Eric La Casa & Cédric Peyronnet, La Creuse (Herbal International)

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Innovative sound manipulators Cédric Peyronnet (who usually trades as Toy Bizarre) and Éric La Casa (who indeed does sport an accent over the first letter of his name, despite appearing without one on the cover) travel to La Creuse, one of the internationally least well-known departements in France, to conduct an unusual topographical survey and do a bit of sonic gardening.

Selecting a specific territory wedged between by two rivers, they set out to prove that the map is not the country by underlining the fact that any and all observation and recording is subjective. The course of action they choose is for the one to compose an impression out of what he had collected in one area, which is then sent to the other who dips into his personal bank of sounds – some of them, if I understand correctly, not necessarily recorded in La Creuse - and further flesh it out according to his own taste. And then vice-versa.

For all this interaction between strong personalities, the results are abstractly cohesive and engaging. Totally untreated natural sound hardly ever rears its head, except for the burble of the rivers bookending the album. Occasionally your ears might convince you that that particular irregular tattoo is rainfall on a corrugated metal roof, or that those sussurations must be crickets baking in the July sun, but how can you be really sure? And is it really important to know?

It is handsomely packaged, in common with all of the Malaysian label Herbal International´s releases, featuring a French language diary, plenty of photos of microphones standing alone among the hills and dales, maps and a short but informative description of the process in English.

http://www.herbalinternational.tk