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2013 release. Cacophonic presents Instruments Non-Électronique, a collection of the earliest recordings by the French sound sculpture musicians known as Structures Sonores Lasry-Baschet. These recordings feature the first fruits of the collaboration between the beguiling and haunting sounds of Jacques and Yvonne Lasry and the musical inventions of Bernard and François Baschet. The Baschet brothers' instruments incorporated metal bars, steel rods, balloons, crystal stems, and were totally independent of electronic components or equipment, sidestepping the celebrated trends in tape manipulation and musique concrète. The instruments were played using horsehair bows and wet glass rods, which caused the tubes and metal surfaces to resonate, the amplification was produced by the movement of vibrating rods embedded in fixed plates, and the timbre could be modified by altering the sizes of the resonators. By the early '50s, the brothers had invented a series of large, visually striking sculpture-like instruments that could be used by anyone, regardless of any formal musical training. These instruments combined crystal, water, and steel to create a unique, delicate, and haunting sound. A chance meeting in 1954 with Jacques and Yvonne Lasry, two enthusiastic piano-based musicians, led to the formation of the Structures Sonores Lasry-Baschet ensemble. This collection of early recordings includes tracks from a 1957 single on Ducretet Thomson credited to Jacques Lasry/François Baschet and titled L'orgue de Cristal et les Percussions, and presented with a pop-political, almost anti-musique concrète disclaimer, "Instruments Non-Électroniques." The collection also features two notable ballet pieces from 1959: "Jeux d'Ombres" and "Ballet du Soho," as well as the rare soundtrack to J. Willemetz's film L'Atomium, made for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Many of these inclusions also feature performances from the group's regular collaborators, such as clarinetist Roger Simon (Music de Wolfe, Chappell), vocalist Lucie Rapp, and composers and percussionists Daniel Ouzounoff and Jacques Chollet. Also included in this compilation are tracks from 1962's Mister Blues, featuring the first recordings of Jacques Lasry's son, Teddy Lasry, who, at age 15, joined the group as its clarinet player, and would go on to contribute to Magma's signature cosmic military brass arrangements. This compilation presents Structures Sonores Lasry-Baschet in its very earliest vinyl appearances, a window into the origins of one of the greatest unions in experimental French music.
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