
sylvie's musicals projects and collaborations
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musicals projects and collaborations

text by: JKH

 

H O R U S   7   (sylvie bourgouin)

 

horus 7 is not principally focused on any particular artform, but rather in a multiplicity of activities ranging from music, visual arts, interactive theater, cinema, research projects, multimedia, the presentation of various sorts of happenings, but above all on concepts and ideas. it was on the basis of certain shared notions that collaboration began between horus 7 and dystonia.

 
the name originates from ongoing historical research on the predynastic and possibly antediluvian shemsu hor, or followers of horus, rumored to have arrived in the nile valley in remote times and to have brought knowledge and civilisation to the people there (and who have, sadly, become the property of hundreds of flaky new age cults due to neglect by the orthodox archaeological community) as well as a personal affinity with the horus current itself.
 

the primary concern is the nature of eternity. an exploration to find the sources of consciousness outside of time, where we originate and return without ever really leaving. there are forces in the universe that sometimes break into peoples lives without warning, overturning completely their perception of and approach to 'reality'. this is not generally an easy experience, and communicating about it obviously poses problems as well. in this respect, horus 7's work can be seen as an attempt to integrate, understand, and learn, stemming from the belief that the manifested universe is a kind of byproduct of something unimaginably larger. next to this, everyday reality seems as insubstantial as a dream.this has nothing to do with any kind of religious idea.

  

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L E S   D I S E C T O M I E S   D E   L A   R A C I N E   D U   M A L

 


les disectomies de la racine du mal is a personal project by horus 7 with technical support and sound collage by angelicate, and was not originally intended for release in any form. the work is broken down into four parts.

 
anatomie grew out of increasing outrage at the injustices of religion in general and the roman catholic church in particular. even for non-christians, the moral, ethical, existential and even legal aspects of our society and our thinking all come back to dogmatic notions that were systematically seeded in and forced on people for many centuries. in the process, the christian creed was distorted beyond recognition as the central ideas were gradually reworked for political rather than spiritual purposes. les disectomies begins from this starting point with a kind of auto-exorcism of the twin christian demons of guilt and shame.

 
appendice 1 cross-references the languages of religion, books and anatomy in a series of complex relations: the soul and the word strapped to the operating table of the consciousness, where the operation is performed on the living text of the self to restore it to its complete and unexpurgated state.



appendice 2 is a reinterpretation of the appendice 1 text by angelicate, observed by horus, who added the heavy artillery at the finish.


hymne simple par-deçà le voile de l'abime is based on horus's personal experiences, and is the most important part of this work because of this. it is intended to be like a journey back to the source of consciousness, each episode of this piece embodies a complex interaction between different levels of being, played out like operatic movements, leading ultimately to the reintegration into the primordial state.

 

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M A R C H   1 9 N O W H E R E

 

a joint venture conceived by horus 7 and executed in collaboration with annihilist, march 19nowhere unfolded as an exploration of time and memory, and should be regarded as a piece of cinema without visuals. the screen is blank at first, then fades up to an old man in a grey, desolate field. he stops, listening to the wind, and the memories come. the piece focuses on the war years of 1939-45. It is not primarily intended to be documentary, but rather looks at the events from a purely subjective interior view, expressed through organic fragments of nostalgia, hope, fear and trauma. the question was not 'what happened' or 'why did it happen', but 'how did it feel?' despite the numerous soundworks that have explored the two world wars, particularly in the last decade, we felt that the human dimension had never really been adequately explored. in terms of sound and content, this project was very far removed from anything either of us had done before, and certainly amongst the most technically complex, involving months of reading and sound research.

 

D I S C O G R A P H Y

 

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HORUS 7 / ANNIHILIST :: march 19nowhere :: cd :: dystonia 34 :: 2000

 

HORUS 7 / ANGELICATE :: les disectomies de la racine du mal :: cd :: dystonia 33 :: 2000

 

THE TERRIBLE DR.Y / CHERRY 2000 :: the rise and fall of h-ivy :: cd :: eins zwei drei :: 1998

 

KHOL :: blackout :: k7/cd :: RI011 :: 1998

 




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Some comments on Sylvie's musical tastes
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by Dr. J.K.Hamilton

 

In the general picture of Sylvie's musical tastes, there are several consistent elements that resurface almost constantly, in terms of sound content.

