Cover art, pic by Etienne Plummer
OCD041 : The Gödel Codex / Oak
Etienne PLUMER (Rêve d’Elephant, Animus Anima), Michel DELVILLE (The Wrong Object, Machine Mass, Comicoperando, website) and Antoine GUENET (Univers Zero, The Wrong Object, Beautiful Badness) join forces with Christophe BAILLEAU, a sound artist with an interest in the function of noise as a musical code in music.
Born out of an attempt to combine and weave together jazz, post-rock and electroacoustic models, their music draws inspiration as much from Jim O'Rourke's minimalism as from the techno-romantic landscapes of Christian Fennesz and David Sylvian.
Some astute listeners have also noticed similarities with avant-pop mavericks Robert Wyatt, Thom Yorke and Damon Albarn.
Be that as it may, most of the members of The Gödel Codex have a background in jazz and believe improvisation is a vital part of pop song structure. Warming to Ornette Coleman’s contention that “composing is a way not repeating”, The Gödel Codex also subscribes to Derek Bailey’s famous statement that “improvisation is not knowing what is it until you do it” and that “composition is not doing it until you know what it is”.
Combining live performances with video projections, live versions of Oak continue to explore the gray areas between composition and improvisation, using both approaches in tandem across a broad spectrum of musical idioms.
Michel DELVILLE : guitar, Roland GR09, loops, electronics, glockenspiel, lead vocals on 2, 3, 4, 7
Antoine GUENET : keyboards, synth, acoustic piano, electronics, backing vocals, lead vocals on 6, 8
Etienne PLUMER : drums, e-percussion, trumpet, glockespiel, electronics, samples
Christophe BAILLEAU : electronics on 1, 3, 5 and 10
All tracks recorded by Etienne Plumer @ Sascha Production except for tracks 5 and 9 recorded live at CC Amay. Mixed and mastered by Etienne Plumer.
Great review in The Progressive aspect.net here and from Lee Henderson (USA):
Great review in The Progressive aspect.net here and from Lee Henderson (USA):
"This is a major masterpiece that any fan of Canterbury of the more co-mingled kind will fall over for. BRAWNY AND BRILLIANT!
This entire project is a sympathetic romp through swirling ever so extraordinary fields of keepsake Canterbury frolic, ample excursions of oddity, equal spoonfuls of quirky and electronic diversion, and just the right interface of pondering Robert Wyatt world vocal pieces. With your equilibrium adjusted, the courteous tracks escort you through a prodigal liberation for aspiration."
This entire project is a sympathetic romp through swirling ever so extraordinary fields of keepsake Canterbury frolic, ample excursions of oddity, equal spoonfuls of quirky and electronic diversion, and just the right interface of pondering Robert Wyatt world vocal pieces. With your equilibrium adjusted, the courteous tracks escort you through a prodigal liberation for aspiration."
Physical and digital release on the 25th of January 2019.
Track listing:
1. Oak - overture (Plumer) 1:43
2. The Needle’s Eye (Delville) 2:32
3. Granules (Bailleau/Delville/Guenet/Plumer) 6:56
4. One Last Sound (Delville) 4:58
5. Matisse (Bailleau/Delville/Guenet/Plumer) 4:02
6. Stand or Fall (Delville) 3:54
7. Bells (Delville) 3:48
8. Can It Be (Guenet) 5:30
9. Oak - live reprise (Plumer) 4:18
10. Lux 4 (Bailleau/Franck) 5:52
for the cd:
