Skip to content
Paris Transatlantic

“… really packs a punch. It positively pounds!”

Some music can be truly characterized as striking. Alain Thibault’s new album Volt, brought to us by Canadian publisher empreintes DIGITALes, really packs a punch. It positively pounds!

The opening piece, Concerto pour piano MIDI, follows the classical concerto schema, but the computer driven synthesizers and sequencers drive us into a decidedly contemporary space. Jacques Drouin does an admirable job of sticking with what Thibault himself describes as “the nightmarish precision of tape.”

Originally published by Paris Transatlantic.Read the full review on Paris Transatlantic

17 other reviews

Circuit

“Alain Thibault Volt: Concerto pour piano MIDI, Jacques Drouin, piano; Le soleil et l’acier, Pauline Vaillancourt, soprano; OUT; ELVIS (Électro-lux, vertige illimité synthétique) Quatuor de saxophones de Montréal, arrangement de Walter Boudreau La réponse nord-américaine aux deux disques précédents, qui s’inscrivent plutôt dans la mouvance électrocacoustique européenne, est apportée par Volt, le di”

Vital Weekly

“It was a surprise to listen to Thibault’s cd. Whereas the music of the other cd’s was based on soundscape, on Volt we hear something quite different.”

Splendid E-Zine

“If the whole electroacoustic thing seems a little too pointy-headed to you, this is the disc that’ll show you how wrong you are.”

Keyboard

“Alain Thibault: If the name doesn’t ring a bell, it should. Co-winner of Keyboards first Reader Tape Contest (Feb ’86), Thibault focuses on a more rhythmic ancl accessible, less haughty musical feeling.”

Online Digital Music Review

“One of a series of discs from Canada’s DIFFUSION i MéDIA, the organization behind the empreintes DIGITALes label. The basic thrust of the two recent series is the continued exploration of sound via electronics, and an effort to bring real electronic music into the present day.”

SOCAN — Canadian Composer

“Alain Thibault found his niche in contemporary music as others have in traditional classical music: That is to say, in a sincere and entirely natural way.”

SOCAN — Le Compositeur Canadien

“Alain Thibault est venu à la musique contemporaine comme d’autres parviennent à la musique classique tonale, c’est-à-dire naturellement.”

Musicworks

“A new compact-disc label called empreintes DIGITALes has come to the forefront of the “musique actuelle” scene in Quebec.”

Factsheet Five

“Flighty fast-paced instrumental pieces for MIDI-assisted piano. Thibault explores such territory as life in the future and the eight circuits of consciousness as outlined by Tim Leary.”

La Presse

“«Ça fait du bien de mettre ça à jour», lance Alain Thibault, compositeur électroacoustique. Bien qu’il n’eût pas encore endisqué depuis le début de sa carrière, son travail a toutefois été suivi par les médias.”

Montreal Mirror

“Think of the fun Mozart would have had with a harpsichord retrofitted with MIDI ports.”

Audion

“Radically different, and totally out-on-a-limb, this is a very surprising release indeed. A very complex melodic music, both stochastic and rhythmic, often jumping from one to the other.”

Crystal Infos

“Né à Québec en 1956, Alain Thibault a étudié la composition à la Faculté de musique de l’Université de Montréal. Il est lauréat du concours des jeunes compositeurs de Radio Canada en 1982, dans la catégorie électroacoustique.”

Blitz

“Volt, do compositor Alain Thibault, è um trabalho provocador no modo como mistura o Piano, o quarteto de sopros e as gravações.”

Les Cahiers de l’ACME

“Lauréat du concours de jeunes compositeurs de Radio-Canada en 82, il remporte le concours «Sound Page Competition» organisé par le magazine américain Keyboard en 86.”

L’attention

“Troisième de la série de productions électroacoustiques, Volt présente des pièces bien différentes de celles de Calon et Normandeau.”

MTL

“Rien de semblable avec Thibault. Ici, tout est plus direct. Tout tinte et clignote à la façon des flippers qui offriraient une succession de parties gratuites.”