Artist : Nicolas Bernier
Title : The Dancing Deer EP
Genre : Ambient
Year : 2010
Date : 12/2010
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 03
Label : Home Normal
Source : CDDA
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Length : 27:55 min
Size : 35,3 MB
Tracklist:
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01.The Dancing Deer 18:05
02.The Dead Deer 07:26
03.The Dancing Deer (Short Edit) 02:24
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27:55 min
Words by Ian Hawgood
A few years ago now, I first got really
really into the music of two artists who
I consider to this day to be the two
most talented and capable artists
around. Not a lot has changed since then
as they have continued to operate on
their own level, in their own way,
quietly but steadily releasing
incredibly detailed works of beautiful
organic instrumentations. The two
artists in question are offthesky (Jason
Corder) whose record æHiding NatureÆ we
released earlier in the year, and
Nicolas Bernier. The first work I ever
heard by this fabulous Canadian artist
was also one of my favourites that year
(2007) - the excellent æObjet abandonnΘ
en merÆ on the rather special German
label 12rec. The album was a
collaboration with the folk guitarist
Simon Trottier and the perfectly
balanced melding of electronic and
organic just blew me away. Not too long
after this I also released my album
æEnfants RurauxÆ on the same label, and
they recommended using the same artist
and designer for my release - the
irrepressible Urban9. Through this,
Nicolas and I soon got in contact and
have become firm friends since then.
Over a year ago now, Nicolas sent me
some work he had on the go - one being a
full album of processed piano and cello
pieces which will be released by Home
Normal early next year, the other The
Dancing Deer EP. I was against the idea
of releasing an EP on Home Normal at the
time, but then of course I went and put
it on. Within two minutes IÆd ripped my
headphones off and whacked it into the
studio speakers, pumping up the volume
until the walls shook and my ears nearly
bled. My initial reaction was to scratch
my head in confusion at how an artist
like Nicolas, so talented at processing
and layering organic work so
beautifully, had come up with the most
amazingly powerful (dare i say kind of
ærockingÆ) pop concrΦte collage if you
will. Its an astonishing, perfectly
formed work which slowly builds up using
spoken vocals, crisp thin beats, melodic
keys and increasing noise, only to be
cut down to its bare vocal bones then
back in with a wham of guitars above all
else. It rocks out basically and just
proves that this award-winning artist
and director (he is the founder of the
sound art microorganism Ekumen, member
of the media art organization Perte de
Signal, the art director of R Seaux, a
major Canadian electroacoustic concert
producer AND his works have been awarded
and broadcast in festivals around the
world including Prix Ars Electronica
(Austria), AKOUSMA (Canada), Mutek
(Canada), DotMov Festival (Japan) and
Transmediale (Germany)!) is one of the
brightest talents of the musical and art
worlds today, even if the more
mainstream world doesnÆt know it (yet).
Words by Nicolas Bernier
This work is a ôpop concrΦteö collage.As
says the title, rhythm is the
cornerstone of The Dancing Deer. Even
tough the rhythm can quite subtle, the
piece is built on a constant pulse. In
an 18 minutes pathway through diverging
states, it brings together elements of
drones, clicks, minimal, maximum, song
writing, poetry, post-rock, electronic
and instrumental music in a strange and
uncommon atmospheric collage. Its
antithesis, The Dead Deer, is a
relatively static soundtrack, despite
being composed of micro-details. The
project is a musical translation of a
couple months spent in the Canadian
West.
All music by Nicolas Bernier
Art by Urban9
Link:
www.nicolasbernier.com
www.homenormal.com