Bakan Musics In The Margin

Bôkan! Is second volume in Sub Rosa's Musics in the Margin series, showing the particular and complex relationships in the creative process as a fundamental characteristic of outsider art. This CD, a second opus of musical art brut, has been produced as part of the music workshops at the French school and institute, La Porte Ouverte. During part of a workshop, youngsters are given access to a microphone, percussion, guitar, piano, and other instruments - a musical exposure that is very often occurring in their life for the first time. They quickly make these music implements their own, using them in surprising ways. Slowly, artists emerge and truly musical personas are built as recording sessions progress. Over weeks, years, with every workshop, a monstrous pile of material accrues, hours upon hours of recordings featuring residents wholeheartedly diving into a journey of sound. A work on voice, with voices. Crazy, raucous, unreleased covers, melodies made out of raw soul - these recordings undoubtedly hold a few invaluable gems, testifying to these moments when, turned on to music and their instruments, the youngsters inhabit a soothing project, away from aggressiveness and violence. Sometimes it took a day of work to produce some of these pieces, but usually the live takes were left alone, with no additional work. However, some people close to the organization have obtained copies of workshop recordings and were able to work on them and develop electronic versions. A striking experience if there ever was one - full of surprises, mysteries, and meetings, Bôkan! Is an excerpt, a trace, a marker of a destabilizing yet stimulating musical experience, an endearing record because it was produced under very special conditions, with very unique young people.