrements, ainsi que l'état d'intimité entre ces derniers et l'environnement dont ils ont su tirer toute la magie et la poésie sonore.
Neuf pièces enregistrées et montées de manière très sensible et poétique, où l'imaginaire et les sens ont su prendre le dessus sur la froideur de la raison et de la science. Un tableau intime de la relation triadique entre deux musiciens et une région géographique.
- Julien Héraud

a u f a b w e g e n
CP und ELC haben sich ein bestimmtes Gebiet in Zentralfrankreich ausgewählt, welches es klanglich zu bearbeiten galt. Eingegrenzt wird die Region vom Fluß Creuse, Kartenmaterial ist im Sleeve reproduziert. Den beiden Künstlern ging es zum einen darum, eien Möglichkeit der klanglichen Repräsentation von Topographien zu finden und zugleich auch diese künstlerisch und somit interpretierend zu bearbeiten. Konkret bedeutet dies, dass die geographischen Areal nicht sauber eingehalten wurden, da Basismaterial aus einem bestimmten Bereich mit bereits bearbeiteten Feldaufnahmen aus einem anderen Planquadrat überlagert oder ergänzt wurden. So entsteht auf La Creuse eine sonische Fanatsiewelt, die aber absolut fesselnd und knisternd vor Spannung ist.
- Zipo -

Blow Up
La Creuse è un dipartimento della Francia centrale che prende il nome dai due fiumi, il Petit e il Grande Creuse, che lo attraversano. In quest'area, scelti siti di loro interesse specifico, Eric La Casa e Cédric Peyronnet hanno registrato separatamente i suoni nudi che passati vicendevolmente per il mixing fino ad arrivare al risultato finale. È ancora la vecchissima tecnica dei field recordings né più né meno come veniva messa; eppure, nonostante l'abuso che ne viene troppo spesso fatto, se messa in atto con gusto e idee riesce ancora a dare ottime vibrazioni – è il caso, inutile dire, dei due 'raccoglitori' qui recensiti, entrambi da anni tra i nomi di riferimento del settore (Peyronnet è conosciuto anche col moniker di Toy Bizarre) e per l'occasione più 'solidi' del solito nella costruzione delle loro impossibili astrazioni (un certo maggior riguardo per l'utilizzo 'strumentale' delle registrazioni, une definizione timbrica più accentuata). Fiumi, aria, vento, uomini e cose che interagiscono in une musica che è letteralmente'da vedere' con gli occhi fissi a quel cielo che è dentro di noi; non solo 'cinema per le orecchie', come titolava une fortunata serie di CD di Metamkine, ma anche suoni per gli occhi, un viaggio materiale, fisico e terrigno che si offre ancora immutato e immutabile dandoci l'idea certa di aver viaggiato anche noi per quei boschi, quelle radure, quelle acque, quell'aria.
- Stefano I. Bianchi

VITAL WEEKLY
As far as I remember I've never been to the area where Cedric Peyronnet (also better known as Toy Bizarre) and Eric La Casa recorded their work, the Creuse department in central France - maybe I saw it today when watching the Tour de France. However there is a booklet with this CD with pictures of the area, and in each picture there is a pair of microphones to be spotted. This is as close as you can make field recordings visual I guess. A pity that the booklet, a diary it seems, is all in French, with some general English translation on the cover. The area was divided into several specific sites which were recorded by one, and then sent to the other to work on it, to interpret the place. And vice versa of course. Each piece is started by one, finished by the other. Its not easy to hear who did what, but I think that the pieces finished by Peyronnet have a minimal subtle electronic manipulations, and that La Casa's pieces are entirely made with field recordings. I might be wrong however and no electronic processing took place. We hear rain, wind, footsteps and sounds from water, objects and other sonic events which are hard to be placed somewhere in terms of what one could recognize. Even when this is divided into nine pieces, it's best enjoyed as a complete picture: listen from start until the end, sit back and transport yourself through time and space - time is the length of the CD and the place is La Creuse. This rural and forest area is pictured quite well before your very eyes. A very refined work.
- Frans De Waards

Monsieur Delire
Une étude “géophonique” de la région de la Creuse (centre de la France). Les deux artistes ont réalisé des prises de son sur le terrain, séparément, puis l’un “interprétait” un endroit, qu’il remettait à l’autre pour que celui-ci y ajoute son “point de vue”. Du fait, chacune des pièces est une collaboration où B a ajouté à A. Résultat: des pièces qui ouvrent de grands espaces à nos oreilles, tout en altérant la perception de ces espaces “vus” par quatre oreilles (six même, si je compte les miennes). Une méthodologie simple mais rigoureuse, qui laisse la musique du réel s’épanouir dans l’espace – plus virtuel qu’on le pense – entre nos deux oreilles.

