artist: AFFLUX
title: Bordeaux TNT
catalog number: and/all1
release year: 2006
format: CD
status: sold out
title: Bordeaux TNT
catalog number: and/all1
release year: 2006
format: CD
status: sold out
Long after the first two releases issued by Ground Fault and Edition Ellipsis,
and/OAR & Alluvial Recordings are pleased to present the final release in a
trilogy covering the sonic expeditions of the French location-specific
electro-acoustic trio Afflux (Eric La Casa, Jean-Luc Guionnet & Eric Cordier).
This release summarises what was initially a 6 hour performance / installation
/ radio broadcast that occurred at the TNT cultural centre in Bordeaux, France.
The TNT centre is situated inside a former shoe manufacturing building. With
several hundred meters of cables, the exterior and interior of the building were
recorded using several different condenser and contact microphones, modified
and mixed in real time on a 32 channel mixing desk. Simultaneously, the live
mix was played into the concert hall / space using 8 channels for 8
loudspeakers. While the improvisers were on the upper level, the audience
was listening and walking around on the lower level.
The final mix for the CD was edited by Eric La Casa.
* CORRECTION: The website address for Alluvial Recordings is incorrect on
the insert. The correct address is: www.alluvialrecordings.com
and/OAR & Alluvial Recordings are pleased to present the final release in a
trilogy covering the sonic expeditions of the French location-specific
electro-acoustic trio Afflux (Eric La Casa, Jean-Luc Guionnet & Eric Cordier).
This release summarises what was initially a 6 hour performance / installation
/ radio broadcast that occurred at the TNT cultural centre in Bordeaux, France.
The TNT centre is situated inside a former shoe manufacturing building. With
several hundred meters of cables, the exterior and interior of the building were
recorded using several different condenser and contact microphones, modified
and mixed in real time on a 32 channel mixing desk. Simultaneously, the live
mix was played into the concert hall / space using 8 channels for 8
loudspeakers. While the improvisers were on the upper level, the audience
was listening and walking around on the lower level.
The final mix for the CD was edited by Eric La Casa.
* CORRECTION: The website address for Alluvial Recordings is incorrect on
the insert. The correct address is: www.alluvialrecordings.com
VITAL WEEKLY #521 WEEK 15 (MARCH 2006)
Your ear is an excellent microphone. Imagine to be in a crowded place, close
your eyes and listen. You will pay attention to detailed sounds around you,
simply because your mind allows you to ignore the surrounding sounds, those
you don't want to hear. Afflux does something like that, except that they use
real microphones and contact microphones in a location. TNT cultural centre in
Bordeaux is apparently a big building with a bar/restaurant, offices, concert
space and a top floor. Afflux attached many contact microphones to all of these
places and they were connected to a 32 channel mixer and the resultant mix
was played over eight speakers in the concert half. The whole concert lasted
six hours. Afflux is the collaboration of Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and
Eric La Casa, all three composers in their own right. From the six hours of
recordings, Eric La Casa edited this fifty one minute CD, with just one piece.
We hear sounds that we recognize, like people talking, the elevator, maybe the
coffee machine, but they all appear to be far away, or embedded in a strange
environment - maybe like we would hear this when we would inside such a
big environment ourselves, but now the ears don't select - the selection has
been made for us, by La Casa. Our ears are now focused on this CD, and not
the rain outside, or our own coffee machine. It makes this into quite a strange
listening affair, since we recognize the daily sounds that we would always
recognize but also all these other sounds. It makes this however not an
uneasy affair, but rather a fascinating one: what are these sounds, and where
are they going to? It's a highly captivating soundscape that is captured here.
Not so much with a 'story' or a 'composition', but ambient music in the true
meaning of the word: music made of the ambience. Gorgeous music.
