Ensemble Economique
Available now from Denovali Records, Bryan Pyle presents the brand new Ensemble Economique album titled In Silhouette and we are proud to present the premiere stream in full. Following up Blossoms in Red, the Humboldt County by everywhere artist expands upon his NorCal beginnings with the Starving Weirdos by pushing his moody atmospheres and soundtracks to the scenes, situations & dialogues that the world of cinema auteurs have yet to discover. Pyle points the cursor of focus upon the lesser heard realms that exist in the shadows that mimic our every movement when we’re not looking.
Ensemble Economique’s In Silhoutte opens up like the suspense thriller you were not allowed to watch growing up. Amid ruminations of backwards vocals & Angelo Badalamenti style atmospheres; Brian Pyle scores one of the most tense 21 minute & 11 seconds scene thrillers on the track “In The Clear Blue Waters of Memory” ft. Jung An Tagen that will burrow it’s way deeper into our consciousness than you might immediately realize. You are brought out into the elements of “Battle Cry” that sets the tone for rumors of war & all the feelings that fall on the eve of war that are illustrated through very intricate cadence hums from very thoughtfully selected synthesizers. The moods get even more tense as the feelings fall deeper into the subterranean abyss on “Gonna Get Right With God, Right After This Next Cigarette” where those low-level vocals re-appear and the synths send out an understated sense of menace. The greatest reprieve comes from the closing flute-key effects that faintly flutter off like gothic butterflies on “I Can See The Light, The Edge Of Forever”. The cycles of tension, confrontation, deliverance & redemption all rage until the light releases & releaves all soldiers & civilians from their duties in some kind of pagan ritual of rapture.
Providing us with an exclusive introduction to Ensemble Economique’s In Silhouette are insights from Jim Haynes that provide some thoughts on the making of Brian Pyle’s latest achievement:
In Silhouette is unmistakably the product of Brian Pyle, who once again returns as Ensemble Economique. Well over a decade ago, Pyle and his merry band of Starving Weirdos popped onto the scene from out of nowhere. Truth be told, that ‘nowhere’ is Humboldt County, California whose grand mythologies about its marijuana industry dwarfs all others. The Weirdos, not averse to method acting through Humboldt’s prized chemistry, stood an unusual chimera in the world of out-rock and avant-garde practitioners. Electronic-Improv, fuck-all auto-didacticism, and monotone psychedelia. Too feral to be AMM, too electronic to be NNCK, too discordant to be :zoviet*france:. As the Weirdos slowed to halt, Pyle’s restless energy insisted that he go on. Hence Ensemble Economique. Over an impressive catalogue of albums, he steadfastly continues down this rabbithole, polishing and refining his craft into a signature polyglot of expressionist collage.
Pyle’s latest opus dials up the cinematic flourishes that have graced many of his earlier recordings, through his sinewed synth-tone undulations, polyphonous ostinato, Wolfgang Voigt pulses, and fractalized cascades of generative serialism. All of this glides through the patterned electronic chiaroscuro atmospheres that are at once ethereal and haunted, dotted with male and female vocals whispering unknowable secrets. This tech-gnosticism flickers with light and shadow through Pyle’s rich production and beckons for the big screen, as Pyle’s work is grandiose in scale, psychologically nuanced, and deeply affecting.
Ensemble Economique’s new album In Silhouette is available now from Denovali Records.
