Sunday 23 February 2025, 7.30pm
‘A strange conception of modern French jazz … Thank fuck for Pierre Bastien’ – The Qiuetus
‘delicate and unique’ – Pitchfork
‘...revels in unusual ways to manipulate the sound of his cornet. Influences are a steady diet of artistic rule-breakers… and tiny circuses’ – Electronic sound
The Rose Hill is an artist led venue, studios, label and community space in the heart of Brighton. They are celebrating the debut album launch ‘CNT’ - by newly formed duo Pierre Bastien & Louis Lorain’s out 7/02/25 on Rose HIll Records, recorded in residence at The Rose Hill. The cornet duo features the mechanical sound sculptures of Pierre Bastien & the avant - Jazz improvisation & virtuosity of Louis Laurain.The performance combines music and visual poetry. Joyful trumpet explosions, off key grooves and improvised melodic accidents are played with playful yet meticulous grace in a hypnotic shadow theatre. In a sleight of hand, the two musicians transform into a timeless sounding orchestra, both futuristic, slightly dada, and conjuring ancient traditions in its surprisingly sensuous music.
French composer and musician Pierre Bastien played first in some collective bands, and with the Dominique Bagouet Dance Company. In 1976 he built a sound sculpture that was going to be the first element of a large orchestra called Mecanium : an ensemble of musical automatons made of meccano parts and electro-motors, playing on acoustic instruments from all over the world. In the nineties the mechanical orchestra developed up to 80 pieces. It took part in music festivals and art exhibitions in Norway (World Music Days 1990), Australia (Tisea 1992), Japan (Artec 1995), Canada (Fimav 1995, Sound Symposium 1998), Poland (Warsaw Autumn 1995), United States (Flea Festival 1996). In the recent years, Pierre Bastien and his machines collaborated with video artist Pierrick Sorin, fashion designer Issey Miyake, British singer and composer Robert Wyatt, Trottola circus company, musicians Alexei Aigi, Dr Truna, Steve Arguelles, Pascal Comelade and Jaki Liebezeit, among others. His music is released on Western Vinyl, Signature, Rephlex, Morphine, Discrepant and Marionette Records.
https://www.pierrebastien.com/
Louis Laurain is a trumpet player, living in South of France. His work lies at the borders of experimental music, electro-acoustics, Jazz, traditional music, visual and performative arts. He develops an original language on his instrument, playing solo and collaborating with an innovative flair and a totally unique way of playing and thinking about music. In the past years he collaborated with Eliane Radigue, Stephen O’Malley, Umlaut Big band, Pierre Huyghe, Axel Dorner, Guy One, Perrine Bourel, Xavier Charles, Mosin Kawa, Yves-Noel Génot, John Tilbury, Nicolas Collins, Zombie-Zombie, Chakib Bouzidi, Pierce Warnecke ...
He is also a member of the Berlin band DIE HOCHSTAPLER, the French-Polish group LUMPEKS, and the duo TDTNDG. He has toured in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and Russia.
Furrowed (Dylan Beattie) is a producer/sound artist working with repurposed and modified vinyl record making equipment to create distinctive soundscapes and performances. Starting with a blank disc, he adds sound to records using a technique he describes as ‘tattooing sound’ whilst multiple tonearms track the newly shaped grooves as they are made and are subjected to further manipulation. His sonic palette ranges from electronic and melodic tones, to hypnotic rhythms, glitch-like behaviours and sweet-sounding passages. Lo-fi loops are formed using locked grooves and records are overlaid and modified with new sounds by hand as works are created and projected on screen.
Expect vinyl texture, clicks, pops and crunch as records are made, celebrated and destroyed live.
