Pierre Henry

[FreakAnimalFinland]

huh huh!! Listened today twice this new 2010 LP edition of LE VOILE D'ORPHEE. It includes first time on vinyl, full length version of title track. Back in 1957 when it was done, 27min 15 sec was felt way too long to be one side of LP. Now it is. And it sounds great. B-side has the edit what was then used. 15 minutes and 40 seconds. Maybe one could say that the edit is better, but well, who knows. Lots of slower & "aimlessly" wandering material was edited out and focused on best elements. Entite and Spirale are two more tracks, which are buzzing & fierce electronic noises.
This is composed for "opera" and the fact it was made in 50's, it still sounds fresh. And most of all it sounds basically noise. Doxy has done this year at least one more of his LP's, I have laying on the pile of unlistened stuff, but probably got to give it a spin. I must admit I'm not very familiar with all these pioneering artists....... recommendations welcome where to proceed next!

[bitewerksMTB]

I use to have the cd of the door creaking. Can't remember anything else about it. I'm just a fountain of knowledge...

[Jaakko V.]

recommendations welcome where to proceed next!

Have you heard Walter Marchetti's Adversus and Osmanthus Fragrans from the album In Terram Utopicam? Unbelievable homemade electronic noise from 1966 and 1973.

[Henrik III]

WTF is this, first Raaijmakers now Henry!? :) With Henry there's plenty dig into, his output his extensive in all ways - nearly anything from dogmatic sound studies to fukked up synth noises. I really like his way to keep sounds fairly raw without too much manipulation and building up the narrative in different ways. Early stuff (such as "Voile...") is often very moody, sort of noir. From that era could certainly recommend "Symphony pour un homme seul" (collab with Schaeffer). From 60s it is easy recommend the classics "Variations pour une porte et un soupir" and probably my favorite piece, "La voyage". The former is fairly dry but somehow hilarious study on door squeaking and sigh, latter a creepy epic. I love many of his works but am still a bit hesitant especially with the post 60's stuff (but there are also good works in the later era)...

[Henrik III]

I think I copied either of those W.Marchetti pieces on that comp tape sometime back...certainly worth to get!

Talking about Marchetti's, if you like Henry, then would certainly suggest to check Lionel M. One of the rare torch carriers of musique concrete in these dark days.

[andy vomit]

i have "messe pour le temps present" on CD, and it gets played frequently.  admittedly it's the only work of his i know, but i'd be interested in hearing more.   

there's a pretty decent documentary called "pierre henry: the art of sounds" that's worth checking out.

[Hakaristi]

The only work of his I own is on the Pierre Schaeffer - L'Œuvre Musicale 3xCD. The 2nd disc of which is comprised of two long tracks; one the above-mentioned collaboration, one a 40 min. Henry solo piece (Écho D'Orphée). The collab. was used for a ballet I think. Sounds mainly consist of prepared piano & voice + cut-up voice & orchestra samples/loops. Solid works, but honestly rarely gets much play.

[heretogo]

I have only a couple of his discs on my shelves but have liked pretty much everything I've heard from the "goold ol' days" (60s and early 70s). The recent stuff should probably be approached with caution. I saw him play live a few years ago and the experience was not entirely satisfying. The audio setup was awesome with more than 20 channels of electro-acoustic grandeur. Started off quite nice, nothing too rough of course, but still a very pleasing and stormy electronic showcase. And then eventually, the curse of (almost) all the old-timers (and many others...)... the beats arrived. And like many other experimental/electroacoustic performances I've heard, they ruined it all for me. I have nothing against THE BEAT per se, I spent my formative years listening to hiphop almost exclusively. It's just that very few people can pull off combining them with more "experimental" material in a cohesive and natural manner. 99% of the time it sounds forced and embarassing. It's a shame that monsieur Henry doesn't seem to be an exception...

[Henrik III]

i have "messe pour le temps present" on CD, and it gets played frequently.  admittedly it's the only work of his i know, but i'd be interested in hearing more.

"Messe..." is sort of a pseudo-compilation megamix with extracts taken from various 60's works (including decent chunks of the mentioned "Variations..." and "Le voyage"). Probably a good introduction as it is also the most common/cheap (esp. vinyl) Henry record available.

[blackoperations]

'messe...' is the only pierre henry i know really well but i think it's great. absolutely brilliant sound/production especially. some excellent drumming on it too, and again, great sound too. i've got the very first vinyl pressing - green phillips label, no mention anywhere on the sleeve, etc of michel colombier, etc (whereas all other pressings do) make me an offer! and recommend other stuff to check out (i'll check out some of what's mentioned here).

[blackoperations]

by the way, i had no idea that 'messe...' was compiled from other works and had always thought it was an album in it's own right.
it was always the one that got namechecked in the 90s when there was suddenly lots of interest in him (even from dj/dance music type magazines, etc) and he was being hailed as an electronic music pioneer, etc.
i imagine i'd probably be more into his further out-there stuff too.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Friend of mine was in London and gave me another Doxy release, which seemed to be sold out from wholesale company, but I'd suspect still very much available (2010 release!) around.
Pierre Henry "Musique sans titre / Spatiodynamisme" LP
Each side is very long. I'd assume we're talking around 30 mins per side? Or did it just feel like it? Nevertheless, this is perhaps noisiest and the most similar to contemporary noise works. Recorded back in 1954, based on recordings made of Nicolas Schöffer's sculpture. For more info of this father of cybernetic art : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Schöffer
This music if the b-side of LP was meant to be soundtrack for the tour of the sculpture starting in 1955. Liner notes says it was intended, but doesn't say was it actually used? We're talking 1955 exhibition of 50 meters tall building of metal, mirrors, light and sound what interacts with environment and the visitors. This sound is grating and scraping sounds of metal, clashing and clanging.. and all this edited together with certain precision. Often there is simple strong elements going, with very tasty echoes of the era. Sound effects grow while going further and further on recording, and eventually, even if you can say you do recognize this as Pierre Henry's touch and approach, if it would have been sent as promo tape to some noise label, they'd be probably like "sounds good. So you guys been listening some TNB lately?".

If you have hesitated should you give your little finger to some ages old academic artists, I can say this is among the safest to start. And now, when it is just released and decent priced, I would recommend to try find it.

[ImpulsyStetoskopu]

Pierre Henry "Musique sans titre / Spatiodynamisme" LP

Thanks for this info. I will look for this record. I recommend his "Futuristie".

[Henrik III]

Pierre Henry "Musique sans titre / Spatiodynamisme" LP
Each side is very long. I'd assume we're talking around 30 mins per side?

Does "Spatiodynamisme" cover the whole side b? If that's the case, need to find this as the CD version I have is less than 9 mins.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

B-side is long and it has 3 tracks: Spatiodynamiste I, II and III. In fact, just noticed label says the lengths: 10:00, 9:45, 9:02 ! 29 mins!
A-side isn't short either. 6 tracks, 27+ min.