Pancrace – Papotier 2LP

Pre-Order. Out early November.

“Free the organ from its dependence on the church and remove it from its sacred immobility.”

“…a phenomenological approach that involves experiencing the limits of sound objects.” – Pancrace Manifesto

“The talented Pancrace ensemble reminds me of David Munrow and the Early Music Consort.” – Charles Curtis

Music for spatialized midi controlled pipe organ “Organous”, Silbermann pipe organ (1778), Voices, Bird Calls, Baroque Violin, Rattles, Ventilators, Whistles, Uilleann Pipes, Gaïda, Sheng, Rhombus, Pouet-Pouet, Pi Synth, Kastle Synth and AM radio.

Pancrace is an ensemble comprising French, British and Austrian performers. The members being Prune Bécheau, Arden Day, Julien Desailly, Léo Maurel and Jan Vysocky.

Pancrace has “a unique, fully formed vision that combines improvisation, composition, eclectic instrumentation and a church’s massive pipe organ” (Sarah Hennies).

Pancrace’s latest double LP “Papotier” is the third panel of a tryptic after “Pancrace” (2017) and “Fluid Hammer” (2019). The ensemble knew at some point from their previous LP they would have to go back to church and repent confronting a Silbermann 18th century baroque organ with their custom made modular midi pipe organ : the “Organous”.

After nearly 18 months of lockdown the quintet finally met in Bouxwiller Alsace a few miles away from Dangolsheim where Pancrace first formed in 2015. During a residency Pancrace had full access to the Protestant church with its humongous Silbermann pipe organ famous for its “human voice” stop. Ironically the album title “Papotier” came up before the covid era. Ironic because a “papotier” is a mask or to be very specific a grotesque face carved in wood, initially rigged to the lower part of the organ casing. There are only very few of these fancy oddities left in France and around the world.

After months of feeling gagged during lockdown, having a “papotier” as an amulet was somewhat liberating and greatly contributed to opening up the Pancrace sessions to the exploration of human voice. Relearning how to breathe, listening to the human membrane, questioning the nature of air all within the confined space of a 14th century church were the essential acts that compose the pieces. One can consider this album as a phenomenological investigation into voice articulation trying to emulate the birth of a vocable like von Kempelen’s speaking machine who also used rudimentary organ modules to mimic human babbling. Essentially understanding what a mouth is to us to the point where, when all the pipes are blowing, they make a hell of a noise.

Le Temps (March 2022)
“…the organ is hijacked and transformed into a pure generator of vibrations.”

“Their albums released on Penultimate Press navigate between music and ethnographic investigation…”

“You’re struck both by its straightforward beauty and by the open-mindedness that comes with the desire for sound research…”

“…the organ produces unheard-of sounds that give rise to a whole range of experiences – enigmatic harmonies, fragments of elegiac poetry, fleeting and hacked resurrections of ancient modes and worlds.”

Artforum (2019 about Fluid Hammer)
“Pancrace appeared suddenly two years ago with a unique, fully formed vision that combined improvisation, composition, eclectic instrumentation, and a church’s massive pipe organ.”
Sarah Hennies

The Wire (November 2019)
“…this is a vision of music as mad science.”

Boring Like A Drill (September 2019)
“Pancrace simultaneously recalls Ligeti’s mechanical pieces, folk music from some remote region of Europe, and a rediscovered archive of tapes by some obscure outsider artist – all while resembling nothing like anything you’ve ever heard before. The sound is delightfully baffling, like discovering an entirely new, alien culture.”

“When so many artists are tempted to tack on a ‘meaning’ to their work, The Fluid Hammer effortlessly raises questions about art relating to society, meshing the past with the future, and meta-commentary on the creative process and labour, all embodied in the medium of fun, intriguing music. A remarkable achievement.”

The Drone (April 2019)
“In this collective plunge into the heart of the sound factory, the rubbing of strings, the jangling of keys and all manner of microtonal impurities acquire the status of a major event, capable of changing the way things go.”