La Tène

La Tène’s long, hypnotic, wordless pieces are built from traditional instrumentation, wild percussion and blurred, subtle electronic embellishments, and feel as ancient and earthy as those millennia-old artefacts – with all the metal, wood, dedication and craftsmanship they entailed.

As on their previous release ‘Abandonnée / Maleja’, a double set running to over 80 minutes, Cyril Bondi, Alexis Degrenier and Laurent Peter expand to seven members in total. Cohorts Jacques Puech (cabrette – a small bagpipe associated with the Auvergne region of France), Louis Jacques (cabrette and a larger, 23” bagpipe), Guilhem Lacroux (12-string guitar) and Jérémie Sauvage (bass) each return to add colour, layers and intrigue.

‘Ecorcha/Taillée’ was recorded in a barn converted into a ballroom and cultural centre which exists to promote the folk music of region Auvergne. Both L’Ecorcha (eighteen and a half minutes long) and La Taillée (just under a quarter of an hour, brevity by this group’s standards) were recorded live and what you hear is a single take, with no editing after the fact.

L’Ecorcha goes into space with simple, minimal tools. Beginning with a single, doomy chord circling in perpetuity and a metallic shaker by way of rhythm, a drone of unspecified provenance is joined a little under halfway through by Alexis’ hurdy-gurdy, adding bucolic buoyancy while Laurent uses the wooden surface of his harmonium as an extra percussive source. La Taillée is spikier, danceable even thanks to Cyril’s insistent drumming and the harmonium and hurdy-gurdy moving in a glorious lockstep. If you were to think of the relationship between Lou Reed’s guitar and John Cale’s violin while taking in La Taillée, you wouldn’t be OTT by any means.

Inspirations, soundalikes and kindred spirits are elusive and fleeting in the case of La Tène. There are a couple specific to Ecorcha/Taillée, both brought to the table by Alexis : a Christian song titled La Passion, collected in 1883 by French folklorist Félix Arnaudin, and a reggaeton hit single from 2022, Saoko by Spanish star Rosalía. La Taillée adapts its crunchy central riff in La Tène’s own image. It’s that link between the past and the future that also rings out in the music of La Tène.

Alexis Degrenier (hurdy-gurdy):

Alexis Degrenier is a France-based artist, composer, percussionist and hurdy gurdy player. After studying classical percussion, he turned towards contemporary, experimental and traditional music. He is a member of Tanz Mein Herz, OutreNoir, La Tène, Insub Meta Orchestra, and Ensemble Cerbere; has performed Terry Riley’s In C with members of La Novià, and will be collaborating with choregrapher Olivia Grandville on new work in 2018.

D’incise (indian harmonium, electronics):

Laurent Peter, a.k.a. D’incise (Geneva, 1983) grew up immersed in dub and experimental electronic music. A sonic explorer, he has no particular instrument, instead utilizing software, recording, objects, percussion, harmonium, etc., and building a specific set-up for each new occasion in both improvisational and compositional contexts.  He is interested in radicalism, reductionism, repetition and conceptual approaches, appreciates slowness and obsessive exploration of simple processes and minute details. With Cyril Bondi, he is behind the INSUB. label, orchestra, the Diatribes duo, and many other things, including a new prototechno project called Tresque. He is also a graphic designer.

Cyril Bondi (percussion):

Cyril Bondi (b.1980) has been a drummer and percussionist since 1994. A key figure on the Swiss experimental music scene, he is a founding member of the band Plaistow and of the new duo Cyril Cyril. In the field of experimental music, he has worked with projects such as diatribes, La Tène and Komatsu. Bondi leads the Insub Meta Orchestra, a large experimental ensemble of 60 musicians, and is one of the coordinators of the label/collective INSUB.

LINE-UP
Alexis Degrenier : hurdy-gurdy
Cyril Bondi : drums, percussions
Laurent Peter / D’incise : Indian harmonium, electronics

GUESTS
Guilhem Lacroux : guitar
Jérémie Sauvage : bass
Louis Jacques : cabrette, bagpipes
Jacques Puech : cabrette

With the financial support of Pro Helvetia, la Fondation Suisa, la Fondation SIS, la République and Canton de Genève