Luc Ferrari

As time goes on, the influence of musique concrete pioneer Luc Ferrari continues to grow. Though he passed away a short time ago (August 2005), Ferrari’s innovations as a composer and sound explorer have helped pave the way for virtually anyone interested in field recording, and Son Memorise, the second in a trio of retrospectives documenting Ferrari’s far-ranging modes of expression, is living testament to this fact. Comprised of three long, multi-sectioned pieces, Son Memorise explores and compiles Ferrari’s ideas of memory, spontaneity and momentum. The first piece, for instance, "Presque Rien #4,” is composed mostly of field recordings of city streets and playing children, while slight and distant sounds creep into the mix, effectively combining music and natural ambience into one synonymous experience. "Saliceburry Cocktail,” while working on the same astral plane as the other mostly field-recorded and manipulated material, drives more deeply to interlace sounds — subway announcements, high heels walking, strange physical movements, piercing sonic strings — to elaborate upon an experience Ferrari was undoubtedly moved to try to recreate. Son Memorise compiles deeply unsettling and stirring musique concrete creations from a true master of otherworldly sound art.