i first became familier with Magali Babin's work when she performed in
Baltimore, USA's High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music in
2000, and was immediately attracted to her work. Magali is very active in
Montreal's vibrant experimental music and sound art scene, and primarily
works with amplified metal/objects and transducers.

acoustic/amplified/contact mic'd metal materials and metallic found objects
have had an interesting history in experimental music/sound
art/electroacoustic music, ranging from, for example, Harry Bertoia's
'Sonambient' sound sculpture recordings, Xenakis' 'Orient-Occident' , and
Einstürzende Neubauten, among numerous others.

so i was looking forward to her new CD, 'chemin de fer', on
no-type/electroshock/diffusion i-media. i got it a couple of days ago, and
it's been living in my CD player since then. In the face of the
aforementioned history, i have to say that Magali's take, approach, and
resultant sonorities and sounds from her chosen sounds and objects are
utterly unique and new. she manages to disclose small, mostly quiet,
magical, mysterious little universes of sound. another thing that emerges
from listening to this work after enjoying the beauty of the pieces is how
literate and articulate Magali is with her chosen materials and tools -
there is a very broad language of sound in these recordings that will reward
careful listeners. added bonuses include the piece “Pluie de homards” which
was mixed with the piece “Rain” from the CD “Warm Coursing Blood” by Ian
Nagoski, one of the more interesting people working in drone these days, and
beautiful packaging. i have a strong feeling that this disc is going to be
one of the few releases each year that really speaks to me, and i'm already
hooked.

James Coleman










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