If musical creation also mirrors a time, then these are definitely hectic times of change and transformation. Some of the records that are heard throughout this year, from rap to electronics, convey that feeling – and much more. Many people wonder to what extent an artist can be completely averse to a political position at the present time. This awareness, more social and progressive, has generated an awakening of new actors, collective and aesthetically challenging musical currents. It is also worth mentioning, with pleasure, that a good part of this production has a feminine or transgender origin. Elysia Crampton, Octa Octa and The Black Madonna are clear examples of the essential importance of this notion of freedom, tolerance or struggle.
700 BLISS (Moor Mother & DJ Haram) ⟡ Kara-Lis Coverdale ⟡ Van Ayres
700 Bliss
To follow the work of Moor Mother or DJ Haram is to understand more deeply what is described above. The first one has shown that the encounter between poetry and noise is capable of opening the way to other worlds; the second one is just a brilliant example of the state of metamorphosis that the current electronics can reach (and member of the Discowoman troupe). Both share an absolute faith in the DIY legacy that punk has left us. 700 Bliss is therefore an inevitable union of forces between the two, whose already long friendship has triggered one of the most indomitable duos to emerge in recent months. In this surprising national debut there are no promises, but certainties, that it will be a performance of bravery and dedication to the minute. Fire (also) heals.
Kara-Lis Coverdale
In the case of Kara-Lis Coverdale, the element of fire gives way to water. From a free composition approach, between MIDI dreams and digital micro melodies. In the curriculum he brings a series of ongoing alchemists collaborations like Tim Hecker or Tiondai Braxton while erecting an immaculate career in his own name. The Canadian, also a church organist in Canada, is responsible for three brilliant records, in a kind of accidental trilogy followed by a portent called “Grafts”. The old school of American minimalism and some German electronics of the 1970s are possible pillars in the vast sonic architecture that Coverdale is dedicated to drawing.
Van Ayres
Equally hybrid is the panoramic and proudly dysfunctional understanding of pop according to Van Ayres. The term pop appears, more than anything, in the sense of transmitting complex ideas with a disarming approach. This is always with a tremendous taste of creating, fitting and playing with hypnagogic melodies. “Sorry Stars” was entitled to a vinyl edition composed of ten instrumental themes whose nature resembles sound installations rather than songs in a more expected sense. It has performed regularly, demarcating itself from island performances, necessarily different, concert after concert. A boss of modern times.