A ten part suite composed by Eric St-Laurent, and performed by percussionist Bikem Küçuk and multi-instrumentist Turgay Hikmet. The work was recorded in the Turkish megacity by german sound wizard Stan Schmidt and later mixed in Berlin by Arman Don Müller. It is the first Volume of the new music series Katzenmusik, launched in April 2008. After studying improvisation in New-York, guitarist/composer Eric St-Laurent lived in Berlin for 10 years, making records and touring Europe with some German and Scandinavian big names while getting a start at composing for film. He is now back in Canada and based in Toronto, where work with his trio and new collaborations in the world of movies are keeping him busy. ------------------------------ A review by Liam Cagney (...) The style of the music broadly speaking locates the album within a world music idiom. But it might just as readily fit with a contemporary or ambient designation. The style is quite an individual one, with equal weight shouldered by composition and performance in moulding the final character taken by the suite. Most of the pieces on the album are built around the foundation of St-Laurent's guitar. This acoustic guitar is utilised in different ways throughout, articulating diverse scales for high solos and oblique arpeggiated patterns, or striking natural harmonics and chords. (...) One's imagination can't help but drift with the progression of the suite through its successive and usually contrasting parts. Each of them intends to cast a different light on the city of Istanbul, to find a different route through it, in a like manner to Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésu in its shifting perspectives on a single object of consideration. The music invites the listener's transportation, as something of a tonic and lure to one walled into their cosy grey concrete Western environment, compassed by the general dearth of imagination. (...) A feature of the record throughout is the admixing of Eastern harmonic elements with more normatively Western ones. In Les sept collines, for example, a repeated ostinato figure, on double-tracked guitar, orbiting around an Eastern scale, is accompanied by a synthesizer pad, lending the jutting notes of the guitar an unexpected partner. The heart of the music throughout the suite is to overlook such provisional generic boundaries, a spirit of adventure inhering in their stead. The soloing guitar, chiming scales and chugging percussion of Bosphore - Botmozoph admit all into their mix, the impulse towards conjunction in live performance, between different musicians, being the force of attraction guiding the musical thrust. Another case in point is when the mostly acoustic elements of Bosphore - Botmozoph are immediately followed in the next track, Le feu grec, by some tough DSP'ed computer rhythms, the electronic percussion driving along in a crunched up ball, to the accompaniment of minor pentatonic, Gamelan-esque percussion sounds on synthesizer. Eric St-Laurent writes on the sleeve notes: 'I hope that this music will give you cause to day-dream for a moment or two.' An unassuming message, a refreshingly unpretentious sentiment, and an accurate summary of the music's effect. By Liam Cagney http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/cd-stlaurent-istanbul-0605.shtml - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Dimensions d'Istanbul" (İstanbul'un Boyutları) isimli, Eric St-Laurent tarafından bestelenen, perküsyonist Bikem Küçük ve multi-enstrumentalist Turgay Hikmet'in icra ettiği on parçali süitin yayınlanmasını gururla duyuruyoruz. Albüm'ün kayıdı İstanbul'da Alman ses ustası Stan Schmidt tarafından yapıldı ve daha sonra Berlin'de Arman Don Müller tarafından miks edildi. "Dimensions d'Istanbul" süiti Boğaz'ın iki yanindan Avrupa ve Asya'ya uzanan ve dünya üzerinde iki kıtaya yayılmış tek büyük başkent olan görkemli şehirden esinlenilerek yaratıldı. Güneydoğu asya müziğini elektronik sesler ve akustik gitar soloları ile buluşturan beste, az sayıda nota, bol ritim, huzur ve sakinliğin esas olduğu farklı ve gerçeküstü bir dünya oluşturmakta. Albüm, Nisan 2008'de yayın hayatına başlayan Katzenmusik isimli yeni müzik serisinin ilk CD'si olarak piyasaya çıktı. Albümü internetten indirerek veya CD olarak satın alabilmek mümkün. Gitarist / besteci Eric St-Laurent, New York'ta doğaçlama müzik okuduktan sonra Berlin'e taşındı ve orada bulunduğu on sene içinde albüm kayıtları yaptı, Alman ve İskandinavyalı ünlü müzisyenlerle Avrupa turnesine çıktı ve film müzikleri yazmaya başladı. Eric Kanada'ya geri döndükten sonra Toronto şehrine yerleşti. Kendisi bugünlerde triyosu ile çalışmanın yanı sıra, film dünyasında da yeni projeler geliştirmektedir. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Dimensions d'Istanbul" est une suite en dix pièces composée par Eric St-Laurent et interprétée par la percussionniste Bikem Küçük et le multi-instrumentiste Turgay Hikmet. L'oeuvre fut enregistrée dans la mégapole Turque par le célèbre ingénieur Stan Schmidt puis mixée à Berlin par Arman Don Müller. Des éléments musicaux de sud-est asiatique y rencontrent des fragments électroniques et des improvisations de guitare acoustique. L'univers résultant est un monde étrange et surréel fait de peu de notes, beaucoup de rythmes, et de silences contemplatifs. Après avoir étudié l'improvisation à New-York, le guitariste/compositeur Eric St-Laurent vécu à Berlin pendant dix ans, enregistrant des disques et faisant de la tournée avec les grands noms de la musique allemande et scandinave tout en faisant ses premiers pas dans le domaine de la musique de film. Il est maintenant de retour au Canada et installé à Toronto, ou son trio et de nouvelles collaborations dans le monde du cinéma remplissent ses semaines.