Bell System, by Les Batteries

Bell System

by Les Batteries

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
from the original Rift Records pressing of (we think) 1000 copies

[please note, Rift Records no longer exists and the label address on the CD is no longer in effect. But the (snail mail) addresses for Rick and Guigou are still current!]

Includes unlimited streaming of Bell System via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Sure Fire 02:05		buy track
2.	Dummy Up 02:26	lyrics	buy track
Come on along and be and be reprogrammed. Scoot along and dummy up! I was taught to cross the street like a seeing-eye dog. Come on along and dummy up! Come on along and be and be reprogrammed. Scoot along and dummy up!
3.	Casanova 02:17		buy track
4.	Horizon Carré 02:38		buy track
5.	Resignation 01:49	lyrics	buy track
Files and files of paper-chain reactions. Nowhere, man, nowhere. I've gone along for the ride. I'm fed up, turnin' back, 175° Nowhere, man, nowhere. I'm fed up, turnin' back, 175°
6.	Le Vent à la Crête des Vagues 02:19	lyrics	buy track
L'ordre crée du désordre Les nébuleuses le savent Le vent à la crête des vagues, le dit Le désordre crée de l'ordre Chaque grain de sable de la dune le sent Les fourmis pensent autrement et les hommes aussi Pas de hasard, clament-ils. Rien de nébuleux, Les remparts, les hiérarchies Pas de faiblesse, La protection de la fourmilière La lutte contre l'extérieur Et le grain de sable, hum ? A quoi pense-t-il lorsqu'il bloque la machine ? [Order creates disorder. The nebulae know that. The wind at the crest of the waves, says so. Disorder creates order. Every grain of sand on the dune feels it. The ants think differently, and men, too… No coincidence, they claim. Nothing nebulous, Ramparts, hierarchies, no weakness… The protection of the anthill. The struggle against the outside. And the grain of sand, huh? What’s he thinking, while he clogs the machine?]
7.	Giugno 03:24		buy track
8.	Eel 03:54		buy track
9.	Cooked 02:39		buy track
10.	Faux Pas Aigre-Doux 03:31	lyrics	buy track
Slow down. Make your false moves here. Don't keep moving, make your false moves here. I can't say, but I can say I don't know. I'll call you back. (no, you call me back!) Don't keep moving, make your false moves here. Make your false moves here, a bittersweet dead end...
11.	Stop Those Ideas (live) 02:01		buy track

about

A NOTE ABOUT THE PROCEEDS: All income from the online sales of CDs or digital downloads of _Bell System_ will be donated to an organization in Avignon, France working to aid refugees. Guigou is part of the association and we are pleased to contribute in this way. See below for Guigou's description of Rosmerta and the work to create LA MAISON DE ROSMERTA:

"We created Rosmerta in December 2018 because none of the local political or social structures did what they should do to welcome refugees in Avignon.

That December we decided to squat an old religious school, empty for 3 years, and to date we have welcomed roughly 60 refugees - taking care of them on all subjects (health, education, justice forms and applications, food, lodging etc.)

Most of the people we take care of are young boys aged less than 18 years, coming from west Africa (mostly Guinee, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal). But also some families with kids (from west Africa but also Punjab, Albania, Georgia etc.)

Rosmerta has more than 3000 members, with about 50 active volunteers working on different subjects and commissions (education, health, communication, legal matters, contacts with different foundations etc.)

Last May we started a big campaign to raise money to buy a house - and because of a large citizen engagement, we collected 488,000 euros in 3 months !

On August 28, Rosmerta became the owner of a large house and we’ll move in soon, but we still need funding to do all the renovations of the building."
``````````````
Read more about the project (and practice your French comprehension) here: rosmerta-avignon.fr

you can make further contributions here:
www.helloasso.com/associations/rosmerta/formulaires/4/en
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Bell System_ is the third full-length release ('98) by Les Batteries (preceded by _Noisy Champs_ in '86 and _Démesure Révolutionnaire_ in '91).

'As rock drummers go, these two are among the few originals, using the entire kit and winding through endless arrangements, by turns funky or swinging or martial or mathematically tricky or clobbering. The on-and-off 10-year-old partnership has just been re-established, with a new album, ''Bell System,'' on Rift records' - Ben Ratliff in the NYTimes September 11, 1998

"On their long-delayed third album, Bell System (Rift)–most of which was recorded at Chicago’s Idful Music with John McEntire more than three years ago–the bicontinental percussion duo Les Batteries continues to flout expectations. Together New Yorker Rick Brown (Run On, Timber, Fish & Roses) and Frenchman Guigou Chenevier (Volapuk, Etron Fou) take concise but eventful journeys without resorting to brainless funk, drum-circle trippiness, or sterile academicism for narrative help. Their compositions are so polyrhythmically complex that collisions often seem inevitable, but the pieces are fitted together like Swiss watch parts–so tightly that at the end of a tune you may find yourself exhaling in relief. The percussive onslaught is abetted by staticky electronics, sing-songy sax lines, zigzag keyboard riffs, and spoken word that’s sometimes conversational (“Resignation”) and sometimes hysterical (“Le Vent a la Crete des Vagues”), but the drums are always in control. - Peter Margasak in the Chicago Reader September 17, 1998

credits

released November 4, 2022

Produced by Rick Brown, Guigou Chenevier and John McEntire
Engineered by John McEntire

Guigou: drums, drums, organ, pads, saxophone, switch, saxophone, vocal & lyrics, drum loop, sequence, drums, percussion, drums, pads, percussion, drums, percussion, original concept and raw sounds (bass, sax, acoustic guitar & organ), drums, switch, percussion, Casio SK-5 device

Rick: drums, drums, Oberheim Cyclone program, drums, pads, vocal & lyrics, synth programs, drums, marimba, raw sounds (piano, guitar, marimba & train whistle), drums, sequence, drums, vocal & lyrics, Oberheim Cyclone program, drums, caca-phone, vocal & lyrics, synthesizer, tape, drums

Doug McCombs: bass on "Resignation"

Recorded March 1995 and June 1996

"Stop Those Ideas" recorded in Bern sometime in the '90s (don't blame John)

Mastered by Chris Stamey at Modern Recording

Photos by Tony Cenicola and Sue Garner, layout by Sue

Super Profound "Thanks" to: John, Sue, Doug, Chris, Sophie Jausserand, Rich Brown, Evan Gallagher, Michael Evans, Chris Nelson, Dominique Diebold, Charles Hayward, Yael Routtenberg, Steve Shelley, James McNew, Brad Wood, James Bond, residents of Tortoise Home for Wayward Percussionists, Thurston Moore, Byron Coley, Peter Margasak, Tim Adams

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about

brownout's passed New York, New York

Rick Brown is the plywood crate guy in 75 Dollar Bill. He's been in bands before...

Fish & Roses
V-Effect
Les Batteries
Timber
Run On
Blinding Headache
Information
Red, Dark, Sweet
Rattle (not the UK one)
Love Layers ... more

Recommendations

discography

Bell System

Nov 2022
Parts and Labor

Feb 2023
Dear John

Sep 2022
Xmas Trips

Dec 2022
Stop Those Songs

Oct 2022
TAPE #1

Dec 2023

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