Anne-James Chaton continues his exploration of the news media that formed the building blocks of his recent 'Evenements 09' album on this 7" single in collaboration with Andy Moor. Less loop-laden and overtly experimental than 'Evenements', this outing sees Chaton use music to explore J G Ballard's territory as he tackles cars, death and celebrity, focusing on Princess Diana's final journey.
Side 1's 'Princess in a Mercedes Class S 280' is sparse and haunting, slivers of shimmering guitar striking cleanly off a slow, deliberate bassline and subdued beats in a restyling of trip-hop for the new millennium. The narrative, simultaneously in English and French, by female and male voices respectively, is deadpan and matter-of-fact, very like news media reporting - only the narrative takes place in the present tense, taking the listener right into the events. It's pretty unsettling stuff, not least of all because it's hard to tell precisely what angle Chaton and Moor are coming from, and in being brought into the scene in some simulacrum of real-time, the experience feels intensely voyeuristic. One suspects that's the precise objective, a blank commentary on the media's voyeuristic and morbid focus on the private lives and deaths of those in the public eye.
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On side 2, 'Princess in a Rover P63500S V8' clanks and chimes, at first melodically but with increasing dissonance as Chaton catalogues all of the cars owned by Grace Kelly, the title referring to the vehicle she was travelling when she met her untimely end.
Bleak, strange and extremely thought-provoking, it's a fascinating work that goes beyond music.
Anne-James Chaton Online
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