After two digital compilations released in 2017 and 2018, the Fair_Play network, in association with the Tsuku Boshi label, is this time releasing an album based on a clear and simple concept: four artists have been asked to provide the sound inspirations behind all the tracks, in the form of a sound bank. In addition to this simple principle, which unites all the tracks, it is freedom above all else that is the watchword of this highly successful project.

Freedom of source, first and foremost, for the four female composers who provided the sounds. In fact, there were no imperatives or rules, and the artistic personality and sensibility of each of them can be clearly felt in the sounds they made available to the other participants: the separate tracks of Laryssa Kim's "Love Them All", a cross between electro and pop/soul warmth; Carol Robinson 's sensual clarinet melodic lines and electroacoustic treatments; Sage Pbbbt 's percussion and guttural vocals; and Zineb Soulaimani's broad corpus of electronic sounds, natural outdoor sounds and radio interviews. They were also free to choose whether or not to compose a piece to join the ensemble.

Freedom of aesthetics on the album, too, based on a principle of co-optation. Each of the protagonists - Tsuku Boshi, Fair_Play and the four artists - was asked to invite ten potential artists to join the project. In the end, some thirty female musicians answered the call. They were able to do so according to their own wishes, either by remixing, reusing, distorting, hijacking or even mixing the banks provided with their own sounds, with the sole constraint of not exceeding eight minutes. The result is a work of great diversity of approach, based on a number of distinct styles and sound worlds.

However, the reference to a common sound bank and, perhaps, also an energy specific to the emulating magic that can emanate from a project, gives it a certain unity on hearing. Indeed, we felt a certain je-ne-sais-quoi running through the tracks, of the order of ritual and trance, as well as an atmospheric flavor, based in particular on frequent wide reverberated sonorities. This is music that takes the time to express itself and to get to the heart of things, to the essentiality of sounds. No matter how diverse the tracks, from pop to experimental, we feel we're entering the same world.

It would be impossible to list all 32 tracks here, which add up to almost three hours of music. Let's make it clear from the outset that the few subjective choices we've made to highlight the album are in no way based on judgments about the quality of the tracks on the album, all of which would amply deserve our attention, but solely on the need for conciseness in a review article. Each listener can easily make his or her own personal selection from this fertile musical jungle. But since we have to choose, we've chosen among others the Laryssa Kim remix by Brussels artist ++juanitaa++, "xx Love Mall xx (bb Don't You Leave me Unfolded)" (1), for the juxtaposition of the soaring softness of electronic sounds with the roughness of a saturated breakcore rhythm, an effect we particularly appreciate:

the fruitful collaboration between Carol Robinson and the formidable double bassist, singer and improviser Elise Dabrowski, "The Again-ness", like the impression of hearing the earth quiver (3):

Chra's fascinating dark ambient, setting the mood for "Die Magie des Klangs" (4); Catherine Robin's repetitive, hypnotic work on "Elle s'ensuivit" (7); the refined pop of Fleur's "Disruption.2" (13); Méryll Ampe' s excited saturations and crackles on "No Real" (21):

the mysterious, timeless ritual of Sage Pbbbt's "Null Zone" (24); Aline Clair's sumptuous atmospheres structuring "Tremo" (26), which concludes with the meditative ecstasy of a drone:

or the rich jukebox of personalized rereadings offered by Trinh Lo in "Tangentes" (27).

This album marks the beginning of a collaboration between Fair_Play and Tsuku Boshi, which will continue with "splits" between the two artists on 20-minute tracks. Adding to the success of this project is the magnificent illustration chosen by artist Jonathan Gillie, which provides a beautiful visual backdrop to the whole. Inclusives is a unifying project, and we're definitely on board!

Guillaume Kosmicki