‘Drones and Piles’ emerged as a reinterpreted live version #13 of a composition from ‘Drones and Drolls’, with 12 previous versions first appearing on the concept album ‘Le Batteur Est Le Meilleur Ami Du Musicien’ by Piles drummer Guigou Chevenier.

Based in the French cities of Nancy and Avignon, Piles is comprised of Guigou Chevenier (Etron Fou Leloublan, Volapük), Anthony Laguerre (Filiamotsa, Club Cactus, Myotis), and Michel Deltruc (Isle-Adam 95, NAJA Nancy Jazz Action). In 2016, Chevenier had the idea for Piles to continue his musical work with experimental trio ‘Les Batteries’ between 1985 and 2000. This drum trio also involved British drummer Charles Hayward and American drummer Rick Brown. Piles’ three drummers have long and rich careers.

‘Una Volta’ is a knock-out record of eight drum sound compositions, revealing secrets of the universe that are written in light. Abstract instrumental, this collection of tracks was created by three friends who teamed up especially for this recording.

Piles’ sound is a free fall into the universe of energetic beats, rhythm, dynamics, repetition of the unexpected. It is an adventure that reveals the hidden depths of their sound spectrum of acoustic drums.

Piles’ drumming is shaped by their individual musical roads by life, architecture, landscapes, nature, politics, film, art, dance and theater. By seeing and hearing the rhythm in all that surrounds us. Taking inspiration from krautrock, free jazz, and improv, they are also influenced by Can, Dave Grohl, Arvo Part, Drumbo (of Captain Beefheart), Robert Wyatt, Abe Cunningham, Jimmy Chamberlain, Jon Theodore, Joe Baron and many others.

Piles ‘Una Volta’ CD is accompanied by a 32-page booklet based on the graphic stop-motion video ‘Drones and Piles’, created by graphic artist Bas Mantel. The visuals were created to the music in the same way the scenes of Eisenstein’s1938 film ‘Alexandre Nevski’ was directed totally based on the rhythm of the music of Sergei Prokofiev.

The rhythmic and fragmentary style of the black and white images exposes the art of dance with Lettraset, dots-dots-dots, molecules transmitting life and death, cells constructing shapes and graphic radiowaves translated into frequencies and velocity, repetition in electromagnetic patterns, and the isolation of getting lost in outer space.

Like Piles’ drum-based sound, these graphic designs are frightening, direct, loud/quiet, raw, layered, fragmentary, abstract and experimental. REV. Lab founder Bas Mantel felt Piles would be a perfect fit for the REV. Lab. series, released jointly with Aagoo Records.

‘Una Volta’ is a limited release of 300 copies, including a CD with book carefully packed in a semi-transparent glassine bag. As of September 21, it will be available via online stores and streaming platforms, but can already be ordered from Aagoo Records’ website and digitally via Bandcamp.

LINKS:
http://www.revlaboratories.com
https://www.facebook.com/revlabrecords
https://revlabrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.soundcloud.com/revlab
https://www.vimeo.com/revlab
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCorO-e4Y06ICQ67dhV6LsNA