When Charles reached out to Astral about doing a release for him I was absolutely floored! As many in the tape culture world, I have a lot of Charles Barabé tapes and they are all amazing. However, I wasn't so sure how exactly it would fit into the world of Astral Spirits...and per Charles' own words in an initial email: "The recordings I've sent you are something like a new turn in my work... and it's quite different from what I release in the past... well, you'll see..."
Indeed I did. With "De la fragilité" Barabé incorporates a much broader scope in terms of the entire album acting as a symphony of sorts. Incorporating 6 mouvements that range from musique concrete, minimalism (and not necessarily in the repetitive sort of way), even "mouvement III" stretches into moments of Kenneth Gaburo-esque uses of voices and electronics. And to put it in less wordy terms, just put the album on and let it play, time will dissipate as the sounds unfold ever so patiently and slowly.
Without getting too much into references, Barabé has indeed made a "new turn" with "De la fragilité." To me it stands as an extremely bold and important statement in Barabé's discography. I hope you feel so as well. More than anything it's just an incredibly beautiful album...well, you'll see...
1. Mouvement I 10:09
2. Mouvement II 03:46
3. Mouvement III 07:45
4. Mouvement IV 05:55
5. Mouvement V 13:53
6. Mouvement VI 01:10
