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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 Electriques. 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 - 00:27
Guitar strumming.
Music
00:27 - 01:10
Female vocalist performs piece [French].
Unknown Performer
01:10 - 01:16
Collective vocalists chant.
Unknown Performer
01:16 - 01:25
Performs piece [French][overtop collective chant].
Michel Lefebvre
01:25 - 01:29
Loud metallic sound.
Recorded Sound
01:29 - 01:52
Performs piece [French][overtop of metallic sounds].
Michel Lefebvre
01:52 - 01:57
Loud metallic sound [continues].
Recorded Sound
01:57 - 02:06
Female vocalist performs in sync with Lefebvre.
Unknown Performer
02:06 - 02:21
Loud metallic sound [continues].
Recorded Sound
02:21 - 02:22
Record pops, accordion. Wind sounds overlaid.
Music
02:22 - 02:44
Performs piece in french, in sync with female voice.
Michel Lefebvre
02:48 - 03:09
Male voice [French][possibly pre-recorded][on top of synth music].
Unknown Performer
03:09 - 03:58
Performs piece [on top of synth music and male French voice].
Michel Lefebvre
03:58 - 04:23
Low hum.
Recorded Sound
04:23 - 06:10
Collective recitation [instances of chanting, singing, speaker feedback, and electric guitar].
Recorded Sound
06:12 - 06:20
Female voice performs [French].
Unknown Performer
06:20 - 06:28
Whispering [French][multi-layered audio, raises gradually].
Unknown Performer
06:28 - 06:30
Female voice continues.
Unknown Performer
06:30 - 06:46
Whispering and multi-layered audio continues.
Recorded Sound
06:38 - 06:46
Performs piece [French].
Michel Lefebvre
06:46 - 06:56
Whispers continue.
Recorded Sound
06:56 - 07:21
Electric guitar and rhythmic drums.
Music
07:21 - 08:11
Resumes piece [French].
Michel Lefebvre
08:11 - 08:30
Feedback buzz [recorded murmurs, chimes].
Recorded Sound
08:30 - 08:40
Female voice performs.
Unknown Performer
08:40 - 08:42
Performs spoken piece.
Michel Lefebvre
08:42 - 08:55
Female voice continues.
Unknown Performer
08:55 - 09:03
Electric guitar and rhythmic drums continue.
Music
09:03 - 09:16
Female voice performs continues.
Unknown Performer
09:16 - 09:53
Performs piece in French [in sync with female voice].
Michel Lefebvre
09:53 - 11:35
Collective chanting and singing.
Recorded Sound
11:35 - 11:41
Resumes piece.
Michel Lefebvre
11:41 - 11:44
Rhythmic bassline [drums and electric guitar].
Music
11:44 - 12:03
Voice whispering [French].
Recorded Sound
12:03 - 12:25
Rhythmic bassline continues.
Music
12:25 - 13:30
Multiple voices speaking [French][moaning].
Recorded Sound
13:30 - 13:37
Rhythmic music continues.
Music
13:37 - 13:50
Performs piece [French].
Michel Lefebvre
13:55 - 14:26
Clapping starts [overtop of bassline and multi-layered audio].
Music
14:26 - 15:05
Resumes piece.
Michel Lefebvre
15:05 - 16:09
Chimes [overtop of bassline and multi-layered audio].
Music
16:09 - 16:12
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
16:12 - 16:15
Performs piece.
Michel Lefebvre
16:15 - 16:16
Collective whooping and clapping.
Unknown Performer
16:16 - 16:19
Rhythmic bassline begins.
Music
16:19 - 17:02
Collective whooping and clapping continues.
Unknown Performer
16:36 - 16:43
Performs piece [resumes].
Michel Lefebvre
16:43 - 17:02
Collective whooping and clapping resumes.
Unknown Performer
17:02 - 18:54
Rhythmic bassline continues, drums, electric guitar starts.
Music
18:54 - 19:01
Room noise [distant murmuring].
Foufounes Electriques
19:01 - 19:12
Hum [male voice, muffled].
Recorded Sound
19:12 - 19:20
Guitar strumming [muffled].
Music
19:20 - 19:23
Audio surge, feedback.
Tech
19:23 - 23:07
Guitar strumming continues.
Music
23:07 - 23:09
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
23:09 - 23:09
[End of recording].
END