Audio CD published on Ohm éditions, Avatar, Québec. Vex consists of three sections, each section features a different collaborator: Michel F. Côté, Louis Ouellet, Gregory Whitehead.
Vex is a list of names suffering from claustrophobia: ChristofMichelLouisGregory MigoneCôtéOuelletWhitehead.
Vex is a meeting place which is divisible by three: Erik Satie, Gilles Deleuze, Antonin Artaud.
Vex is a series of accidents, problematic strategies, absurd tactics and misunderstood languages.
Communication between two persons becomes a third. This other is the territory where the two coexist and translate each other. It is a junction where collisions abound, a site susceptible to incendiary sparks and spontaneous combustions. In spite of the dangers, these are the moments we crave, for these are the vexations which inscribe themselves unto our memories.
Vex est une liste de noms dans un espace restreint: ChristofMichelLouisGregory MigoneCôtéOuelletWhitehead.
Vex est un lieu de recontre qui se divise par trois: Erik Satie, Gilles Deleuze, Antonin Artaud.
Vex est une série d’accidents, de stratagèmes problématiques, de tactiques absurdes, et de langages mal compris.
La communication entre deux personnes devient en soi un troisième être. Cet être est le territoire où les deux interlocuteurs co-existent et se co-traduisent. C’est un carrefour flou qui n’est pas indemne aux accidents. Ce lieu du troisième devient souvent surchargé, électrifié et susceptible aux éclairs et étincelles; il vexe. En dépit des dangers ces moments sont ceux que nous désirons, car ce sont ces moments qui s’inscrivent dans nos mémoires.
This CD is related to the 1995 performance vex in name only (both have connections to Erik Satie and his Vexations). Audio from the performance does not appear on the cd.
Scroll down for REVIEWS.
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REVIEWS
• All-Music-Guide, review by François Couture.
Vex, Christof Migone’s second CD, is a cycle of three works, three 20-minute suites each inspired by a “shadow” (the composer’s word) and created with the help of a friend. “Marche Arrière” (“Reverse”) is inhabited by the ghost of French composer Erik Satie and features percussionist Michel F. Côté. “Cris-Cris” was inspired by French writer Antonin Artaud and created with the help of Gregory Whitehead. “Corps dans le Vide” (“Bodies in Emptiness”), a collaboration with Louis Ouellet, is impregnated with the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze. Each suite is divided into short interlocking segments (nothing over four minutes), a technique Migone displayed on his previous album Hole in the Head. The sound collages mostly use voices, as well as electro-acoustic and electronic sounds, alternating in the form of a cut-and-paste. The composer’s fascination with speech puts a new dress on: instead of accidental speech, he now uses excerpts from the featured ghost’s body of works to weave enigmatic strings of meaning into his piece. “Marche Arrière” is the more lighthearted of the three, while “Corps dans le Vide” gets very close to aural claustrophobia. All three have a more abstract construction, a less visceral delivery than Hole in the Head, but they feature a wider palette of sounds and techniques. It should be noted that the collaborators’ input did not leave a remarkable stamp: Migone’s touch remains the strongest one everywhere on this album.
• The Wire (March Issue 181), review by Andy Hamilton.
“If you enjoy being vexated, you will not want to miss the grindings and gratings of Vex,” promises this electroacoustic disc Christof Migone is assisted by Michel F. Côté, Louis Ouellet and Gregory Whitehead. The disc is divided into three zones, designated Satie, Antonin Artaud and Gilles Deleuze respectively, with 20 minutes of short tracks in each. Satie was known for Vexations of his own, of course, and his zone is the most colourful, concluding with a splintering one minute “Satie Hardcore”. Artaud inspires more melancholic reflections with mournful sax prominent on some tracks. But there’s a minute attention to detail throughout this quirky release.
• le stéréophile (#13), review by Fred Landier.
VEX est un disque qui se compose de trois zones. Des zones de remixes concrets autour de trois héros contemporains: Satie, Artaud et Deleuze. Humour et musique concrète, électronicité et jeux de mots rogilos, ce sont Christof Migone qui s’occupe avec Michel F. Côté du cas Satie, avec Gregory Whitehead qui calme Artaud et avec louis Ouellet qui ressuscite Deleuze. Les titres sont assez éloquents pour ne pas se perdre à essayer de raconter la musique : comme un rossignol qui autrait mal aux dents, satie hardcore, les amateurs professionnels, channel surf morpion, pour en finir avec la fin, défenestrer, parler sale, je fuis ce que je suis est excellent sur toute la ligne.
• Vital Weekly (14 Dec 1998), review by Frans de Waard.
From the active new music sources from Canada, a new CD by composer Christof Migone, who is helped by the voices of Gregory Whitehead, Michel F. Côté and Louis Ouellet. There are three zones, or themes if you want: Erik Satie, Gilles Deleuze and Antonin Artaud. “Vex is a series of accidents, problematic strategie, absurd tactics and misunderstood languages”. Like with schizophrenia, the music limps on many ideas. Some strong, and some weak. Much sampling of sounds, instruments, voices, short and witty at times, even rhythmic at times, but sometimes boring. A strange CD, not easy to capture in it’s intent. Closed like an asylum. If you are into improvisation, sampling and a strong concept: this is it.