(Frans de Waard)
Your ear is an excellent microphone. Imagine to be in a crowded place, close
your eyes and listen. You will pay attention to detailed sounds around you,
simply because your mind allows you to ignore the surrounding sounds, those
you don't want to hear. Afflux does something like that, except that they use
real microphones and contact microphones in a location. TNT cultural centre in
Bordeaux is apparently a big building with a bar/restaurant, offices, concert
space and a top floor. Afflux attached many contact microphones to all of these
places and they were connected to a 32 channel mixer and the resultant mix
was played over eight speakers in the concert half. The whole concert lasted
six hours. Afflux is the collaboration of Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and
Eric La Casa, all three composers in their own right. From the six hours of
recordings, Eric La Casa edited this fifty one minute CD, with just one piece.
We hear sounds that we recognize, like people talking, the elevator, maybe the
coffee machine, but they all appear to be far away, or embedded in a strange
environment - maybe like we would hear this when we would inside such a
big environment ourselves, but now the ears don't select - the selection has
been made for us, by La Casa. Our ears are now focused on this CD, and not
the rain outside, or our own coffee machine. It makes this into quite a strange
listening affair, since we recognize the daily sounds that we would always
recognize but also all these other sounds. It makes this however not an
uneasy affair, but rather a fascinating one: what are these sounds, and where
are they going to? It's a highly captivating soundscape that is captured here.
Not so much with a 'story' or a 'composition', but ambient music in the true
meaning of the word: music made of the ambience. Gorgeous music.
(Frans de Waard)
PARIS TRANSATLANTIC (JULY 2006)
The ability of a CD to satisfactorily recreate the experience of walking through a
sound installation is limited, to say the least, yet labels like Dale Lloyd's
and/OAR and Alluvial keep going against the odds, releasing important
documents that more often than not approach "masterpiece" status in this
particular area. In this instance, Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Eric La
Casa recorded a live performance at La Manufacture des Chaussures in
Bordeaux, six hours of sounds specifically conceived to be used in the inner
zones of Bordeaux's TNT Cultural Centre. The artists decided to mix
prerecorded sounds together with those of the urban surroundings, extending
cables throughout the Centre, installing condenser and contact microphones
and channelling everything to a mixing desk manned in real time by La Casa,
who modified and filtered the incoming results. The mix was played in TNT's
concert hall by eight speakers, the three men working on the first floor of the
building while people walked and listened on the ground floor. But none of this
theoretical babble will prepare you for the uncertain weather of Bordeaux TNT,
a 51-minute piece where the manipulation is almost undetectable, all sounds
maintaining their basic attributes even in the most unpredictable moments.
Screaming children and barking dogs are engulfed in a nocturnal dimness
amalgamating the noise of traffic and the scary silence of a blind alley. The
pulsing complex structure of vibrations (Guionnet is credited with "long string
recording devices") had me thinking of Paul Panhuysen flying a miniature
plane sitting on a café terrasse. Every once in a while a passing car roars
louder, yet everything is organically linked in an obscure but perfectly
functional mechanism of sonic circulation, a perfect example of how such
projects should be realized. Above all, Afflux succeed in reminding us of the
beauty of long-distance urban/industrial murmur, inviting us to leave our
mental windows open, to change the air a little bit. (Massimo Ricci)
The ability of a CD to satisfactorily recreate the experience of walking through a
sound installation is limited, to say the least, yet labels like Dale Lloyd's
and/OAR and Alluvial keep going against the odds, releasing important
documents that more often than not approach "masterpiece" status in this
particular area. In this instance, Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Eric La
Casa recorded a live performance at La Manufacture des Chaussures in
Bordeaux, six hours of sounds specifically conceived to be used in the inner
zones of Bordeaux's TNT Cultural Centre. The artists decided to mix
prerecorded sounds together with those of the urban surroundings, extending
cables throughout the Centre, installing condenser and contact microphones
and channelling everything to a mixing desk manned in real time by La Casa,
who modified and filtered the incoming results. The mix was played in TNT's
concert hall by eight speakers, the three men working on the first floor of the
building while people walked and listened on the ground floor. But none of this
theoretical babble will prepare you for the uncertain weather of Bordeaux TNT,
a 51-minute piece where the manipulation is almost undetectable, all sounds
maintaining their basic attributes even in the most unpredictable moments.
