Seance Centre and Musique Plastique get together to shine a light on the musical aspect of Jacques Charlier`s multidisciplinary art. Collecting material from his self-released cassettes, and extensive archive, the label`s have cherrypicked 13 tunes. Everything, due to their rudimentary 4-track nature, could be regarded as “lo-fi” and relatively raw. 

Jacques clearly couldn’t give a flying fuck about genres, or pigeon-holes, since these pieces run from kalimba`d cosmic confections – creations that conjure images of a rainforest waking at dawn – to rubbery cod reggae. From slow glam rock stomps to rough, rude, proto-house. The piano on L’Amour Dans Les Chansons, for example, could have come from a lost Chicago anthem. 

Perki Show is slow, dark and sleazy, in the same sonic vein as Richenel`s razor-sharp, predatory R`n`B. The guitar, a distorted blues wail. The bass-line, a guttural growl. If you wanted to generalize, then I`d describe Jacques stuff as “outsider soul”. The drum-machine-driven, electric 6-string jams could slot right into Chocolate Industries landmark,  seminal Personal Space compilation. The eccentric, sound-effect-soaked, experiments a mix of Philippe Chany and Jean Pierre Decerf. 

Tempos range between Un Chat Dans Mon Lit`s giddy electro gallop to Morning`s Moments In Love-esque swoon. The standout for me, though, is the half-sung, half-spoken, Samba.

Jacques Charlier`s Art In Another Way is out now, care of Seance Centre & Musique Plastique.