Vincent Le Masne & Bertrand Porquet - Guitares Dérive

Shandar - LP

France, 1976

Avant-Garde / Minimal / Psychedelic

 The cultural agitation surrounding May 68 in France condensed itself in a bunch of exceptionally great labels : grandiose hippie stables like Saravah or Flamophone or cutting-edge free jazz houses like Futura, Palm and BYG. The most high-brow of them all was probably Shandar, launched by 24 year-old Chantal Darcy (Shandar is a contraction of CHAN-tal DAR-cy) and musicologist Daniel Caux, backed by the highly influential art dealer Aimé Maeght.

The short-lived label's catalogue is dizzying: groundbreaking recordings by Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, La Monte Young, Charlemagne Palestine, legendary live recordings of Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler or Sun Ra at Fondation Maeght, French psychedelic chanson masterpiece by Dashiell Hedayat... and then this record, the only release by French guitarists Vincent Le Masne & Bertrand Porquet.

Dramatically less impressive names, but the quality of their music is as exceptional as that of the music recorded by the aforementioned artists. Psychedelism reduced to its core principles, as illustrated by the tracks' programatic names - "Maze", "Drift" & "Gust". The set of guitar pieces, recorded in an elegantly stark manner, is a manifesto against the kind of superfluous effects Abbey Road engineers sometime drowned music into. It is environmental music in a way contrary to the common understanding of environmental music - ambient incorporating elements of field recordings. The starkness of the music - two guitars spiraling into each other - leaves room for the sound surrounding the speakers to mingle with it. Essential record, and an unsung milestone of contemporary minimalism. (VG+/VG+)