Les Sauvageries

Nicolas Bougaïeff releases Les Sauvageries, his second album in less than a year, via Denkfabrik imprint. A radical fusion of industrial techno and contemporary classical, Les Sauvageries is brutal program music that alludes to the dark underbelly of Berlin’s underground. Inviting cellist and longtime collaborator Émilie Girard-Charest into the studio, the pair began to record the sounds of dark excess that define the album. Everything you hear, save for a kick and hihat, was created by processing cello improvisations. This exhaustive process gave life to the dramatic story behind the music, visions exploring the frontiers of hedonistic exhilaration. Treacherously gentle opener ‘Aux Portes du Temple’ sets the scene before ‘Offrande’ mingles shades of Ligeti with distorted cello basslines. The suspense of ‘Pharmacie Nocturne’ begins to crack in ‘Chambres Noires’ as fractured warehouse beats give way to thundering drones. Three dancefloor tracks alternate organic distortion with ethereal textures, leading a raucous journey until the savage climax of ‘Sacrifice’, followed by the epilogue ambience of ‘Ataraxie’. Les Sauvageries draws on diverse influences ranging from 20th century composers Scelsi and Penderecki, to today’s DIY noise scene and industrial techno resurgence. Émilie Girard-Charest is a French-Canadian cellist, composer and improvisor. She has played at contemporary music festivals across Europe and the Americas, contributing also regularly to theatre and dance productions. She is currently pursuing a doctorate on cello microtonality. Nicolas Bougaïeff is a French-Canadian electronic music artist based in Berlin. His Cognitive Resonance 12" marked the relaunch of legendary British label NovaMute, followed by widely praised debut album Principles of Newspeak on his own label Denkfabrik. Bougaïeff holds a doctorate on minimal techno. Forthcoming releases include a series of 12”s on NovaMute and an EP for Max Cooper’s Mesh label.