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Michel Lefebvre at Ultimatum Festival 1985-05-01
The following is a transcription of Michel Lefebvre’s performance at Ultimatum I, Wednesday, May 1st, 1985 at the Foufounes Électriques bar and performance space in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. The Ultimatum festival program titles the performance as “Les Tables de Babylone” and Alan Lord describes the scene in his memoir, High Friends in Low Places (2022): “A quite visibly and audibly tipsy Michel Lefebvre dressed as a space alien, knocking over vials of liquid on a table, with a girl in a Hugo Ball costume hovering robotically nearby” (129). She is possibly the source of a woman’s voice in the recording, who chants and recites poetry as Lefebvre performs sounds, poems, overtop an intricate, multi-layered sonic scape.
Annotations
00:00 - 00:28
Audio Description
Guitar strumming.
Music
00:00 - 00:00
Alan Lord Commentary
Montreal Poet Michel Lefebvre, dressed as a space alien, is quite visibly and audibly tipsy during the performance, knocking over vials of liquid on a table, with a girl in a Hugo Ball costume hovering robotically nearby.
Event Description
00:28 - 01:10
Audio Description
Female vocalist performs piece [French].
Unknown Performer
01:10 - 01:16
Audio Description
Collective vocalists chant [French].
Unknown Performers
01:16 - 01:26
Audio Description
Performs piece [French][overtop collective chant].
Michel Lefebvre
01:26 - 01:29
Audio Description
Loud metallic sound.
Recorded Sound
01:29 - 01:53
Audio Description
Performs piece [French][overtop of metallic sounds].
Michel Lefebvre
01:48 - 01:48
Alan Lord Commentary
Michel Lefebvre later founded and ran TOPO – a Montreal center for multimedia digital expression in the arts - for 25 years.
Biographical Context
01:53 - 01:57
Audio Description
Loud metallic sound [continues].
Recorded Sound
01:57 - 02:06
Audio Description
Female vocalist performs in sync with Lefebvre.
Unknown Performer
Michel Lefebvre
02:06 - 02:21
Audio Description
Loud metallic sound [continues].
Recorded Sound
02:21 - 02:22
Audio Description
Record pops, accordion. Wind sounds overlaid.
Music
02:22 - 02:44
Audio Description
Performs piece in french, in sync with female voice.
Michel Lefebvre
Unknown Performer
02:48 - 03:09
Audio Description
Male voice [French][possibly pre-recorded][on top of synth music].
Unknown Performer
03:09 - 03:58
Audio Description
Performs piece [on top of synth music and male French voice].
Michel Lefebvre
03:58 - 04:23
Audio Description
Low hum.
Recorded Sound
04:23 - 06:10
Audio Description
Collective recitation [instances of chanting, singing, speaker feedback, and electric guitar].
Recorded Sound
Unknown Performers
06:12 - 06:20
Audio Description
Female voice performs [French].
Unknown Performer
06:20 - 06:28
Audio Description
Whispering [French][multi-layered audio, raises gradually].
Unknown Performer
06:28 - 06:30
Audio Description
Female voice continues.
Unknown Performer
06:30 - 06:46
Audio Description
Whispering and multi-layered audio continues.
Recorded Sound
06:38 - 06:52
Audio Description
Performs piece behind other voices [French].
Michel Lefebvre
06:52 - 06:56
Audio Description
Whispers continue.
Recorded Sound
06:56 - 07:22
Audio Description
Electric guitar and rhythmic drums.
Music
07:22 - 08:11
Audio Description
Resumes piece [French].
Michel Lefebvre
08:11 - 08:30
Audio Description
Feedback buzz [recorded murmurs, chimes].
Recorded Sound
08:30 - 08:41
Audio Description
Female voice performs.
Unknown Performer
08:41 - 08:42
Audio Description
Performs spoken piece.
Michel Lefebvre
08:42 - 08:55
Audio Description
Female voice continues.
Unknown Performer
08:55 - 09:03
Audio Description
Electric guitar and rhythmic drums continue.
Music
09:03 - 09:16
Audio Description
Female voice performs continues.
Unknown Performer
09:16 - 09:53
Audio Description
Performs piece in French [in sync with female voice].
Michel Lefebvre
Unknown Performer
09:53 - 11:36
Audio Description
Collective chanting and singing.
Unknown Performers
11:36 - 11:41
Audio Description
Resumes piece.
Michel Lefebvre
11:41 - 11:44
Audio Description
Rhythmic bassline [drums and electric guitar].
Music
11:44 - 12:04
Audio Description
Voice whispering [French].
Recorded Sound
12:04 - 12:25
Audio Description
Rhythmic bassline continues.
Music
12:25 - 13:30
Audio Description
Multiple voices speaking [French][moaning].
Unknown Performers
Recorded Sound
13:30 - 13:37
Audio Description
Rhythmic music continues.
Music
13:37 - 13:50
Audio Description
Performs piece [French].
Michel Lefebvre
13:55 - 14:27
Audio Description
Clapping starts [overtop of bassline and multi-layered audio].
Music
14:27 - 15:05
Audio Description
Resumes piece.
Michel Lefebvre
15:05 - 15:12
Audio Description
Bassline and multi-layered audio continues.
Music
15:12 - 15:15
Audio Description
Chimes [overtop of bassline and multi-layered audio].
Music
15:15 - 16:09
Audio Description
Bassline and multi-layered audio continues.
Music
16:09 - 16:12
Audio Description
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
16:12 - 16:15
Audio Description
Performs piece.
Michel Lefebvre
16:18 - 17:02
Audio Description
Collective whooping and clapping, rhythmic bassline begins.
Unknown Performers
Music
16:36 - 16:43
Audio Description
Performs piece [resumes].
Michel Lefebvre
16:43 - 17:02
Audio Description
Collective whooping and clapping resumes.
Unknown Performer
17:02 - 18:54
Audio Description
Rhythmic bassline continues, drums, electric guitar starts.
Music
18:54 - 19:01
Audio Description
Room noise [distant murmuring].
Foufounes Electriques
19:01 - 19:12
Audio Description
Hum [male voice, muffled].
Recorded Sound
19:12 - 19:20
Audio Description
Guitar strumming [muffled].
Music
19:20 - 19:23
Audio Description
Audio surge, feedback.
Tech
19:23 - 23:07
Audio Description
Guitar strumming continues.
Music
23:07 - 23:09
Audio Description
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
23:09 - 23:09
Audio Description
[End of recording].
END