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Album Review: Ghislain Poirier – Beats As Politics (Chocolate Industries)
Reviewer: Monica Runke
It was only after a few listens that I was able to get a good feel of the album as a singular entity. This was mostly due
to the overriding disjointedness of the beats, looping back on each other and creating an atmosphere of disquiet. This cut
and splice effect creates a soundscape that could be a soundtrack to abstract modern art, particularly on the instrumental
tracks like De L’art de la Fellation (the art of the blow job) and Montreal Ans Ma Tete.
This album is billed as “exploring the world’s political plateau”, which sounds like a grand challenge for anyone. The
tracks that feature rap from Diverse and Seba (a fellow Canadian) are mostly in French, and even with the advantage of
having some command of the language, it was hard to get a good sense of the political message or social issues explored via
the lyrics. Ghislain Poirier is from Montreal, where he developed his taste for electronic music while hosting a radio show
at the university for several years. He is also an artist who has exhibited his paintings and drawings as well as producing
two albums since 2001.
Poirier is certainly trying to create a complex and individual sound and I guess, to convey a mood of civil disobedience.
From the opener, New Ideas, to the final track, Astheure, there is a unifying thread of sparse disjointedness,
that sends the sounds towards the realm of experimental jazz. Samples of brass, cut and looped, create mood pieces, rather
than overt politcal statements, and show an enquiring mind, striving for something new. All in all it kind of does what it
says on the packet- challenges and innovates, which can’t be a bad thing by any account.
RELATED LINKS:
Buy Beats As Politics at Amazon
US
RELEASE DATE: Tuesday 9 December 2003 (US), tbc (UK)
PUBLISHED: Tuesday 16 December 2003
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::: RELATED LINKS
Buy Beats As Politics at Amazon
US
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