Screaming children and barking dogs are engulfed in a nocturnal dimness
amalgamating the noise of traffic and the scary silence of a blind alley. The
pulsing complex structure of vibrations (Guionnet is credited with "long string
recording devices") had me thinking of Paul Panhuysen flying a miniature
plane sitting on a café terrasse. Every once in a while a passing car roars
louder, yet everything is organically linked in an obscure but perfectly
functional mechanism of sonic circulation, a perfect example of how such
projects should be realized. Above all, Afflux succeed in reminding us of the
beauty of long-distance urban/industrial murmur, inviting us to leave our
mental windows open, to change the air a little bit. (Massimo Ricci)
TOUCHING EXTREMES (MAY 2006)
The TNT cultural centre in Bordeaux was filled by "several hundred meters of
cables" by Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Eric La Casa, who proceeded
to record the internal and external sonorities of the area placing a large amount
of condenser and contact microphones, whose captured sounds were
altered/processed and sent to a 32-channel mixer, then played in the building
through eight loudspeakers. The perfect balance reached by Afflux is
demonstrated by the beautiful results we achieved during consecutive
listening sessions: at a good level with windows closed, the overall mix
deploys a rapture of motors, trains and urban clattering juxtaposing the
sublime of a peripheral zone and the danger of walking alone at night in the
street. But if you let these recollections fuse with the sounds of life coming
from outside - which in my case included a cuckoo, a distant jet and the
faraway voices of a few Sunday country walkers among the rest - you could
even feel entitled to some sort of monastic pondering alleviating this era's
insecurity and mental tiredness. (Massimo Ricci)
The TNT cultural centre in Bordeaux was filled by "several hundred meters of
cables" by Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Eric La Casa, who proceeded
to record the internal and external sonorities of the area placing a large amount
of condenser and contact microphones, whose captured sounds were
altered/processed and sent to a 32-channel mixer, then played in the building
through eight loudspeakers. The perfect balance reached by Afflux is
demonstrated by the beautiful results we achieved during consecutive
listening sessions: at a good level with windows closed, the overall mix
deploys a rapture of motors, trains and urban clattering juxtaposing the
sublime of a peripheral zone and the danger of walking alone at night in the
street. But if you let these recollections fuse with the sounds of life coming
from outside - which in my case included a cuckoo, a distant jet and the
faraway voices of a few Sunday country walkers among the rest - you could
even feel entitled to some sort of monastic pondering alleviating this era's
insecurity and mental tiredness. (Massimo Ricci)
GAZ-ETA (MAY 2006)
Bordeaux TNT stanowi zamknięcie trylogii przedstawiającej dźwiękowe
pejzaże, które trio Eric La Casa, Jean-Luc Guionnet i Eric Cordier nagrywało w
różnych rejonach Francji. Oczywiście pejzaże to szczególne, stanowiące nie
tyle dosłowny zapis, lecz próbę schwytania swoistego ducha miejsca, często
nieuchwytnego nieuzbrojonym uchem, bowiem Affluxowcy nie ograniczają się
tylko do rejestracji dźwięków, lecz często je przetwarzają, bądź miksują z
innymi. Na omawianej płycie przedstawiają fragment słuchowiska, z którym
przez sześć godzin mierzyli się goście centrum kulturalnego TNT w Bordeaux.
La Casa, Guionnet i Cordier rozmieścili mikrofony wewnątrz (przede wszystkim
w sali restauracyjnej) oraz na zewnątrz budynku i improwizowali,
przepuszczając modyfikowany dźwięk przez 32-kanałowy stół mikserski do
ośmiu głośników znajdujących się piętro niżej. Centrum, które mieści się w
budynku dawnej fabryki butów, ulokowane w pobliżu torów kolejowych i szosy
wydaje się być odpowiednim miejscem na tego typu przedsięwzięcie nie tylko
ze względu na to, że dostarcza materiał dźwiękowy, ale i dzięki temu, że
pozwala mu się swobodnie rozchodzić.
