Midva & François Delamarre - minute papillon [Review]
About Midva and François Delamarre
Strasbourg, the home of Nils Boyny aka Midva and François Delamarre, straddles France and Germany, so it's a fitting home for the two artists who have a genre-straddling approach to music creation. Boyny is a piano player and producer who tends towards the lighter, groovier nu-jazz world - think hip hop and broken beats - and is equally happy in the studio or live and direct on-stage with his trio.
Delamarre, whilst not having released much music – in fact just one EP, has been active in more experimental circles and festivals for the last ten years, and rather than play a recognisable or easily defined instrument, actually designs systems where sound, light, movement and matter become interdependent, and which straddle audio, visual, hardware and software worlds. I could probably write a bit of a thesis on it, but maybe check out his modular MODEMA project for starters, which he's somehow connected to glass reflections, and which seems to be his current focus, and 'tool' of choice on this new project.
Review
Considering their differing approaches to music making, a collaboration between these two artists was always going to be an intriguing affair, and so it has come to pass. The pair left their home comforts, last winter I presume, and decamped to Burgundy for an intense, four-day improvised recording session. Details on the space are thin on the ground, but it housed a hundred-year-old Steinway piano, and the two set about combining its time-worn acoustic charm with Delamarre's futuristic, yet slightly wobbly, modular machine.
After preparing the piano, the pair simultaneously get 'minute papillon' rolling: a light piano touch and a distant electronic heartbeat lighting the way. I don't know if it's the instrument, mic placement, natural reverb, or artificially stretching, but the piano notes hang in the air for an age, adding an ambient warmth to the artful, glacially encroaching synth loops. The machine sounds create a rhythmic structure for Midva, who was obviously in reflective mood, to succinctly improvise around. The pair were obviously in no hurry, and the remarkably unedited result is a good-natured slice of electroacoustic ambient music that crosses borders, ignores genre limitations and straddles generations, and I for one am looking forward to hearing what else the session inspired. Look out for for the album on 4th of December.
If you're on an ambient piano roll, check out Polaroid Notes' Quiet Rooms album.
Playlist Companion
Find them in the Slow Neoclassical Playlist.
