la tène: ecorcha / taillée

La Tène's long, hypnotic, wordless pieces are built from traditional folk instrumentation, wild percussion and blurred, subtle electronic embellishments, and feel as ancient and earthy as those millennia-old artifacts -- with all the metal, wood, dedication and craftsmanship they entailed. As on their previous release Abandonnée/Maleja, a double set running to over 80 minutes, Cyril Bondi, Alexis Degrenier, and Laurent Peter expand to seven members in total. Cohorts Jacques Puech (cabrette -- a small bagpipe associated with the Auvergne region of France), Louis Jacques (cabrette, 23" bagpipe), Guilhem Lacroux (12-string guitar), and Jérémie Sauvage (bass) each return to add color, layers, and intrigue. Ecorcha/Taillée was recorded in a barn converted into a ballroom and cultural center which exists to promote the folk music of region Auvergne. Both "L'Ecorcha" (eighteen and a half minutes long) and "La Taillée" (just under a quarter of an hour, brevity by this group's standards) were recorded live and what you hear is a single take, with no editing after the fact. "L'Ecorcha" goes into space with simple, minimal tools. Beginning with a single, doomy chord circling in perpetuity and a metallic shaker by way of rhythm, a drone of unspecified provenance is joined a little under halfway through by Alexis's hurdy-gurdy, adding bucolic buoyancy while Laurent uses the wooden surface of his harmonium as an extra percussive source. "La Taillée" is spikier, danceable even thanks to Cyril's insistent drumming and the harmonium and hurdy-gurdy moving in a glorious lockstep. If you were to think of the relationship between Lou Reed's guitar and John Cale's violin while taking in "La Taillée", you wouldn't be OTT by any means. Inspirations, soundalikes and kindred spirits are elusive and fleeting in the case of La Tène. There are a couple specific to Ecorcha/Taillée, both brought to the table by Alexis: a Christian song titled "La Passion", collected in 1883 by French folklorist Félix Arnaudin, and a reggaeton hit single from 2022, "Saoko" by Spanish star Rosalía. "Taillée" adapts its crunchy central riff in La Tène's own image. It's that link between the past and the future that also rings out in the music of La Tène.