For electronic and experimental work you might want to check out the OUMUPO series (OUvroir de MUsiques POtentielles - Workshop for potential music). The first one is by the THIRD EYE FOUNDATION (Matt Elliott). The idea for the series is based on the ideas of a bunch of old French surrealists who came up with something similar in the '60s, but then with literature (Oulipo - Ouvroir de littÃÆÃâÃâérature potentielle). With their CD's comes a comic, made by an unknown but promosing artist, to guide you trough the CD's. The music of the first OUMUPO CD is quite heavy. It's not something you put on every moment of the day, or something you listen while you're at the computer. This is pure for listening to music, you'll need all your attention. Especially the first few tracks on the CD are very heavy, tragic and nostalgic tones, but oh so beautiful. I got the CD in last week, and if you like experimental work you should deff. check this out. :) Oh, the cover book says how the artists must work: 1. The potential music reservoir is the Ici d'ailleures Collection, and 0101 is its electronic division. The basic framework for each piece will therefore be sought in the Ici d'ailleures/0101 Catalogue. The composer must set out to appropriate the titles in this catalogue for himself, turning them to his advantage and adding whatever he deems necessary. All sampls must be free of copyright or communicated to the Label for copyright clearance. 2. A passage no shorten than thirty seconds must be chosen to appear twice on the album. This passage must play the role of a theme or slogan, be it remixed or not, and must be in harmony with the album as a whole. 3. The exercise must last forty-two minutes. 4. The end of the album must lead into the beginning thus enabling it to be listened to in a loop. 5. No more than two pieces form one album in the catalogue may be chosen. If the composer wishes to use a second, it must be at least two tracks distant from the first. 6. The composer must use the works of more than five artists on the Label. 7. The Composter freely chooses his own constrant and must declare what it is. 8. The composer will refrain from using the lyrics of Dominique Petitgand out of their musical context and will consider their use as a jingle or equivalent gimmick as a pitfall wisely to be avoided. Their use must extend to twenty seconds at the very least. [edit] I copy pasted this from the 0101 website: Ici d'ailleursÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâæ is proud to present its OuMuPo collection. Several DJ's and electronic music composers have been offered to remix the whole label catalog. But there is a twist. They have to comply with constraints issued in the Ici d'ailleurs Charter. OuMuPo is the French shortname for "OUvroir de MUsiques Potentielles", i.e. Workshop for Potential Musics. It is one of the many artistic movements derived from surrealist Raymond Queneau and FranÃÆÃâÃâçois le Lionnais' 1960 OuLiPo (Workshop for Potential Literatures). At the time they aimed at putting together words and letters and following new rules to compose new works. This principle has inspired a lot of creators, especially in music, but also in comic strips. That's how OuBaPo was born in 1992 (Workshop for Potential Comics, BA stands for the French "bandes dessinÃÆÃâÃâées") with such illustrators as Jean-Christophe Menu, Etienne LÃÆÃâÃâécroart, Jochen Gerner, FranÃÆÃâÃâçois Ayroles, Anne Baraou, Gilles Ciment, Thierry Groensteen, Killoffer, Lewis Trondheim ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâæ Ici d'ailleursÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâæ is fond of OuBaPo and combination of styles. That's why they have asked one of the OuBaPo movement leader, Jean-Christophe Menu, to join the project and be in charge of its graphic aspects. He is a founder member of l'Association, an independent publishing society which gave a fresh impetus to French comic strips. And the result is a totally new 16 pages comic book which comes along on top of each OuMuPo album, each time drawn by a different cartoonist. Again, these comics are ruled by a Charter to spice up the game. Still to come, such great names as The Third Eye Foundation, Rubin Steiner, DJ Hide, DJ Krush ... will be confronted with Ici d'ailleurs' rules of the game, for exciting Oumupo albums! Neither DVDs nor hybrid CDs here, but a carefully produced boxed set, for a true original adventure: fun, experiments and a creative competitive spirit. http://www.oumupo.com/ :)
