Muets

One must compare the title of this second album, Muets (Silent), to Klaxon Gueule's first, Bavards (Talkative), to fully understand the importance of the transformation the trio underwent in between. Once a jazz-based free improv outfit, Michel F. Côté (drums), Bernard Falaise (electric guitar), and Alexandre St-Onge (electronics, electric bass) changed the direction to an electronics-based improvisational trio in the vein of what is produced on the cutting-edge Austrian and German scenes. While the music on the previous effort could relate, through the apparition of occasional riffs, the use of funny titles, and more conventional free jazz stylings, to the music of René Lussier, Jean Derome, or even previous Côté projects (like Bruire), Muets belongs to the experiments of Kevin Drumm, Martin Siewert, Werner Dafeldecker, and Burkhard Stangl. No one tries to impose his chops here; the main part of the work is textural. Layers of electric and electronic-derived sounds are put on top of one another to create short pieces (between two and six minutes) that should be listened to like many scenes from the same movie. Titles are meaningless two-letters combinations, bringing the focus back to the music. The dark, quiet, and subtle textures of "SO" mark one end of the album's dynamic spectrum, the other one being the harsh, brutal jaggedness of "TN." A stunningly mature work, Muets will confuse anyone acquainted with Côté's previous albums and please the avant-garde aficionados looking for a very convincing aural journey into the dark corners of the human psyche. Strongly recommended. ~ François Couture, Rovi