Max Bellancourt
"The Stone Tape" CDR
Dead Sea
Liner
Genre: experimental, ambient
France
November 2009 |
Not much information
to be found about this "elusive French experimentalist," either
online or with The Stone Tape itself. Given that there are
only sixty copies of this album in existence, it seems as if
Bellancourt likes making himself somewhat scarce, endowing his
quiet, understated music with a sense of mystery.
Hence, removed from
description or context, The Stone Tape operates in its own
little bubble, which is an interesting approach given that
Bellancourt employs field recordings in his sound production
strategy. The grainy, foreign sounds thus seem to come in from nowhere,
although the track listing offers hints - after several of the
compositions themselves, Bellancourt includes the source material
with a short mention of where it was culled from - for example, the
trickle of fountains in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic or the toasty
aura of a coffee percolator in Arles, France. This 'confessional'
approach shows the listener how comparatively basic sound samples
can be built into greater works, as on the eerily alienating "Four
Suns" or diverse epic "Monsters in Rock," which builds its climax
around the sounds of a rainstorm.
Abstract and often
sparse, The Stone Tape is difficult to penetrate, but
rewarding when explored. If, like me, you're the type who listens
attentively to your surroundings for the sheer joy of exploring and
examining sound, then The Stone Tape will be right up your
alley.
Michael
Tau
[Vitals: 10 tracks, distributed by
the
label,
released 2009] |