Nous Autres

Nous Autres
Live album by Fred Frith and René Lussier
Released 1987 (1987)
Recorded October and December 1986
Venue 4th Victoriaville Festival, Quebec, Canada
Genre Avant-rock
Length 43:25
Language French, German, Japanese
Label Victo (Canada)
Producer Michel Levasseur

Nous Autres (Quebec French for "We") is a live album by Fred Frith and René Lussier recorded in October 1986 at the 4th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada.[1] The live mixes were later enhanced with additional material recorded by Frith and Lussier in December 1986 at a studio in Montreal, Quebec, and the resulting album was released on LP in 1987. The album was released on CD in 1992 with four additional studio tracks recorded by Frith and Lussier in January 1992 in New York City.

Three guest vocalists, Tenko Ueno, Geneviève Letarte and Christoph Anders sing on four of the album tracks in Japanese, French and German respectively. The LP release included a record sleeve insert with the lyrics in the original languages and translations to French and English.

Nous Autres was Frith and Lussier's first collaborative recording and its success introduced Lussier, at the time not well known outside Quebec, to an international audience.[2]

Background

French experimental guitarist/composer René Lussier from Quebec, Canada had performed at the first three Victoriaville festivals,[3][4][5] and for the fourth, festival artistic director Michel Levasseur suggested that Lussier play in a duo concert with English experimental guitarist/composer Fred Frith from Henry Cow. Henry Cow and the Rock in Opposition movement (initiated by Henry Cow) had been a big influence on Lussier, and he seized the opportunity to perform with Frith.[2]

Also performing at this 4th Victoriaville festival was Cassiber, and two of its members, Chris Cutler (ex-Henry Cow) and Christoph Anders performed on two of the album's tracks, "Cage de Verre" and "J'Aime la Musique" respectively. An altered form of "J'Aime la Musique" was later frequently performed by Cassiber and appeared on their 1990 album, A Face We All Know.[6]

The success of this concert prompted a number of future collaborations between Frith and Lussier:

Content and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]

Most of the tracks on Nous Autres are instrumental and focus on Fred Frith and René Lussier's guitar and bass guitar playing. Four vocal tracks, "Ketsui", "Iceberg", "J'aime la Musique" and "Domaine Revisited" include lyrics written and sung by the three guest vocalists, Tenko Ueno, Geneviève Letarte and Christoph Anders in their own languages. "Domaine Revisited" was derived from an instrumental "Domaine de Planousset" on Frith's solo album, Speechless (1981) and includes singing (in French) by Letarte.

AllMusic wrote that, "Fans of Frith will find much to love here, and will be equally impressed by Lussier, whose slightly more rockish approach nicely counterbalances Frith's more abstract tendencies ... Wonderful stuff." [7]

Track listing

LP release

Side A
  1. "Cage de Verre" (Lussier) – 3:38
  2. "The Same Wide Wall" (Frith) – 3:19
  3. "Ketsui (Determination)" (Frith, Lussier, Ueno) – 5:02
  4. "Plaisirs Instantanés" (Lussier) – 2:52
  5. "Iceberg" (Lussier, Letarte) – 6:03
  6. "Solo en Ré Mineur" (Frith) – 1:26
Side B
  1. "De Mémoire" (Lussier) – 1:33
  2. "Two Squares and Three Circles" (Frith, Lussier, Cora) – 6:29
  3. "Cage de Fer" (Frith) – 2:08
  4. "J'Aime la Musique" (Lussier, Anders) – 5:00
  5. "Domaine Revisited" (Frith, Letarte) – 3:41
  6. "Riaville Bump" (Lussier, Morton) – 2:14

CD release

  1. "Cage de Verre" (Lussier) – 3:38
  2. "The Same Wide Wall" (Frith) – 3:19
  3. "Vinegar Minutes" (Frith, Lussier) – 1:42 *
  4. "Ketsui (Determination)" (Frith, Lussier, Ueno) – 5:02
  5. "Plaisirs Instantanés" (Lussier) – 2:52
  6. "Fun in America" (Frith, Lussier) – 2:12 *
  7. "Iceberg" (Lussier, Letarte) – 6:03
  8. "Solo en Ré Mineur" (Frith) – 1:26
  9. "De Mémoire" (Lussier) – 1:33
  10. "Two Squares and Three Circles" (Frith, Lussier, Cora) – 6:29
  11. "Assuming They're Human" (Frith, Lussier) – 2:49 *
  12. "Cage de Fer" (Frith) – 2:08
  13. "J'aime la Musique" (Lussier, Anders) – 5:00
  14. "Une Poignée de Clous" (Frith, Lussier) – 1:53 *
  15. "Domaine Revisited" (Frith, Letarte) – 3:41
  16. "Riaville Bump" (Lussier, Morton) – 2:14

* New studio tracks added to the CD release.

Personnel

  • Fred Frith – guitar, bass guitar, drums, violin, piano, voice, rhythm box
  • René Lussier – guitar, percussions, bass guitar, voice, tapes

Guests

  • Chris Cutler – percussion (hammer, sticks and paint cans) on "Cage de Verre"
  • Tenko Ueno – voice (Japanese) on "Ketsui"
  • Geneviève Letarte – voice (French) on "Iceberg" and "Domaine Revisited"
  • Christoph Anders – voice (German) and tapes on "J'aime la Musique"

Production

References

  1. ↑ "4th Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville". International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  2. 1 2 Couture, François. "René Lussier". AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  3. ↑ "1st Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville archives". International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  4. ↑ "2nd Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville archives". International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  5. ↑ "3rd Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville archives". International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  6. ↑ Cutler, Chris. "René Lussier". Chris Cutler homepage. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  7. 1 2 Anderson, Rick. "Nous Autres". AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
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