 

1. Futurism.

Manifested in an attraction to mechanically sequenced synthesisers, vocoded or heavily compressed/filtered voices, and strict quantization in any rhythmic elements.

A certain tendency toward a Germanic/militaristic or clinical style is evident, but interpreted very strictly within certain limits of style.

 

2. Energy.

This has to be expressed in very precise terms - generally in the style of the rhythm (almost invariably in the type of 8th-note bar divisions popularised in the 1960's).

Energy should be built up in stages, with transitions elevating the level as the piece continues.

 

3. Emotion.

Outside of the preferred 'futurist' style, Sylvie's music is often characterised by a strong emotional resonance.

 

4. Melody.

Sylvie's preferred melodies are generally 'naive' in the sense of being simple, strong, and clear, often with an anthemic quality.

 

5. Atmosphere.

Sylvie has a pronounced preference for atmospheres that suggest a panoramic view of one type or another, especially if the piece builds up and then 'opens' into a wider space.

 

6. Associations.

One constant in Sylvie's musical taste is that each piece has strong personal associations of some sort, sometimes evoking a certain feeling, sometimes a memory, sometimes an image or series of images, most frequently in an imagined historical past or hypothetical future.

 

Above all, the function of music for Sylvie seems to be as a kind of voyage into a series of images or feelings associated with the music. The music acts as a doorway into another reality, whether remembered or hypothetical.

 

In terms of style, Sylvie's music breaks down into two main streams, with a few minor lines in parallel:

 

Category 1. Concise, rhythmic, highly structured music constructed in a 'pop' framework within certain parameters, but generally sharing a 60's surf/garage derived rhythmic cadence.

 

Category 2. Religious and classically-derived musics, generally emerging from the music of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, and classical vocal music with a 'religious' or sacred feeling.In addition, there is a smaller but significant attraction to sacred music of other cultures (Buddhist, Amerindian, and above all Arabic). Traces of these elements can often be found in aspects of music falling into categories 1 and 2.

 

It should be pointed out that Sylvie's taste cannot be defined in terms of strict genre lines, but crosses several genres without being bound to any in particular.

 

Category 1 is very broad, taking in aspects of surf and garage from the 60's, punk and post-punk, new wave, and the electropop sounds of the late 1970's and 1980's. That is not to say that Sylvie likes everything that comes from these genres - they are really just signposts indicating certain stylistic characteristics.

In terms of the 1960's influences, the most prominent is the rhythmic style - most newer music in this category that Sylvie likes uses rhythms derived from the 60's beat groups. The use of cymbals and hi-hats is important, preferably hammering out the 8th-note divisions. The accent should be on the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar (on the snare drum). A taste for this is evident in Sylvie's musical selections up to and including the 1980s. Surf-derived guitar sounds are also very appreciated - the very reverbed, twangy, high-treble sound of the Telecaster, for example. There is also an evident liking for a certain genre of French girl singer - generally the obscure ones rather than the stars - of the ingenue variety. Also, certain influences, particulary eastern, found in psychedelia.

On the surface, the love of 80's futurism so evident in Sylvie's music seems unconnected with these 1960's influences, but a closer look reveals common elements - the driving, metronomic rhythms, clear melodic structures and energetic approach are present everywhere.

 

Category 2 is both more focused in its scope and deeper in its associations. Sylvie's attraction to sacred music, particularly choral music, seems to lie in the concept of mystery that is central to this sort of music - the idea of entering into and being surrounded by this mystery. Sylvie's religious music tends toward more ancient forms of choral chant - Eastern Orthodox in particular, but also contemporary compositions that borrow from older forms and add to them while retaining the sense of ancient mystery. This can include religiously-themed works from the avant-garde, particularly music that veers from haunting beauty to punctuations of grave, apocalyptic atonality. It can also be extended, in rare cases, to electroacoustic sound, though not of the overly academic variety. In terms of classical music, which is the smaller part proportionally, there is an evident liking for slow, melancholic violin or piano compositions. Pure orchestral music is rare in Sylvie's repertoire, and tends to be quite strident and anthemic, tending toward a preference for composers from Eastern Europe, and a distaste for the theatrical and romantic excesses of the Western classical tradition.

 

The Non-western influence comes mainly from the music of the Arab world and middle-east, particularly the percussion and female voice. And, as mentioned above, religious music, largely vocal, from Tibet and the Amerindian cultures of North America.

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