Jacques Lasry – Chronophagie (The Time Eaters)

Subtitled ‘The Hypnotic music of the sculptures that sound.’ and released on the touchstone ‘Music Of Our Time’ series on Columbia, this LP is interesting not so much for Jacques Lasry’s compositions, but for the fact that the music was composed for and played on the Baschet Brothers’ Structures Sonores.

As the Baschet brother not named Bernard explains “My brother Bernard and I want to make a synthesis of the following three elements:

Shapes
Sounds
Public participation

We make shapes and objects with which music can be produced manually — that is without electricity or electronics. Therefore, anyone can play on them. Beginnings in 1954 were difficult. In our attempts to synthesize new form and new sound, music people said ‘this is no music’ and Scupture people said ‘this is no sculpture’.”

The sound is airy and droning at times similar to some of Harry Bertoia’s recordings, or the Columbia wind-harp LP with Partchian moments popping up here and there. Some tracks feature some minimal tabla and flute augmentation.