Tiny Mixtapes
« Newly christened label Three: Four introduces its ambitious series of 10-inch splits with the joint guitar drones of :take: and White/Lichens. Frenchman Jérôme Boutinot, a.k.a. :take:, engulfs the A-side with two differing guitar compositions — both displaying the beauty and majesty still left in the stringed instrument. “Paysage Avec Fer” drapes an ominous, throbbing drone over scattered notes of guitar, creating a 70s Star Trek vibe, as Kirk and his crew land on the surface of an alien planet and their gauges are reading off-the-chart levels of life as they inch close and closer to the dwelling of the living. “Joie de Résistance” is far more traditional, with gentle strokes and slides reminiscent of mid-90s Loren Connors, the difference being Boutinot fills up space with sweeping notes and plucked chords whereas Connors chooses to swallow notes in favor of showcasing silence. The B-side is all White/Lichens, a trio formed by Lichens (Robert A.A. Lowe) and White/Light (Jeremy Lemos and Matt Clark). Both entities have found success with a string of spotlighted albums, but their combined talents produce a track as gnarly as it is breathtaking. “Tonight’s the Night” (not to be confused with the Neil Young classic) is an immovable wall of harsh distortion that builds itself up, brick by brick, never to be broken by the light of day. Should one ever need proof of the many splendors to be coaxed from six electric strings, Three: Four has built a fine example. »
Jspicer
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/TMT-Cerberus-08
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Heathen Harvest
"This split album, between :Take: and White/Lichens is the first release in the split series by the label Three:four. A quick search reveals that :Take: is a solo project of Jerome Boutinot, a Paris-based Guitarist, and White/Lichens is a collaboration between Lichen and White/Light. Another insight about this release is that although Three:four is a vinyl/MP3 label, what I am holding in my hand is promo CDr with a cover that does not look any different from the Vinyl cover. I really appreciate that even though I know not everyone can afford such effort on a promo copy.
Each of the musical acts offers one side (speaking about the Vinyl) and about 12 minutes of music. :Take: begins with a low, high pitched drone that sounds at first like a delicate, almost romantic illustration of the sore ear drum. :Take: then adds more and more tiny details to this spine, with the small sounds giving life to the long drone. :Take:'s work is accurate, and suddenly it appears that what sounded like a one note drone have become a full breathing creature without me noticing the transfiguration. It ends with the music almost talking to the listener. A great track.
"Joie de resistance" is another fine moment, with the guitar beginning from a short and heart warming loop, developing then to a much more complex set of sounds of infinte loops around infinte other loops. Boutinot slowly plays a main guitar line that gives life to the beautiful ornaments around, ending in a cathartic feedback and ending with no warning.
White/Lichens offer one long track that gives a more threatening impression from the second it starts. Like a waking beast, a gasping low breathes slowly shapes into a guitar drone that grows deeper and louder. White/Lichen manage to keep the incoming, piercing drones both deep and spacey at the same time, and halfway through "Tonight's the night" it is a super massive black hole of a swirling sounds and storming overtones. This blizzard fades into a reverbed guitar squiz and manages to get an even higher point and sharper edge after the noise peak. When it get closer to the end, as if the music is aware of its impending end, the shrieks become powerful again before they die into a pulsating bass drone and bringing the monster to rest.
A great release by Three:Four and a great work of all collaborators. Efficiently showing two sides (no pun intended) to drones, from the delicate and precise moments of r:Take: to the powerful wave of White/Lichen. A great vinyl release!"
Oren Ben Yosef
http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=2009102918195398
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Foxy Digitalis
« Man this is confusing, so bear with me. It's gonna be a mess of punctuation and exotic character-sets, listen up. This 10" is a limited edition split on Three:Four Records between :take: and White/Lichens, and is Volume 1 of the three:four split series. :take: is the solo project of Jérôme Boutinot, a guitarist based in Paris, and member of post-rock band Stereogrammes. White/Lichens is the ongoing collaboration of Chicago-based Lichens, and White/Light. Lichens of course is the solo project of 90 Day Men-man Robert A. A. Lowe. White/Light is a duo comprised of Jeremy Lemos and Matt Clark; Lemos is a live/studio sound engineer. With me so far?
