Poire z
Encyclopedia
poire_z was an electronic free improvisation
music group formed in 1998. The group's members all have long careers in improvised music; critic Fred Grand of Avant calls poire_z a "post-AMM
supergroup
."
in 1998, percussionist Gunter Muller
and turntablist Erikm
were scheduled to perform as a duo. The same festival featured a performance by duo Voice Crack
. The four musicians made an unscheduled collaboration, and afterwards formed a semi-regular quartet.
They recorded several albums and made a number of live appearances before disbanding. poire_z often invited a fifth musician as a guest: Keith Rowe
, Phil Minton
, Christian Marclay
, Otomo Yoshihide, Sachiko M
and others performed or recorded with the core quartet.
As with much free improvisation
, poire_z's music is generally focused more on a group sound, and given the musicians' unorthodox
approach to their instruments, it's often difficult to discern who is generating any individual sound. Aside from glimpses of Muller's occasionally unprocessed percussion, their music is nearly all electronic blips, clicks and droning like a shortwave radio tuned in to an extraterrestrial broadcast; critic Ed Howard described the group's music as "all whir and purr and throb, the soldered electronic exclamations of the Voice Crack duo spurting around the steady rhythmic drive of Muller and eRikm ... a dense cycling drone with harsh electronic interjections skipping over the top." One piece is described as "delicate tones, crackles and light bubbling sounds, resting and intermingling with characteristic weightlessness, only occasionally being interrupted by glimpses of harsher textures."
Voice Crack formally disbanded in about 2004, and poire_z have not recorded or performed since.
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
music group formed in 1998. The group's members all have long careers in improvised music; critic Fred Grand of Avant calls poire_z a "post-AMM
AMM (group)
AMM are an important British free improvisation group, founded in London, England in 1965.AMM have never been well known to the general public, but have been incredibly influential on the field of improvised music...
supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
."
Band history
At a music festival at Nantes, FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1998, percussionist Gunter Muller
Günter Müller
Günter Müller is an Swiss composer, improviser and visual artist based in Lupsingen, Switzerland.Günter Müller is a German sound artist that originally performed as a percussionist and drummer active primarily in free improvisation....
and turntablist Erikm
Erikm
eRikm has appeared on the artistic scenes in 1992.His early experience as a musician , and as a visual artist led him to composition and turntables....
were scheduled to perform as a duo. The same festival featured a performance by duo Voice Crack
Voice Crack
Voice Crack was a Swiss electronic free improvisation group. Formed in late 1972 by Andy Guhl and Norbert Möslang, Voice Crack were initially a free jazz duo...
. The four musicians made an unscheduled collaboration, and afterwards formed a semi-regular quartet.
They recorded several albums and made a number of live appearances before disbanding. poire_z often invited a fifth musician as a guest: Keith Rowe
Keith Rowe
Keith Rowe is an English free improvisation tabletop guitarist and painter. Rowe is a founding member of both the hugely influential AMM in the mid-1960s and M.I.M.E.O. Having trained as a visual artist, Rowe's paintings have been featured on most of his own albums...
, Phil Minton
Phil Minton
Phil Minton is a jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter.Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's group, Daniil Kharms and Joseph Brodsky with Simon Nabatov, and extracts from James Joyce's...
, Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay is a Swiss-American visual artist and composer.Marclay's work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video, and film...
, Otomo Yoshihide, Sachiko M
Sachiko M
Sachiko Matsubara, who usually records as Sachiko M, is a Japanese musician, but she considers herself to be a "non-musician".She was a member of Otomo Yoshihide's Ground Zero from 1994 to 1997, where she used a sampler. More recently, she has concentrated on music made from sine waves...
and others performed or recorded with the core quartet.
As with much free improvisation
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
, poire_z's music is generally focused more on a group sound, and given the musicians' unorthodox
Extended technique
Extended techniques are performance techniques used in music to describe unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional techniques of singing, or of playing musical instruments to obtain unusual sounds or instrumental timbres....
approach to their instruments, it's often difficult to discern who is generating any individual sound. Aside from glimpses of Muller's occasionally unprocessed percussion, their music is nearly all electronic blips, clicks and droning like a shortwave radio tuned in to an extraterrestrial broadcast; critic Ed Howard described the group's music as "all whir and purr and throb, the soldered electronic exclamations of the Voice Crack duo spurting around the steady rhythmic drive of Muller and eRikm ... a dense cycling drone with harsh electronic interjections skipping over the top." One piece is described as "delicate tones, crackles and light bubbling sounds, resting and intermingling with characteristic weightlessness, only occasionally being interrupted by glimpses of harsher textures."
Voice Crack formally disbanded in about 2004, and poire_z have not recorded or performed since.
Personnel
- ErikmErikmeRikm has appeared on the artistic scenes in 1992.His early experience as a musician , and as a visual artist led him to composition and turntables....
: 3K-PAD∞System - Gunter MullerGünter MüllerGünter Müller is an Swiss composer, improviser and visual artist based in Lupsingen, Switzerland.Günter Müller is a German sound artist that originally performed as a percussionist and drummer active primarily in free improvisation....
: percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, effects - Andy Guhl and Norbert Möslang (who recorded as Voice CrackVoice CrackVoice Crack was a Swiss electronic free improvisation group. Formed in late 1972 by Andy Guhl and Norbert Möslang, Voice Crack were initially a free jazz duo...
) on homemade electronics.