GHISLAIN POIRIER "IL N'YA PAS DE SUD..." (12K1016)

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ALL MUSIC GUIDE (US)
Il N'y A Pas De Sud... is the first release from Montrealer Ghislain Poirier. And it's remarkably louder than most of the records released on Taylor Deupree's almost silent but brilliant 12K label. Truth be told, it's not that loud at all, but unlike many on 12k, it is most definitely audible to the human ear. Poirier creates his stark, minimal techno using only slow, building tempos and bulking up the minute tones with lush reverb. The very insular nature of the music strikes immediate comparison to German dub-tech producers Thomas Brinkmann and Pole. To assemble the record, Poirer put to use his a rather aging PC, making the meticulous process of binding the microsonic blips and squiggles that much more painstaking. Be assured that an enormous amount of effort went into putting together Il N'y A Pas De Sud and it certainly pays off. The old computer and software behold an inexplicable machine soul that is so absent on many new techno releases. Chopped synth samples layered on top of crackling wires and muffled percussive skitters make tracks like "Desequilibre" hypnotically intriguing. "Un Pont Entre Deux Rivieres" stands out as one of the disc's most reflective tracks, allowing quieted guitars to puncture the surface while a tribal beat pulses gently beneath. And the pops and clicks of "Oui-Dire" place Poirier quite close to fellow Montreal sound sculptor David Kristian. Il N'y A Pas De Sud... is an impressive experiment in restraint that is both stylish and emotive. Sure the record is overly cerebral, but it's a beautiful reconfiguration of the noises that digital sound processors refuse to deal with. Rejected machines find warm and caring homes in the minds of producers like Poirier. This is textured, animalistic technology rendered into incredible music ˜ a brilliant debut. - Ken Taylor

FAQT (US)
The debut album by Montreal native Ghislain Poirier is getting quite a push from his label, 12k, and why shouldn't it? After all, meticulously-constructed vaporscapes this good don't come around all that often. Okay, I'll buy into the hype: Poirier assembled his works, owing as much sonically to his labelboss Taylor Deupree as he does to the minimalist beats of the Chain Reaction label, on a severly-dated computer, which meant he had to construct the loops and piece them together separately. It shows: the title track slowly adds layers of jittery percussion and subliminal lines of melody; an alarm clock fades in, shrugging off layers of rust, centered around a chopped loop of feedback on Desequilbre. While I don't think that cries of genius are warrented, one has to give the man credit for coaxing a universe of engrossing sound out of less-than-expansive means. - jason olariu

ICI (CA)
Le Montréalais Ghislain Poirier prend tout le monde par surprise avec son premier album. Tranquillement, ce musicien a bricolé ce petit bijou de techno minimale avec les moyens du bord, et le résultat ne décevra pas (on l‚espère) les amateurs du genre· ni les autres. Étonnant de maîtrise et de sobriété, Il n‚y a pas de Sud· s‚écoute sans difficulté, contrairement à ce que font bien des artistes qui se spécialisent dans ce genre de musique. Ghislain Poirier privilégie autant le fond que la forme : le tempo est lent, les arrangements sont simples mais ingénieux, et l‚on se laisse glisser dans une ambiance froide, étrange et apaisante, sans toutefois tomber dans le registre nouvel-âgeux. Très convaincant. (Patrick Baillargeon)

<< Ghislain Poirier catches everyone off guard with this first album. With modest means and a lot of patience, the Montreal-based musician has created a little jewel of minimal techno and the result will not disappoint (we hope) the amateur and the others. Astonishingly well-mastered and sober, Il n‚y a pas de Sud is an easier listening experience than what many artists of the genre do. Ghislain Poirier works on both form and substance: the beat is slow; the arrangements, simple but ingenious. One slips into a somewhat cold atmosphere, strange and soothing, without falling into new-age. Very convincing. (Patrick Baillargeon)>>

