Marc Tremblay: Bruit-Graffitti (review)

Marc Tremblay is known for his tape works, and he has been interested in incorporating this medium into many different contexts. Along with his interest in working in the visual medium he has created many beautiful and haunting compositions that play in the stereo field like children on a warm day at the beach. He has worked with improvisational artists Martin Tétrault and Michel Ratté, his works have been broadcast in Europe, the United States, and Canada, and they have won several awards.

Mr. Tremblay works in a world of noise. As he explains in the liner notes, "I try to compose using objects that transmit sounds, to conceive music that becomes the aesthetic extension of noise." This extension brings us into a world where noise rises beyond its conventional auditory frame; he has created matrices of sound that are funny, crude, genius, and beautiful. Some of the pieces may put of you off guard, but I think that this is where the "noise" element enters into the context. Each of these pieces seems like a study on working with the juxtaposition of sonic images and how they balance with a defined space. Some seem to work, others do not.

The first piece on this compact disc is Vroum, a study of the sounds of an automobile. Mr. Tremblay is very liberal in his use of these mechanical sounds, molding them in many different ways by stretching the sounds out or cutting them very short. At one point, he creates a dense melodic texture using the sounds of car horns, raising and lowering the pitch of them, and having many enter simultaneously.

Another track that sticks out is Residus (Clip Dadaiste). This is a piece created primarily from bathroom noises. Upon first hearing this piece I was not sure what to say. That is not to say that I didn't find it interesting. In fact I enjoy the recon-textualiztion of these sounds. It is just that the scatological nature of them left me a little nauseous. Maybe that is what the composer wants us to feel. Nausea is a response, right?

The remaining pieces on this CD are similar experiments with sound design, humor, disgust, history, popular culture, and and consumer electronics. Mr. Tremblay has a very distinct grasp of trying to explore the boundaries of life, and here is a document that represents these investigations. The other tracks are: Conte Sous La Lune, Cowboy Fiction, « . . . ceci est un message enregistré. . . », and L'argent. . . toujours l'argent!

Finally, if the reader will permit me to say this, I feel this disc is too flashy. It has many interesting colors, textures, and hooks, but I don't feel satisfied when each of the pieces is complete.