Mécanosphère
Encyclopedia
Mécanosphère is a trans-national music/performance art group rooted in Portugal
. Formed in 2003 by French drummer and DIY electronic musician Benjamin Brejon ( an ex-student of free jazz percussionist Sunny Murray
) and polyglot Portuguese vocalist Adolfo Luxúria Canibal
, frontman of cult Portuguese rockers Mão Morta
, the morphing line-up of Mecanosphere also congregates members of the American Radon Collective, such as tribal percussionist Scott Nydegger and saxophonist Steve Mackay
(of The Stooges
) as well as bassist Henrique Fernandes and drummer Gustavo Costa, all from the prolific experimental scene of Oporto gravitating around the SOOPA and the Let’sGoToWar organizations. Since 2005 the electronic multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Saldanha become an active part along with Benjamin Brejon on the band sound aesthetics.
One of the spearehead of the merging Portuguese underground scene, Mécanosphère combine elements of sonic hip hop, bass heavy dub, violent noise, collage art, chaos rock and industrial free jazz with a strong textual and old school sound poetry component, claiming authors such as J. G. Ballard
, Gilles Deleuze
, Peter Sloterdijk
, Bernard Stiegler
or Velimir Khlebnikov
influences on both the method and the issues of their work.
From an outside point of view, Mécanosphère escapes any strict classification or comparison with “ alike” bands operating within the same paradigms. Their battering rhythmic chaos music is something else than a crossover between, say, Techno Animal, Einstürzende Neubauten
, Albert Ayler
, Mark Stewart and the Maffia with dadaist vocal collages. The polyglot text ( a constant permutation of French, Portuguese and English) as well as the extreme organic of their sound ( an over-physical conflict between unstable machinery with heraldic instruments of rock and roll , jazz and technoid electronica : several drum kits, electric double bass, electronic percussions, vintage synthesizers, tapes, live loop recorders, dysfunctional sound generators of all kind) are perhaps keys to “explain” the originality of Mécanosphère. Their devastating, overloaded, stage actions and oddly narrative-filmic recordings speak for themselves.
Mécanosphère is not a touring band at heart. Each of their rather rare public appearances is an exhausting “ creation” of its own and they made clear they consider the live performances unfit for a repetitive touring format. In comparison, Mécanosphère is a rather generous recording factory.
Their 2003 self-titled debut album ( released on Portuguese Hip Hop label Loop:Recordings) is a straightforward rhythms-bass-voice manifesto. Loosely in the line of early Scorn
or Muslimgauze
’s interpretations of dub and industrial music “ mecanosphere” acts like the seminal installation of the group’s obsessive, recurrent, set of sound and images which the other records explore more carefully by facets . The 2004 “ Bailarina” album ( Independent Records), explores a more labyrinth-like territory, where heavy bass down tempo breaks, electro-acoustic sounds, hardcore, tribalism, apocalyptic drum and bass and abstract jazz scapes fusion with the deep throat, menacing narrative of Adolfo Luxúria Cannibal. Their third album“ Limb Shop” ( released on Raging Planet, Base records, Soopa and Radon in 2006) was produced by Jonathan Uliel Saldanha, moving the sound of the group a step deeper into an abstract landscape of field recordings, brute noise and crepuscular heavy funk and dub. Finally freed from the “ track” shape which prevailed on the previous albums, Limb Shop is an ambitious 60 minute piece on disfiguration, real and fictional amputation vs. prosthesis and inner-space science fiction turned into sound.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Formed in 2003 by French drummer and DIY electronic musician Benjamin Brejon ( an ex-student of free jazz percussionist Sunny Murray
Sunny Murray
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray is one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.-Biography:...
) and polyglot Portuguese vocalist Adolfo Luxúria Canibal
Adolfo Luxúria Canibal
Adolfo Luxúria Canibal is the stage name of Adolfo Morais de Macedo. He was born in 1959, in Luanda, Angola. Canibal ia a Portuguese musician and lawyer, known for his vocals in both the Portuguese rock band Mão Morta and French electronic noise band Mécanosphère.-External links:...
, frontman of cult Portuguese rockers Mão Morta
Mão Morta
Mão Morta is a Portuguese avant-garde rock band that started its activities in 1985 in Braga. The group's name means "dead hand", based on a traditional Portuguese nursery rhyme. They are generally considered to be one of the most important bands in the Portuguese rock scene...
