RUISKAMER #4: Pierre Bastien & Casper Van De Velde / Hum.

Seeing Pierre Bastien at work is a real experience in it's own right: this French musician and artist has been building so-called “mechanical sound sculptures” since time immemorial. In other words, he builds complicated machines whose sole purpose is to produce interesting sounds. His oeuvre includes numerous mechano-like constructions that transform, say, a postal scale into a mechanical drum computer to large tables on which are attached plastic bottles that are rhythmically drained and blown full of compressed air. Pierre invariably drags his constructions onto a stage and gives mesmerizing performances with them.

During this edition of Ruiskamer, he will be assisted in by Casper Van De Velde - the percussionist you undoubtedly know from SCHNTZL, among others. In their collaboration On a Tuesday and a Wednesday - released on Ghent's Blickwinkel label - they combine Bastien's machines with Van De Velde's detailed percussion. The result is an album full of wondrous rhythms and organic sounds, created during a residency at Werkplaats Walter, Brussels.