VELVET ODDITIES – Karoline Leblanc (Piano Improvisations)
1 ermo 1:55
2 contre-jour 2:39
3 asity 3:33
4 horse’s mouth fiction 0:58
5 petalody 3:28
6 exile 3:59
7 harpagon 1:47
8 tingle run 1:21
9 wandelart 1:49
10 morning flycatcher 1:12
11 entanglement 1:53
12 mimésis 1:21
13 remanso 2:44
14 marché d’ombres 2:11
15 antanho 2:25
16 ad rem 1:51
17 quandary 4:57
18 panacea 1:22
19 desfecho 1:17
TOTAL TIME: 42:43
CATALOGUE #: atrito-afeito 006
ARTIST: KAROLINE LEBLANC
TITLE: VELVET ODDITIES
FORMAT: CD-R
CARDBOARD COVER
STAMPED DISC
LIMITED EDITION OF 100
RECORDED MARCH 2016 IN MONTREAL
RELEASE DATE: APRIL 14, 2016
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Monk Mink Pink Punk (USA)
November 2017 by Josh Rosen
Karoline Leblanc – Velvet Oddities
A pianist and multi-instrumentalist in the Total Improvisation Troop, a very large Canadian collective, Leblanc sits alone, spinning out nineteen short pieces on acoustic piano. The pieces defy categorization, sometimes resembling the works of Erik Satie, sometimes the work of Bill Evans, sometimes Philip Corner, but I assume all of these works are improvised, having the tenacity to veer off into interesting little tangents in a pleasing inquisitive manner. A few pieces explore keyboard mania, seemingly playing at top speed.
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The Sound Projector (UK)
April 15 2017 by Paul Khimasia Morgan
Karoline Leblanc – Velvet Oddities
PETALODY
This arrived with a hand-written note on a very nice piece of marbled paper. Perhaps the marbling is the work of Karoline Leblanc as well, perhaps not. The design of the cd sleeve is also very striking. A warm-yellow sleeve; a single fold-over piece of card, but professionally printed in full colour; the yellow on the outside augmented with a four bar graphic – three turquoise bars and one red on its face. Upon opening, on the inside the background is red with the same graphic but with one red and three white bars. There is no written information on the inside apart from the indication that these are nineteen individual pieces of piano improvisation. This description is included on the back cover as a helpful subtitle for the casual observer. The longest piece of music is just under four minutes while the shortest is very brief at only 58 seconds. I use the term “music” deliberately; these are very “musical” improvisations; no extended technique, Cageian preparation or augmentation with everyday objects here. These nineteen tracks actually work very well if listened to straight through in one sitting and perceived as a whole piece, or a whole movement. Leblanc demonstrates some very technical playing and clearly she is a very accomplished pianist – I think she plays instruments other than piano as well, namely violin, harpsichord, organ, and most interestingly, the Ondes Martenot: an early electronic orchestral instrument. If you are not familiar with the Ondes Martenot, imagine something not unlike a scaled-up Stylophone. And go and source a copy of Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony and be amazed. I’d be very interested to hear her tackle the Ondes with a similar approach to this.
She appears to be involved with an improvising scene in Montreal; I think her initial entry-point some time ago being through free-jazz. She runs the atrito-afeito label with another musician, the improvising drummer, Paulo J Ferreira Lopes. I think Velvet Oddities is a very impressive piece of work with a good flow throughout the course of the album. Indeed, with this many short pieces, I’m sure a lot of thought would have gone into the sequencing of tracks, which benefits the material greatly. It works very well; is very dynamic, and because of the high level of technique, a lot of it is leaning towards – or revealing the influence of – classical piano music more than it is Electro Acoustic Improvisation. But that’s no bad thing. Yeah, I like it. Edition of 100.
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Musicworks magazine #126 (Canada)
Fall 2016
Karoline Leblanc – Velvet Oddities
Leblanc runs the Atrito-Afeito imprint with Paulo J. Ferreira Lopes, and has appeared on four of the six albums issued to date on that label. Previous releases have displayed her considerable skill in sculpting sound with electronic synthesizers (Hypnagogic Cartography 1 and The Aethernauts/Dust Model for an Imperceptible Time) and in organizing large ensembles (with the Total Improvisation Troop). On Velvet Oddities we discover that she is equally talented on solo acoustic piano.
Although eleven of the nineteen pieces clock in under two minutes, while none reach the four-minute mark, fleet fingers allow Leblanc to pack a slew of notes into each number. With no time for wandering, themes are concisely stated and territories expeditiously staked out, strict discipline keeping the ideas in focus. Each track explores subtly different notions, but there is a stylistic unity that suggests an album-length suite. Left-hand bass runs and repeating melodic cells frequently hint at Cecil Taylor’s influence, but this music is more gentle and concise than Taylor’s. If the constant hanging chords and abruptly ending lines seem jarring to newcomers to the music, those more acclimatized to free-jazz piano may find that it streams with a soothing flow. The CD is ideal for early-morning contemplation or late-night decompression, as quiet mingles with disquiet. (Lawrence Joseph)
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Discorder magazine (Canada)
July 14 2016 by Dora Dubber
Karoline Leblanc – Velvet Oddities
Québec Great Karoline Leblanc’s Velvet Oddities is a series of 19 brief piano improvisations from her Montréal-based label: atrito-afeito. The LP continues Leblanc’s exploration of sonic freedom and experimentation as she produces inventive and temperate compositions.
Leblanc’s career began as a prominent classical Canadian pianist, playing several world premiers of Canadian composers throughout the ‘90s. But since 1998 Leblanc has been experimenting with traditional free jazz and unrestricted musical expression. She is less known for the result of her stylistic revolution, which is heavily improvised, flighty, protracted, and largely self-produced.
atrito-afeito, releases content made exclusively by Leblanc and Paul J Ferreira Lopes, another Montreal-based artist with a similar interest in innovative musical freedom. The label’s releases are a series of largely improvised collaborations and solo releases. Their group, Total Improvisation Troop (TIT) is self described as a “modular structure for freedom” combining visuals and traditional and contemporary sounds to redefine textual performance with expressive liberty. atrito-afeito is a self-created platform for Leblanc and Lopes to create whatever kind of content interests them, unaffected by typical industry limitations and they have used this opportunity to produce genuinely personal and original music.
Alternating between urgent chords and gentle trills, Leblanc has created a cathartic collection of improvisations in Velvet Oddities. Leblanc’s mastery of pause and suspense on her beautifully paced tracks seduces and soothes the listener. While the tracks range from five minutes to less than one, with most of the songs hovering between two and four, every piece combines dramatic interjections and consistent melodies as Leblanc trips over keys and chords on her own authentic creative odyssey. Leblanc’s position allows her creative and productive freedom and Velvet Oddities is a gratifying addition to her growing repertoire.
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Kathodik (Italy)
June 2 2016 by Marco Carcasi
Karoline Leblanc – Velvet Oddities
Diciannove brevi tracce di improvvisazione per piano di taglio cameristico/contemporaneo.
“Velvet Oddities” è una piacevole digressione rispetto alle astrazioni maggiormente elettroniche, che l’artista di Montreal ci aveva in precedenza proposto.
Attimi convulsi che paiono inarcar la schiena fino a spezzarsi, rattrappimenti e scarse pause riflessive.
Particolarmente efficace, nella sua urgenza di matrice classica/colta europea che a tratti, par assumer le sembianze di un nevrotizzato ragtime.
Una gradita sorpresa “Velvet Oddities” (poi non cosi rigida e severa come si potrebbe immaginare).
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