The legendary German label Mille Plateaux is in the process of revival, after a pretty long period of silence, which is a good news for the fans of advanced experimental electronics. The new release has come out as a double LP, and is also available digitally. Alter- is interesting conceptual work of Canadian electronic specialist and producer William Jourdain, known due to his solo project from Saint-Hyacinthe. The interests of the musician are wide (from electroacoustics and noise to dub-techno and ambient), but his current project, named as Automatisme represents a minimalistic, reduced approach of the artists to produce electronic music. Moreover the album, named Alter-, has a serious conceptional background and is inspired by the theory of altermodernism, analyzed in details by the art critic Nicolas Bourriard. Briefly, Alter- as a way to mean “other” is the key word for the idea of another modernity, different to the old school XXs century theories of avant-garde modernism and post-modernism. The new concept (or state of modernity) should stimulate artists to be more radical and innovative in their artistic travels in the physical and digital worlds “by cutting frontiers and creating other time lines”.
Music of the album by itself could be divided into two groups: rhythmical (rate) and ambient (scape). The rates are mechanical, partly strict, sometimes more complex or deconstructed, scapes are carefully combined with minimal noise and glitch or supported by micro pulsations and vibrations. The sound and atmosphere of the recording in general are excellent and altermodern, perfect for deep listening and self concentration, but not only…On top of that, the sound material of Alter- is a good source for different remixes, reworks and combinations and even very convenient for advanced DJ-sets, based, for example, on joining techno and experimental, abstract stuff to stimulate an alternative state on the dance floor.
Buy
Automatisme
Mille Plateaux
Author: Alexei Borisov