:take:'s contribution, A1 "Paysage Avec Fer" (5.15) and A2 "Joie de Résistance" (6.52) is some exceedingly pretty guitar-and-effects tinker which betrays its creator's post-rock involvement, engages at a sufficiently emotionally-impactful level and for a wee minute there even reminds quite strongly of some lovely old work by Terry Riley. On the other hand, White/Lichens' side "Tonight's the Night" (11.20) has nothing apparently to do with Neil Young's seminal drug-slob album/song of the same name and unfortunately is not very good. It's thin, dull, and bears all the hallmarks of having been tossed off in about 12 minutes and 20 seconds -- all the things you DON'T want from your drone. Sorry, guys, if you spent an hour or a day or a week or even a year creating this; it doesn't convey. If someone was going around asking "hey, raise your hands if you're a Lichens fan", I would have no hesitation whatsoever in lifting both mitts to the heavens; this effort here however would not be what I would be playing to anyone else in order to get them on the Lichens bus with me. »
Stephen Clover
http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=4884
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Norman Records
Got a split 10" here from :take: and White/Lichens. The :take: side has two tracks. The first is quite a high pitched sustained tone/ drone with lots of little things happening underneath. Probably a bit of an endurance test for a lot of people but it's weirdly hypnotic and a little disorientating. The second track 'Joie De Resistanse' is a stark contrast with lovely gentle guitar weeping at your ears. I could shed a tear. White/ Lichens meanwhile have one track which builds during it's 10 minutes, when the guitar comes in it totally changes gear. In my current state of feeling spaced out this is just doing the job nicely as big wobbly bass waves fly across the room at me and the reverb on the guitar massages my soul. A really decent track called 'Tonight's The Night. Out on three:four and comes with a download code.
http://www.normanrecords.com/records/108474
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Pinkushion
« Première pierre symbolique posée par le label français Three : Four Records, nouveau passeur dans le paysage des musiques défricheuses (freak folk, post-rock, drone musique...). Et force est de constater que ce split EP démontre déjà de fortes dispositions de la part de cette maison artisanale à emprunter les chemins de traverses expérimentaux. Ce premier court volume (d’autres suivront avec différents artistes) met en avant deux praticiens de la drone musique. Deux groupes — :Take : et White/Lichens —, deux traitements différents de l’atmosphère, respectivement entre réverbération acoustique songeuse et horizon électrique sinueux. La première face fait état des explorations "spéléolo"soniques du parisien :Take :, nouveau projet solo du guitariste Jérôme Boutinot (également membre de Stereogramme), né des cendres du duo 5000 Pas. “Paysage avec fer” délaye un feedback rond et monolithique où s’enchevêtrent progressivement des motifs de guitare stalactites. Le morceau nous plonge dans un état de flottement quasi mystique évoquant Growing allégé de ses considérations électroniques. Son deuxième titre, plus mélodieux, est construit autour d’arpèges ascétiques, sur lesquels sont brodés des textures irisées menant progressivement vers une lumière aveuglante. Belle sortie. Seconde face, White/Lichens est le fruit de la collaboration entre deux formations de Chicago, Lichens et White/Light, habiles bâtisseurs de drones massifs, déjà auteurs ensemble d’un album remarqué l’an dernier. La plage ne présente qu’un seul morceau, un impressionnant dénivelé d’électricité sourde, élongé de 11 minutes. Ce bourdonnement inquiétant ne cesse de grandir, éclaboussé par des interférences de bruit blanc violent en guise de percussions impromptues, jusqu’au grand champignon attendu. Les amateurs éclairés de drone musique se sentiront in situ. »
Paul Ramone
http://www.pinkushion.com/enmarge.php3?id_article=3774
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Etherreal
« Après la compilation dont on parlait il y a deux semaines, voici la deuxième référence du label Three :Four Records qui se trouve être dans la parfaite lignée de Err on the Good Side. En effet, c’est :Take:, soit Jérôme Boutinot, membre de l’équipe Ali_Fib, qui est en charge de la face A de ce 10". Par ailleurs, en tant qu’organisateur de concerts, il a eu l’occasion de faire jouer White/Lichens, trio de Chicago que l’on trouve sur la face B.
On est ici en terrain a peu près connu puisque l’on a déjà parlé de ces artistes sur EtherREAL, en particulier lors de chroniques de concerts. On découvrait la musique de :Take: il y a peu, au Rigoletto en compagnie de Felicia Atkinson et Oldine, où il nous proposa un court set de guitares cristallines. On est du coup un peu surpris par un autre versant de son travail avec son premier titre, Paysage avec fer, ultra minimal, composé d’une nappe pure et oscillante que viennent chatouiller de petits et timides égrenages de guitare. Conceptuel, tandis qu’avec Joie de résistance on se rapproche de ce que l’on avait vu en concert : guitares claires, répétitive sur un plan, lentes évolutions mélodiques sur un autre, jusqu’à la jonction finale.
White/Lichens proposent quant à eux une seule pièce de 10 minutes assez étonnante. Lente mise en place à base de bruitages granuleux, progressive montée d’un drone dont on aura du mal à dire s’il est électrique ou électronique, violentes déflagrations de guitares, cris et déchirements numériques, pour finir par la douceur de synthés analogiques tournoyants et psychédéliques. Autant d’éléments hétéroclites, drone, rock, électronique, mais Tonight’s the Night est un continuum, une seule et unique pièce dont chaque strate apparaît comme une suite logique.
Au final, deux faces très différentes sur la forme, mais une base commune, le goût des drones et des lentes évolutions sonores. Comme pour la compilation, ce split uniquement disponible au format vinyle est livré avec un coupon permettant de télécharger les versions MP3. »
Fabrice Allard
http://www.etherreal.com/spip.php?article3280