Jak już wspomniałem cały koncert - a może lepsza byłaby nazwa instalacja,
bowiem muzycy nie byli obecni w sali koncertowej ? - trwał sześć godzin, zaś
Bordeaux TNT tylko pięćdziesiąt jeden minut, i m.in. dlatego (kolejnym
powodem była konieczność zgrania wszystkiego na dwie ścieżki) materiał
przeznaczony na płytę został na nowo zmiksowany przez Erica la Casa. Nie
będąc świadkiem koncertu, trudno mi ocenić, czy aby przy tej okazji materia
nie została specjalnie "zagęszczona" po to, by akcja rozgrywała się szybciej.
A dzieje się tu wiele i dzieje się bardzo ciekawie. Odgłosy zewnętrza (ptaki,
wiatr, pociągi, samochody, niezidentyfikowane trzaski itp.) i wnętrza (szmery,
brzęczenie, głosy, itd.) splecione ciasno w mocny dźwiękowy warkocz,
przenikają się, dopełniają, przekomarzają, przekrzykują - zwykłe dźwięki
poddane manipulacjom ukazują swoją drugą twarz, niesłyszaną wcześniej,
często zachwycając i drażniąc jednocześnie. Absorbujący uwagę, pełen
smakowitych detali i niezwykłych barw elektroakustyczny kolaż, soundscape
który podsumowuje tytuł metamkinowskiej serii Cinema pour l'oirrelle.
(Tadeusz Kosiek)
Bordeaux TNT stanowi zamknięcie trylogii przedstawiającej dźwiękowe
pejzaże, które trio Eric La Casa, Jean-Luc Guionnet i Eric Cordier nagrywało w
różnych rejonach Francji. Oczywiście pejzaże to szczególne, stanowiące nie
tyle dosłowny zapis, lecz próbę schwytania swoistego ducha miejsca, często
nieuchwytnego nieuzbrojonym uchem, bowiem Affluxowcy nie ograniczają się
tylko do rejestracji dźwięków, lecz często je przetwarzają, bądź miksują z
innymi. Na omawianej płycie przedstawiają fragment słuchowiska, z którym
przez sześć godzin mierzyli się goście centrum kulturalnego TNT w Bordeaux.
La Casa, Guionnet i Cordier rozmieścili mikrofony wewnątrz (przede wszystkim
w sali restauracyjnej) oraz na zewnątrz budynku i improwizowali,
przepuszczając modyfikowany dźwięk przez 32-kanałowy stół mikserski do
ośmiu głośników znajdujących się piętro niżej. Centrum, które mieści się w
budynku dawnej fabryki butów, ulokowane w pobliżu torów kolejowych i szosy
wydaje się być odpowiednim miejscem na tego typu przedsięwzięcie nie tylko
ze względu na to, że dostarcza materiał dźwiękowy, ale i dzięki temu, że
pozwala mu się swobodnie rozchodzić.
Jak już wspomniałem cały koncert - a może lepsza byłaby nazwa instalacja,
bowiem muzycy nie byli obecni w sali koncertowej ? - trwał sześć godzin, zaś
Bordeaux TNT tylko pięćdziesiąt jeden minut, i m.in. dlatego (kolejnym
powodem była konieczność zgrania wszystkiego na dwie ścieżki) materiał
przeznaczony na płytę został na nowo zmiksowany przez Erica la Casa. Nie
będąc świadkiem koncertu, trudno mi ocenić, czy aby przy tej okazji materia
nie została specjalnie "zagęszczona" po to, by akcja rozgrywała się szybciej.
