Pierre Bastien orchestrates his meccano marionettes on Tinkle Twang ‘n Tootle to form the charming imaginative ensemble that he’s been known for since the late 80s. 

Equal parts composer, inventor, mechanic, and performer - Bastien translates his imagination into instruments and compositions that defy any musical categories. Whether it’s preparing instruments like playing a trumpet underwater or through a kazoo, using belt-driven motors and mechanical components to perform cumbersome yet surprisingly musical operations on traditional instruments and household items, or using a fan to hit the strings of a kundi harp with flowing paper - Bastien’s love for tone, rhythm, noise and harmony is poetically reflected across his quite extensive oeuvre. 

Playful and melancholic, the sound sculptures that Bastien invents and plays with are partly inspired by the work of Raymond Roussel, a visionary French author who at the turn of the 20th century wrote a unique form of literature which inspired and guided artists from the surrealist and pataphysical movement and was declared by Michel Foucault as one of structuralism's founding fathers. On that note, the influence of literature and syntax on Bastien’s work cuts all the way through to the palindromes he uses for his track titles - which, much like his machines, infinitely loop. 

True to it’s adorable title, Tinkle Twang ‘n Tootle is a music box of unfolding whimsical structures, half broken rhythms, detuned harmonies, and fantastical sound collages that evoke a childlike sense of wonder and an urge to explore the spaces in between the sounds.

Tinkle Twang 'n Tootle

Pierre Bastien - Pet Step [from Tinkle Twang 'n Tootle]

https://linktr.ee/yellowsalamandr

Yellow Salamand'rs shelter
UNDERGROUND, they feed off the COUNTER-CULTURE, their minds have vast experi-MENTAL capacity, they search through the AVANT GARDEn, they DAMn the MAINSTREAM, and live the SURreal life. They are the “Dunning-Kruger” of their coterie. They are Illusional Engineers, Dystopian Spelunkers, Desolation Cartographers, Misanthropic Therapists, Pragmatic Escapists, Clinical Obscurists, Oxymoronic Magistrates, Elaborate Equivicators, Elevator Operators, Hallucinogenic Fungi Analysts, and Restroom Attendants, to name but a few prestigious occupations. Never underestimate the Yellow Salamand’r.

(Started making experimental music in ‘81 at 18 years old with circuit bent devices. 
Did some underground tape trading. Also made field recordings when working in a steel mill at night. (Lost all cassettes from that era.) Domestic life halted almost all artistic endeavours for many years. Along came 2013, and my world and technology had changed drastically. I started back into music using an iPhone and various technological detritus. I had shifted from lo-fi analog, to lo-fi digital. This is where I am still at nowadays. I can create unique experimental music, and yet still be satisfied with the outcome. I truly enjoy working with minimal equipment allowing me to be challenged by the limitations. (Inability is often the mother of restriction, and restriction is the great mother of inventive performance. - Holger Czukay) Even my visual art has gone from analog (painting, drawing) to digital collage. I don’t use AI and even though I think it will one day have it’s place in the art world, it just doesn’t align with my personal principles. If you enjoy esoteric, obscure, experimental sounds, I hope you enjoy some of the material provided here. If you do like my works, and are curious to discover more, go to the link at the top of this bio. It can take you in many different directions. Cheers)

wenn du zu3 Orgel verstanden hast bist du fertig 

exploratory record label publishing a wide spectrum of experimental music and visual art through timeless physical editions.

Pierre Bastien - Pet Step [from Tinkle Twang 'n Tootle]

Marionette