Words and remedies

The good thing in favour of the Greek alphabet, compared to our incurable optimism, is that it is not infinite. While we hope that the virus does not go so far as to run short of the 24 letters, we are rearranging our alphabet to build firewalls, to move upward, to play, to draw the lines of the worlds we choose to dwell in and to carry on searching their meaning.

Thus, it is muffled in poetry and literature, covered in writings and readings, that the year begins.

‘Yet a single sound, a single scent, already heard or breathed long ago, may once again be (…), as soon as the permanent and habitually hidden essence of things is liberated.’ *

To start with, the continuation of the musical work in progress for the awesome Salon Proust* by Véronique Aubouy with Jacques Bonnaffé, Alexandre Costanzo, Zoé Chalaux, Stephen Loye and the percussionists Lucie Delmas and Lou Renaud-Bailly, to be soon played on stage.

‘Sharpened notes to gently slip through the net.’*

In Cherbourg on the 14th, because Les poètes n’hibernent pas, a new collaboration will begin with the writer, poet and amazing chiseller of aether Laure Gauthier*, for a reading & concert event under the guidance of the Factorie at the art gallery La Bouée.

‘All you need to do is let memories come back and imagine what you don’t know.’*

In Thionville, the ‘Face à la mère‘ words by Jean-René Lemoine*, staged by Alexandra Tobelaim and acted by two power trios, the actors Stéphane Brouleaux, Geoffrey Mandon and Olivier Veillon and the musicians Yoann Buffeteau, Vincent Ferrand and Lionel Laquerrière, will be played again at the NEST from the 23rd to the 28th.

On other stages, words will be suspended but strange pulsing voices might be heard in ‘Ersatz’ by Julien Mellano from the 18th to the 20th in Lyon, quantum choirs in his ‘Supergravité’ on the 25th in Meylan or ballets of resonant photons in ‘Acqua Alta’ by Adrien M & Claire B from the 7th to the 9th in Sceaux, on the 12th in Fougères, the 15th in Douvres-la-Délivrande, the 20th and 21st in Montbéliard and from the 27th to the 29th in Metz while ‘CORE’ in on up to April 7th in Montréal at the Oasis Immersion.

‘Fear of a female planet? Fear, baby! I just want you to know that we can still be friends.‘*

In April 2019 in Bucharest, I recorded the score of ‘Simple Women’, the Italo-Romanian full-length film by Chiara Malta, a tribute to the 90’s cult-movie ‘Simple Men’ by Hal Hartley and to the iconic Elina Löwensohn. The film is not (yet) released in France but the digital score will be available from the 28th. Electricity, guitars, Valentina Magaletti’s drums and ‘Kool Thing’ by Sonic Youth* for the eye of the storm. After ‘The Girl without Hands’, ‘Jamais Contente’ and ‘Paradise’ and before ‘Pollock & Pollock’, that will be my fourth soundtrack at Plaza Major Company, faithful distributor of my film music.

As we’re speaking about images, here is another gift by friend John Trap who has just climbed the soft side of NO&RD to give us that disconcerting short-thriller for the Reammo.

‘Having confidence in the return of some spring, our target is that single point in the distance, a peaceful layout that will be worth for its quest and nothing else…’*

Month will end at the end of the land, in Brest, where we will record the voices for my upcoming book ‘Exprosion/Improsion’* that will be released in a musical pack along its printed copy, with deluxe readers Carlo Brandt, Claire ingrid Cottanceau, Clara Ysé and the Cie Catalyse.

Even if words won’t stop the pandemic, let’s work for having them be shields against obscurantisms, as well as allies of nuances, they will always have the capacity to open up horizons. Let’s wish that this nth wave be a last stand and that the bad dream wears away with the lowercase o whereas our Optimism is written with an uppercase O. An omega to which we will have to cling very firmly.

Happy New Year.

Olivier Mellano