Valentin Clastrier – Le Bûcher des silences (1994) – France [Avant-folk] @192K

Valentin Clastrier accompanied Jacques Brel and would’ve had a splendid carrier as a folk musician, had he not been such an non-conformist and individual, who’d searched for another kind of music. This record came after the fantastic “Hérésie” from 1991 (under his own name, and also released by Silex), with nearly the same personel as on “Le Bûcher”, adding Louis Sclavis, sans Carlo Rizzo. It sounds sometimes like a medieval Bretonic ensemble, then the complexity climbs to a startling peak, where the hairs of listeners could stand like those of a dog just before he attacks.
The intensity of this music is sometimes breathtaking – they are real masters on their instruments, and if you never heard Carlo Rizzo playing the polytonal tambourin, you’ll be amazed how this simple instrument can sound in his hands (I first heard him on Luc Ferrari’s “A la recherche du rythme perdu” on the record “Matin et soir” from 1978).
You may have heard of Michel Godard, Jean-Louis Matinier or Michael Riessler – they belong to the best improvisers in the European Jazz scene, but I don’t know anything about Siracusa.

Valentin Clastrier: electroacoustic + acoustic hurdy-gurdy, vocal, percussion
Michel Godard: tuba, serpent
Jean-Louis Matinier: accordeon
Michael Riessler: clarinettes, sopranino saxophone
Carlo Rizzo: polytonal tambourine, tambourine
Gérard Siracusa: percussion, drums

Tracklist:

01 – Et la roue de la vie (Clastrier)
02 – Anonymuse (Siracusa)
03 – O’Clast (Siracusa)
04 – Pà (Matinier) (Sample in right panel)
05 – Corasol (Riessler)
06 – Autochtone (Siracusa/Clastrier)
07 – New Délit (Clastrier)
08 – Onanie (Matinier/Clastrier)
09 – Ixtaklok (Siracusa)
10 – Nemesis (traditional/Godard)
11 – La Bondant (Godard/Matinier)

Recorded in Waimes, Belgium, 1993. Released by Silex, France in 1994.

(No covers included)