A “geophonic” study of the Creuse region (central France). Both artists made field recordings separately, then one “interpreted” a location and then handed out i=his interpretation so that the other coposer could add his own perception to it. As a result, the pieces open wide spaces for our ears, allthewhile changing the perception of these spaces as “seen” through four ears (six if you count the listener’s). A simple yet rigorous method that lets the music of the real world develop in the space found between our ears (a space more virtual than one might think).
- François Couture

Sonomu
Innovative sound manipulators Cédric Peyronnet (who usually trades as Toy Bizarre) and Éric La Casa (who indeed does sport an accent over the first letter of his name, despite appearing without one on the cover) travel to La Creuse, one of the internationally least well-known departements in France, to conduct an unusual topographical survey and do a bit of sonic gardening.

Selecting a specific territory wedged between by two rivers, they set out to prove that the map is not the country by underlining the fact that any and all observation and recording is subjective. The course of action they choose is for the one to compose an impression out of what he had collected in one area, which is then sent to the other who dips into his personal bank of sounds – some of them, if I understand correctly, not necessarily recorded in La Creuse - and further flesh it out according to his own taste. And then vice-versa.
For all this interaction between strong personalities, the results are abstractly cohesive and engaging. Totally untreated natural sound hardly ever rears its head, except for the burble of the rivers bookending the album. Occasionally your ears might convince you that that particular irregular tattoo is rainfall on a corrugated metal roof, or that those sussurations must be crickets baking in the July sun, but how can you be really sure? And is it really important to know?
It is handsomely packaged, in common with all of the Malaysian label Herbal International´s releases, featuring a French language diary, plenty of photos of microphones standing alone among the hills and dales, maps and a short but informative description of the process in English.
- Stephen Fruitman

Feardrop
La Casa et Peyronnet, Peyronnet et La Casa, ici déshabillés de leurs pseudonymes (Syllyk et Toy Bizarre), peu importe finalement (ou déjà) qui a fait quoi, car c’est aux lieux qu’ils ont d’abord donné la parole. Poétique sonore d’un triangle de paysage, coincé entre Petite Creuse et Grande Creuse, ce disque est, selon les musiciens, tout autant le résultat des couches sonores offertes par le site, que celui des conceptions musicales de chaque artiste – chacun ayant composé la base ou le final, suivant les morceaux. Cela dit, écoutons donc ces lieux, tout le demande : la liste des sons qui les composent est longue, et l’eau et les insectes parmi eux accaparent l’attention. Ce n’est pas tout, le vent parfois, le bois, le grésillement électrique des lignes et de loin en loin des signes d’activités humaines, de transports. J’ai déjà dit souvent combien cette musique, et en particulier celle de Cédric Peyronnet est une peinture sonore du paysage, de même résonance en tissu informel : reconstitution de l’essence du lieu, de sa signature poétique, de son courant ponctué. Chaque lieu ainsi dépeint est commenté dans le livret, puis offert à l’illustration. Toute de drone, de pépiement, de coulée, de grésillement, de flot, la musique correspond à une transposition dynamique imaginaire mais pas imagée. L’esprit vit alors le lieu, une cascade, un bois, un rivage, une route, un pré… dans sa plus profonde sensualité sonore. Les pièces ont toutes un tour organique où le doux et le rêche s’accompagnent, comme l’air et le craquement, l’oiseau et la brindille cassée ; ainsi libérés, le flot peut monter et le vent tournoyer, la feuille chanter et l’eau calme bouillonner. Dans chaque morceau, bien que loin – faut-il le préciser encore – de tout reportage, chaque son est à sa place dans la composition d’équilibre que le flux musical imaginé reconstitue. On a déjà – et je sais que ce n’est pas totalement faux – la saisissante impression de connaître plus intimement la Creuse.
- Denis Boyer