france

Well, so much for my best intentions to write more often. More weeks have gone by, and they have been rather full ones too, and it's so difficult to gather up the important memories and put them in some sort of order. Oh well, disorder will have to do; it is perhaps a rather more accurate depiction, at any rate.

I am writing from a room in a deliciously rustic house in a small town in the French countryside, St. Laurent. Not so far from Nantes, perhaps three hours or so southwest of Paris. I've been here for about five days now, having been invited to join my friends James and Constance in a small recording project here. We have been staying in Constance's family home, right off the main square, opposite the nuns' cathedral (St. Laurent is a pilgrimage town), adjacent to the Boulangerie which I have yet to see the inside of (hopefully today) but which I am told contains some spectacular manifestations of the baker's art. Well, I have tasted a couple of them, and they certainly did not disappoint. France is the true home of pastry delight.

The business part of this trip has been taking place over at Constance's cousin's place – a few villages over, in Mauleon. Maxence (for that the cousin's name) has a small project studio there which contains, amongst other treasures, an odd assortment of old analog synthesizers and electromechanical keyboards (a wonderful Rhodes, a very early-model Clavinet, a small home-model Pianet, a somewhat dilapidated but perfectly functional ARP String Machine, a little Korg Micropreset..) which we managed to get a great deal of use out of in three and a half days of recording. I was unable to stay longer, as I have to head back to Berlin today, and James will stay on to lay in all the horn and woodwind parts, and with Maxence continue to mould the bed tracks we laid down into an album.

It's a bit tricky to describe what kind of music this is. It is feel-good music, I suppose, which is at least something. It is party music, dance music, but very jazz-inflected too. Funky, dirty clav patterns brush up against weird 'cheesy' organ parts, and bossa-nova ballads sit next to kind of 'organic' dance tracks which we have dubbed 'biotechno'. I had no very clear idea of what kind of shape it was going to take before I came here, but as James is one of the most talented and interesting musicians I know, it seemed likely to be interesting. And although it is still somewhat embryonic at the moment, the results so far seem pretty promising. I can't wait to hear what they cook up in the remaining week.

Maxence is a very interesting character. Firmly rooted in a kind of French 60's kitsch, which pervades pretty much every aspect of his home and life, he lives in a quaint little house next to a lovely park and a babbling brook, with lovely views of the medieval town with its crumbling stone castle from the garden. The studio on the lower floor is cosy, a thicket of wires, a festival of keyboards and musical miscellany. Maxence himself is a very interesting musician, not an 'advanced' player of anything in particular but with very sophisticated tastes and harmonic understanding, quick and subtle ears, and what I would call very musical instincts. Thus far he has been mostly the technician and co-producer, playing a little guitar and bass and tambourine here and there; I think there will be some further guitar parts and some live drums as well. Mainly, though, he has been responsible for getting some very organic and juicy sounds down 'on tape' (well, disc, but that's the way things are these days, isn't it?).

Basically, at the end of the day it will be a groove-oriented, analog keys and winds kind of thing, with two lovely french vocal numbers from Constance (James' wife) who is a really wonderful singer, in a quiet and unassuming but very individual way. All in all I am really quite happy with the quality of what we managed to record in my few days here; the basic ideas came from James (in variously developed stages, some quite rudimentary with tons of room for improvisation and creativity, others more strict and just requiring touch and groove from me) and Maxence's quiet competence and patient open-mindedness were also a very big factor, but I think I can allow myself to be a little proud of my contribution as well. There are a couple of parts which I think are quite impressive, not something everyone can pull off. Quirky, yes, but I think unassailably groovy and musical.

So, back to the present moment... this morning it is rainy and I have to pack up and get ready for the long train ride back to Berlin, but hopefully there will be time for a little stroll in the countryside nearby. Up to now my impressions have mostly been from the car – and much of that time I was driving and unable to give the scenery my fullest attention (this trip has also afforded me an opportunity to remember how to drive standard). I have however managed to appreciate some of the local food and wine, as I have been invited to a number of Constance's family meals here, with her mother and aunt and grandparents and various uncles, cousins, other aunts and old friends – it makes me miss having my own family nearby, of course, especially as there is a similarly eccentric feeling here... but it is very nice to be included. All in all, a lovely trip! But I am looking forward to being home. There is much to do!

More soon... t