4 out of 5

Label: Pingipung

Produced by: Michel Banabila

Sonically typified by his fascinating but perhaps somewhat limiting programmed analog elements, I’ve been impressed by how Pierre Bastien has (and frankly always has) appended to his expertise via his various musical partnerships, creating a rewarding push and pull in his career. But, in the world of experimental music, the hits and misses can be pretty disparate, and I suppose I’ve found myself very eager to hear every new project of the past few years from Bastien, but then maybe a little underwhelmed. Baba Soirée, instead, is an immediate reminder: this is why we listen.

Rooted in downtempo mecano beats and the repeated sound intrusions (little whistles, odd noise squiggles) one might associate with Pierre, the appending here comes from Banabila’s flourish of extra beats, or guitar, or atmosphere, crafting a beautifully cinematic experience that pokes at Westerns and almost surf-like rhythms, and odd surprising and fun tonal shifts. I suppose that’s a key word: despite this being still a pretty calming set of tunes, with that slow tick-tock toot-toot mecano beat, Baba Soirée is fun in a way that experimental music often isn’t, where you’re maybe fighting more to find your place in the sound, or approach it was purposeful patience. Here, it feels like the duo prioritized musicality – a rhythm; a melody – and then explored and iterated in their own fashions. The nature of mecano keeps things somewhat on rails, but whether it’s all Banabila or Bastien making his own tweaks, every track tends to have a delightful feeling of looseness that allows the sound to not grow stagnant, though the relatively shorter track times help.

This formula does run out of steam a bit when the tactic changes, though: B-side’s Ancestor Mix is perhaps where the set should have ended, slowing down and going more atmospheric; the followups Ban Bas Aura 1 and 2 then go more into a “generic” experimental mode, following on Ancestor’s less driven and formal structure. A final mix featuring violinist Salar Asid brings the fun back into the setup, but the sequencing makes this somewhat less satisfying overall. And not that the other tracks aren’t enjoyable, but the A-side is just such a solid set that feels like two human beings pinging off of one another instead of a kind of colder, heady experiment, that it’s hard to make the transition.

Still, this is the Bastien record I’ve been listening to on repeat, and remembering how much he’s been able to do with what has always seemed like a limiting concept, but 20+ years and countless records later, obviously isn’t.