A dzieje się tu wiele i dzieje się bardzo ciekawie. Odgłosy zewnętrza (ptaki,
wiatr, pociągi, samochody, niezidentyfikowane trzaski itp.) i wnętrza (szmery,
brzęczenie, głosy, itd.) splecione ciasno w mocny dźwiękowy warkocz,
przenikają się, dopełniają, przekomarzają, przekrzykują - zwykłe dźwięki
poddane manipulacjom ukazują swoją drugą twarz, niesłyszaną wcześniej,
często zachwycając i drażniąc jednocześnie. Absorbujący uwagę, pełen
smakowitych detali i niezwykłych barw elektroakustyczny kolaż, soundscape
który podsumowuje tytuł metamkinowskiej serii Cinema pour l'oirrelle.
(Tadeusz Kosiek)
WIRE MAGAZINE (JUNE 2006)
Afflux is an ongoing collaboration of French electroacoustic sound technicians
who have habitually tackled large scale installations and convoluted recording
situations. For Bordeaux TNT, the trio of Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet, and
Eric la Casa set up dozens of contact microphones and long-stringed devices
throughout the 5000 square metres of a factory in Bordeaux which is now
home to the TNT cultural centre. During a six hour performance, they amplified
and manipulated the resonant hums, drones, and creakings inherent in the
massive building. The trio extract the most engaging sounds from the building
itself, with their gestural pings, strokes, and metallic clamour sounding futile in
comparison. Nonetheless, this is a sophisticated piece of sound art.
(Jim Haynes)
Afflux is an ongoing collaboration of French electroacoustic sound technicians
who have habitually tackled large scale installations and convoluted recording
situations. For Bordeaux TNT, the trio of Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet, and
Eric la Casa set up dozens of contact microphones and long-stringed devices
throughout the 5000 square metres of a factory in Bordeaux which is now
home to the TNT cultural centre. During a six hour performance, they amplified
and manipulated the resonant hums, drones, and creakings inherent in the
massive building. The trio extract the most engaging sounds from the building
itself, with their gestural pings, strokes, and metallic clamour sounding futile in
comparison. Nonetheless, this is a sophisticated piece of sound art.
(Jim Haynes)
BLOW UP (MAY 2006)
La Casa (microfoni a contatto) con Eric Cordier (processing) e Jean-Luc
Guionnet (registrazione e mixing) sono gli Afflux, qui registrati nel materiale
sonoro relativo a una installazione effettuata al TNT di Bordeaux nel 2000. La
musica e piu vivace articolata rispetto aI 3", pur dipendendo sostanzialmente
da concretismi : glitch elettrici in comunella con scie luminose di feedback
tenerissimo e rumore digitale che si modula e adatta con notevole efficacia.
(Stefano I. Bianchi)
La Casa (microfoni a contatto) con Eric Cordier (processing) e Jean-Luc
Guionnet (registrazione e mixing) sono gli Afflux, qui registrati nel materiale
sonoro relativo a una installazione effettuata al TNT di Bordeaux nel 2000. La
musica e piu vivace articolata rispetto aI 3", pur dipendendo sostanzialmente
da concretismi : glitch elettrici in comunella con scie luminose di feedback
tenerissimo e rumore digitale che si modula e adatta con notevole efficacia.
(Stefano I. Bianchi)
SMALLFISH (JULY 2006)
Afflux is a collaborative project by Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Eric La
Casa and features a series of excerpts taken from a 6-hour installation / live
performance at the TNT cultural centre in Bordeaux. The artists created a
wonderful soundscape by recording the inner space of the building itself, then
manipulating and processing it in real-time. Dense, striking and full of
interesting, engaging moments it captures the sense of a busy space with style
and panache. There's a beauty here that becomes more and more apparent
with each listen. Superb.
Afflux is a collaborative project by Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Eric La
Casa and features a series of excerpts taken from a 6-hour installation / live
performance at the TNT cultural centre in Bordeaux. The artists created a
wonderful soundscape by recording the inner space of the building itself, then
manipulating and processing it in real-time. Dense, striking and full of
interesting, engaging moments it captures the sense of a busy space with style
and panache. There's a beauty here that becomes more and more apparent
with each listen. Superb.