INCURSION.ORG (CA)
Il n'y a pas de Sud is the debut release for Montréal native Ghislain Poirier. Armed with an aging PC with limited memory and processing power, Poirier was forced to compose his music in parts, piecing them together only at a later stage. An interesting process which makes me wonder if it was accidental or intentional. The music is slow but rhythmic (although it does pick up the pace on occasion), with dense layers of reverb, bass and submerged sounds. It borrows from techno and microsound equally, but immerses them in a cloud of opaque processing and delay effects. The description might imply that this music sounds like a record by Vladislav Delay (a trusty reference point for all things digitally "submerged" and organic), but that's not really the case, although I'll admit that there are a few affinities. Poirier's music is more self-contained, each track in and of itself, and each with its own swirling sonics and evolving rhythms. Some of these pieces are more interesting than others, but overall it's a very strong release that grows on you the more you listen to it. Indicative of a small but growing microsound initiative now festering in the homes, clubs and concert halls of Montréal. - [Richard di Santo]

HOUR (CA)
The minimal packaging of this Montreal native‚s debut album is complemented perfectly by the sparse, empty sonic spaces held within. Beatless gongs of echoing nothingness drew me deep into mental inertia, as form and pattern became revealed to my subconscious through Direct Knowledge. Triplets of boinging kicks interfused with low frequency woofs, haunting sonic interludes that dissolve into vast fields of quivering treble. This is a highly original work, blockier than Deadbeat, less abstract than Jirku, evoking sensations in me similar to Hawtin‚s Consumed LP, though with a distincly lo-fi, cut-and-paste approach. (Steve Lalla)

VOIR (CA)
Il n'y a pas de Sud... est la première signature montréalaise du label de Brooklyn 12k, fondé par Taylor Deupree, qui est généralement consacré à la musique hyper minimaliste, voire "microscopique". On dit "généralement", parce que le disque de Ghislain Poirier se différencie radicalement du reste de la production du label par son approche plutôt mélodique et une utilisation plus expansive du champ sonore. Les techniques employées, elles, sont résolument minimales (un vieux PC, matière sonore réduite au minimum), mais le son offre une ampleur certaine. Des lignes de basse rondes et expansives, jouées en boucle et truffées d'effets de délai et d'écho, sont épicées de quelques craquement électroniques plus rythmés; et si l'ensemble rappelle le dub minimal berlinois, Il n'y a pas de Sud... possède une géographie sonore qui lui est propre. Sans être carrément techno (quoique la pièce-titre soit irrésistiblement dansante), Poirier insuffle un vent chaud dans la froideur du minimalisme. (Nicolas Tittley)

<< english translation by ghislain >>

Il n'y a pas de Sud... is the first release from a artist of Montréal on the Brooklyn label 12k, created by Taylor Deupree, generally devote to hyper minimalism music, like "microscopic". We say "generally" because the cd of Ghislain Poirier is really different from the the rest of the label by his melodic touch and a larger sound scape. The technical used are really minimal (an old PC, the minimun sound substance, so) but the sound give a good range (scope?). Circles bass lines, looped with many delay fx and echo, with some electronic crackles more rhythm oriented; and if we think about the german minimal dub, Il n'y a pas de Sud... got is own sound geography. Not totally techno (but the title track was irrestible for dance), Poirier gives a warm wind into the cold minimalism. (Nicolas Tittley)

THE WIRE (UK)
Visual artist Poirier, from Montréal, enters the Techno minimalist frame with a simple yet generally effective combination of beats that shuffle and glide, looped melodic fragments and resonant expanses. The music works best where the beats remain relaxed and unhurried and the resonance is at its most cavernous, evoking an untroubled sashay through the void. Elsewhere there are sluggish passages where the material is stretched to thinness and strats to drag. (Julian Cowley)

XLR8R (US)
Poirier's debut full-length on 12k is one of the most overty musical records the label has put out in recent memory, and is one of the most evocative and atmospheric minimal techno records out now, testifying to the deptch of montreal's amazing scene. - susanna bolle