144000 - Lise Barkas (fr)

The French scene for new traditional music is thriving, with a generation of young experimentalists pushing the boundaries of their musical heritage by taking century-old instruments to new frontiers.
Final Descent is excited to present Lise Barkas, a central figure in the Strasbourg experimental music scene, known for her monolithic and minimalist acoustic music centered around the bagpipe and hurdy-gurdy.

Lise Barkas (fr)

Lise Barkas is a musician living in Strasbourg, playing the century-old instruments, the hurdy-gurdy and the bagpipe. She approaches them with a contemporary take, forming a new type of traditional music.

The ever-present drone of the instruments takes the leading role in her monolithic, minimalistic music, drawing from her love of experimental electronic music and traditional French folk dance music. The results are hypnotic and meditative extended pieces where time seems to dissolve and any sense of form or structure evaporates as the sound grows deeper and deeper.

Barkas is an active figure in the vibrant scene of new traditional music in France, paving new ways for experimental music rooted in French folk traditions. She co-founded the Strasbourg-based collective Kreis / Collectif Continu together with fellow experimental-traditionalists Félix Chaillou and Léo Maurel, and often collaborates with musicians such as Yann Gourdon and Lisa Käuffert.

Her catalog is an impressive mosaic of different outputs, from the improvisations, sometimes noisy, sometimes droning and laid-back, of free-form outfit L'Écluse, to the deeply experimental, minimalist soundscapes of Compressibilit é s—a collaborative album with percussionist Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy—a number of solo recordings, and the recently re-released Lo Becat. The latter is an extraordinary collaboration with German musician Lisa Käufert, featuring two intertwining, resonating, and droning bagpipes. This is just one release amongst many other amazing albums, released on Barkas' own small-run label, Soleils Bleus / Soleils Continus, a label specializing handmade CDs featuring folk, improvised, and experimental music from Strasbourg.

"The sound is harsh and rough, harsh on the ear with its rotating screeching and metallic hissing in its singing way. In what ways ancient folk tunes can nourish today's music does not indicate melancholy for a world where musical harmony wanted to bring people together to pacify their world. It is as if Lise Barkas discovered through them a lost community which manifests itself in these folklores and their festivals, opening onto our uneasy times through the dissonance, the in-harmony of current music, the black mirror of our times."
– Michel Henritzi, Revue & Corrigée

The concert is part of our limited-capacity series at Metronomen, 144000, where only 40 tickets are available for each show. The ticket includes a cup of tea. The concert is supported by Frederiksberg Kommune and Frederiksberg Fonden. Thanks!

https://morctapes.bandcamp.com/album/lo-becat
Read more at finaldescent.org

Dansk:

Den franske scene for ny traditionel musik blomstrer, med en generation af unge eksperimentalister, der flytter grænserne for deres musikalske arv ved at tage århundredgamle instrumenter til nye territorier.

Final Descent er glade for at kunne præsentere Lise Barkas, en central figur i den eksperimentelle musikscene i Strasbourg, og hendes monolitiske og minimalistiske akustiske musik centreret omkring sækkepibe og drejelire.

Lise Barkas (fr)

Den Franske komponist og improvisator Lise Barkas, er en af strasbourg helt store eksponenter for den nye scene af unge eksperimentalister, som bygger bro mellem århundredeår-gamle folkemusiktraditioner og ny eksperimenterende musik. Med Hardy Gurdy og sækkepiben som hendes primære instrumenter, tager hun afsæt i den akustiske, fysiske dronemusik, og sætter den i nutidigt perspektiv med hendes baggrund i eksperimenterende rock og elektronisk musik.

Barkas musikalske univers centrerer sig omkring dronen, som i generationer har haft en central rolle i den franske folkemusik. Hendes minimalistiske, monolitiske lyd bygger bro mellem den hypnotiske, berusende franske folkemusik, som i generationer har været brugt til dans og festligheder, og den langstrakte, strukturløse elektroniske musik som noise og ambient. Resultatet er langstrakte, trascendale værker som opløser nuet, som sætter lytteres tidsfornemmelse ud af spil, og alle konventioner om musikalsk formsprog refortolkes.

Barkas er en aktiv figur i den pulserende scene for ny traditionel musik i Frankrig og baner nye veje for eksperimenterende musik med rod i franske folketraditioner. Hun var med til at stifte det Strasbourg-baserede kollektiv Kreis / Collectif Continu sammen med Félix Chaillou og Léo Maurel, og hun samarbejder ofte med musikere som Yann Gourdon og Lisa Käuffert.

Hendes katalog er en imponerende mosaik af forskellige udgivelser, lige fra det støjende, drønede free-form ensemblet L'Écluse, til de dybt eksperimenterende, minimalistiske lydbilleder af Compressibilités – et collab med percussionist Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy – samt en række soloindspilninger og den nyligt genudgivne Lo Becat. Sidstnævnte er et ekstraordinært samarbejde med tyske Lisa Käufert, med to sammenflettede, resonerende og dronende sækkepiber, oprindeligt udgivet på Barkas' eget lille selskab, Soleils Bleus / Soleils Continus, et mikroforlag med fokus på håndlavede cd'er med folkemusik, improviseret og eksperimenterende musik fra Strasbourg.

"The sound is harsh and rough, harsh on the ear with its rotating screeching and metallic hissing in its singing way. In what ways ancient folk tunes can nourish today's music does not indicate melancholy for a world where musical harmony wanted to bring people together to pacify their world. It is as if Lise Barkas discovered through them a lost community which manifests itself in these folklores and their festivals, opening onto our uneasy times through the dissonance, the in-harmony of current music, the black mirror of our times."
– Michel Henritzi, Revue & Corrigée

Koncerten er en del af Final Descent's intimkoncert-program på Metronomen, 144000, hvor der kun fritgives 40 billetter pr. koncert. Inkluderet i billetten er en kop te. Koncerten er støttet af Frederiksberg Kommune og Frederiksberg Fonden. Mange tak!

https://morctapes.bandcamp.com/album/lo-becat
Læs mere på finaldescent.org