, the morphing line-up of Mecanosphere also congregates members of the American Radon Collective, such as tribal percussionist Scott Nydegger and saxophonist Steve Mackay
Steve MacKay
Steve Mackay is an American tenor saxophone player, best known for his participation on The Stooges' second album Fun House.-The Stooges:Mackay was familiar to The Stooges from his work in Detroit's avant-rock pioneers, Carnal Kitchen...
(of The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
) as well as bassist Henrique Fernandes and drummer Gustavo Costa, all from the prolific experimental scene of Oporto gravitating around the SOOPA and the Let’sGoToWar organizations. Since 2005 the electronic multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Saldanha become an active part along with Benjamin Brejon on the band sound aesthetics.
One of the spearehead of the merging Portuguese underground scene, Mécanosphère combine elements of sonic hip hop, bass heavy dub, violent noise, collage art, chaos rock and industrial free jazz with a strong textual and old school sound poetry component, claiming authors such as J. G. Ballard
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard was an English novelist, short story writer, and prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction...
, Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
, Peter Sloterdijk
Peter Sloterdijk
Peter Sloterdijk is a German philosopher, television host, cultural scientist and essayist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He currently co-hosts the German show Im Glashaus: Das Philosophische Quartett.-Biography:Sloterdijk's father...
, Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler is a French philosopher at Goldsmiths, University of London and at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne. In addition, he is Director of the , founder in 2005 of the political and cultural group, , and founder in 2010 of the philosophy school,...
or Velimir Khlebnikov
Velimir Khlebnikov
Velimir Khlebnikov , pseudonym of Viktor Vladimirovich Khlebnikov , was a central part of the Russian Futurist movement, but his work and influence stretch far beyond it.Khlebnikov belonged to Hylaea,...
influences on both the method and the issues of their work.
From an outside point of view, Mécanosphère escapes any strict classification or comparison with “ alike” bands operating within the same paradigms. Their battering rhythmic chaos music is something else than a crossover between, say, Techno Animal, Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...
, Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
, Mark Stewart and the Maffia with dadaist vocal collages. The polyglot text ( a constant permutation of French, Portuguese and English) as well as the extreme organic of their sound ( an over-physical conflict between unstable machinery with heraldic instruments of rock and roll , jazz and technoid electronica : several drum kits, electric double bass, electronic percussions, vintage synthesizers, tapes, live loop recorders, dysfunctional sound generators of all kind) are perhaps keys to “explain” the originality of Mécanosphère. Their devastating, overloaded, stage actions and oddly narrative-filmic recordings speak for themselves.
Mécanosphère is not a touring band at heart. Each of their rather rare public appearances is an exhausting “ creation” of its own and they made clear they consider the live performances unfit for a repetitive touring format. In comparison, Mécanosphère is a rather generous recording factory.
Their 2003 self-titled debut album ( released on Portuguese Hip Hop label Loop:Recordings) is a straightforward rhythms-bass-voice manifesto. Loosely in the line of early Scorn
Scorn
Scorn is a feeling of contempt or disdain for something or somebody; to despise.Scorn may also refer to:Music* Scorn * Scorn of the Women, an album by Weddings Parties Anything* Scorn Defeat, an album by Sigh...
or Muslimgauze
Muslimgauze
Muslimgauze was a music project of Bryn Jones , a prolific British ethnic electronica and experimental musician, influenced by conflicts in the Muslim world with an emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...
’s interpretations of dub and industrial music “ mecanosphere” acts like the seminal installation of the group’s obsessive, recurrent, set of sound and images which the other records explore more carefully by facets . The 2004 “ Bailarina” album ( Independent Records), explores a more labyrinth-like territory, where heavy bass down tempo breaks, electro-acoustic sounds, hardcore, tribalism, apocalyptic drum and bass and abstract jazz scapes fusion with the deep throat, menacing narrative of Adolfo Luxúria Cannibal. Their third album“ Limb Shop” ( released on Raging Planet, Base records, Soopa and Radon in 2006) was produced by Jonathan Uliel Saldanha, moving the sound of the group a step deeper into an abstract landscape of field recordings, brute noise and crepuscular heavy funk and dub. Finally freed from the “ track” shape which prevailed on the previous albums, Limb Shop is an ambitious 60 minute piece on disfiguration, real and fictional amputation vs. prosthesis and inner-space science fiction turned into sound.