MUTEK_REC and Musique Risquée proudly present the first solo album by Montreal based DJ and sound artist Stephen Beaupré, entitiled Foe Destoyer . Representing the culmination of 3 years of work accomplished amidst a rigorous international touring schedule (as one half of the duo Crackhaus), the album’s wildly varied sonic tableaux aptly reflect the vivid imagination, sharp wit, and keen sense of humour of the gentle giant responsible for it’s creation. Stephen Beaupré is a master sampler. To his ears any sound source is fair game, any noise a potential instrument. In the Buddhist tradition, the term Foe Destroyer refers to a student who has abandoned all delusions of worldly importance, through training on the path to enlightenement. Fittingly, Beaupré strips his sample sources of all but the most fleeting remains of their origins. He then weaves them into complex percussive networks, and imbues the results with a wide array of personal reflections and memories. Described in this way, Beaupré’s creative process seems closely related to the manifestos of Akufen and Mathew Herbert, associations which, during Foe Destroyer’s danciest moments, will be clearly audible to discerning ears.
In contrast to the work of the aforementioned sampling savants however, commitment to process seems to take a back seat to reveling in the diverse emotions of life’s many twists and turns in Beaupré’s work. His meticulous editing clearly shows he can splice and filet his samples with the best of them, easily overcoming the worn out clichés of what too often gets passed off as intelligent dance music. Somehow though his songs always seem closer to one-of-a-kind handicrafts then well oiled future music machines; his rhythmic structures more a kin to a house of cards then a Tokyo sky scraper. It is exactly this sense of fragility, the feeling that each song might collapse upon itself at any moment that marks Foe Destroyer as a unique creative vision. The disc begins with El Gato, a mid-tempo tech house affair which invokes the double-edged images of a 1930s traveling carnival with it’s playful melodies and dark undercurrents. On Shy Moon, Beaupré strips away all but the most essential elements to create a chugging, blues fueled late night special, set against the warm backdrop of a crackling fire. Alcahuaz was, in Beaupré’s own words “inspired by a rainstorm in the Elqui Valley in Chile, a place of incredible beauty with it’s contrast of arid mountains sealing in a lush valley. This place marked me as one of the most beautiful spots that I have ever visited.” My Old Lady Silhouette is a tongueand- cheek, endearing dedication to his partner of many years and soon to be co-parent… break out the cigars! On Keep your Hands Off, Beaupré sends the album running for the dancefloor with an infectious bassline and schizophrenic melody running circles around the title’s mantra. Les Filles on the other hand combines the most basic of male confessions with a dirty little bassline to form this album’s certifiable floor filler. Plump City keeps spirits high with a disparate array of a oddball effects and noises configured into a stumbling break. On Jacaranda, Beaupré offers a modern soundtrack for locking, popping, and big time b-boy floor moves, while Sacrelicious, inspired by many a debaucherous night in Berlin and Zurich delivers the album’s most infectious rubber bassline. Finally Dark Water was draws on the experience of swimming out to the middle of a lake and “the mysterious beauty and fear that one feels being at once supported and engulfed by water, both embraced and vulnerable with theimmense depths beneath.” A fittingly tranquil ending for what is most certainly a promising sign of things to come from one of Montreal’s finest electronic music composers.
Tracklist