The Daily Reviews: Racine’s Des milliers de fenêtres

February 13, 2017 marked the day of last- minute Valentine’s Day shopping, as well as the release of Des milliers de fenêtres: an ambient electronic album by Racine, a Montreal- based multidisciplinary artist. The album, translating to ‘ Thousands of windows,’ consists of seven tracks that experiment with rhythm and density. Highlights include the eponymous title track and “le lac noir qui nourrit les sources souterraines” – roughly translating to ‘ the black lake that nurtures underground springs.’

Des milliers de fenêtres cracks the code of ambient music through the texture and tonality of sound. Electronic beats, static noise, and ethereal sounds compliment and battle each other, creating a sensory experience that challenges how we react to and envision what we hear. The songs travel through both emotional and physical space – or, as Racine himself puts it, “memories of a lost city and sensations of a room.” Melodies are pierced through, and dissipated to make way for new ones within the same track.

Racine, also known as Rabieto, or as band member of the Dolphin Dream pyramids, has self- published eight albums in Montreal. In 2015, he performed at MUTEK – the international summer festival dedicated to electronic music and digital arts – where he worked among artist collectives such as Daïmôn.

This album is the first collaboration between Julien Racine and the signing record label Archipel Musique. He has recently performed as a DJ at one of Archipel’s events where he combined visual imagery and film projected in the background, with live music. In fact, the last track of Des milliers of fenêtres scores a short film, which has been created in light of the upcoming release. [Check out Des milliers de fenêtres at soundcloud.com/julienracine.]