Torche! - 8 Notions De D​é​tente

The Free Jazz Collective 0

A little over seven years after their debut album, the French-Canadian-Austrian quintet Torche! release their second album. The band consists of Xavier Charles on clarinet, Michel Côté on percussion and synth, Franz Hautzinger on amplified trumpet, Philippe Lauzier on bass clarinet and alto sax, and Eric Normand on electric bass, objects and loudspeakers. Readers familiar with the music of "Dans Les Arbres" and other minimalist electroacoustic ensembles will definitely like this music too. 

All musicians perform the eight improvised pieces as a group, creating sound sculptures based on minimalist sonic bits. The short and slow-paced sounds coalesce to something coherent and - strangely and miraculously - with a good sense of direction. Their art is organic in the double meaning of the word: it arises spontaneously, yet it also gives impression of being alive, like the sound of unknown creatures and plants even, growing and interacting on each other's space. 

The album's title means "six notions of relaxation", the song titles translate as "impression of outside", "subarctic manatee", "retting", "collecting ashes", "water-repellent", "spun light". The word "Lamarissage" does not mean anything, and the last title "Ronde à Retard" does not mean anything either. 

They demonstrate absurdity, impossibility or surreal images, reflecting the light and serious playfulness of the music, its inherent tension and irrational relation to reality. It stands on its own, without the need to be founded somehow in our world. It has its own logic, dynamics and meaning. It is "L'Art pour L'Art" (art for art's sake) in its purest form, without necessary reference to anything else than itself. 

It forces the listener to stop thinking, to stop looking for meaning, but to become part of the music itself. Appreciate what you hear, let yourself be overwhelmed by what you hear. Be the music. 

Intense music. An intense listening experience.