Bergsonist - Bergsonist (Not on label, 2023)
New York-based Moroccan multidisciplinary artist Bergsonist deserves more attention than her work gets. In 2020, her first full-length ‘Middle Ouest’ was released on the Scottish label Optimo Music. On this album, and in all her other work, Bergsonist gives the listener a glimpse into her inner turmoil, activism and rebellion. For Bergsonist, music is definitely political and social. And this ‘Bergsonist’ is no different. The song titles often reveal what is on her mind: worldly concerns, life as a North African woman in a Western city. Although her memories and longings for Morocco seep into her music, she does not idealise her homeland. The eternal duel in which she finds herself is also audible in her music. She is not much of a fan of genres, playing big-room techno (‘Vanished Earth’, ‘Unpredictable’), chanson, rhythmic chants (‘Feel’) and pure experimentation. Whatever she does, she always starts with a very minimal sound that forces itself into repetition. Although not much happens in her songs, each track has an intense presence. The heavy rhythm on ‘Femme’, the incantatory beats wrapped in distortion on ‘Collateral Damage’. Opening track ‘Misogny in Disguise’ sounds like industrial musique concrète. The sweet-voiced and delicate ‘Underwater’ sounds like a homemade French chanson, if the genre could be freed from its stylistic trappings. Just like ‘Legend’, which is a bit more intrusive. What is also striking about this five-year collector is not only how unique her music sounds, but also how idiosyncratically she sticks to a sound that on a lazy day would be described as outsider techno. Which contrasts so much with the Photoshop zeal of her visual work. It is this contrast and quirkiness, which no doubt frustrates Bergsonist, should’ve made her a household name over the years.
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