Marc Leclair: Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes
Rediscovering this rare ambient/dub techno gem of an album
In the early 2000s, the Canadian electronic musician Marc Leclair, better known as Akufen, released a deeply personal project under his real name.
Taking on a pivotal role in the scene around Montréal’s Mutek festival and label, Leclair at the time stood for a highly detailed, precise vision of techno music. As Akufen, he took tiny samples from the radio and other sources that were meticulously edited and manipulated, and then arranged into complex electronic tracks.
Their relative dancefloor compatability was due to the fact they were often held together by 4/4 rhythms programmed on one of techno’s standard Roland drum machines (usually the TR-808 or 909). Still, Leclair’s artistic lens had always been much wider than just focused on moving the dancefloor: a former visual artist, he was inspired by post-classical composition, experimental electronic music and jazz.
After releasing his Akufen masterpiece, the critically lauded album My Way in 2002, Leclair took an entirely different approach to his next album Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes, originally only released on CD through the Mutek imprint around two years later.
Inspired by three women in his Montréal circle who learned of their pregnancy around the same time, this project shifted Leclair’s focus further away from the dancefloor toward a more atmospheric, textural and emotional perspective on electronic music, while retaining the overall style of sound design and compositional mastery.
A young father himself who at the time had a three-year old daughter at home, Leclair slowly created a cycle of tracks that followed an entire pregnancy. That concept is reflected in the track titles, from “1er jour” to “236e jour”.
The album was a slow burner. It was Mark Richardson who highlighted it for a wider audience through an almost enthusiastic Pitchfork review in 2006. Over the years, the rather obscure project became a cult favorite among collectors. Ever since then, adventurous listeners have been discovering this timeless 72-minute exploration of clicks, cuts, glitches and delay that, on the surface, sounds like the missing link between Berlin, Detroit and Montréal, but on a deeper level remains a profound meditation on the cycle of life itself.
More than 20 years after its first release, Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes has now been captured on double vinyl for the first time, and it’s also finally been made available on streaming services.
This brilliant collection of nine extensive ambient and dub techno tunes has soundtracked countless quiet mornings for me recently, so I reached out to Marc Leclair, who willingly answered a few questions about this special album.
Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes reminds me of some late-1990s, early-2000s music from Berlin – particularly Jan Jelinek’s works, but also Stefan Betke’s Pole trilogy and some of the more ambient-leaning Chain Reaction records. Were those influences at all?
I’d say definitely Jan’s music was a big inspiration during those years, especially the Farben material which I very much loved. I think we’ve all been listening to a lot of Chain Reaction, Basic Channel and Maurizio. Moritz and Mark’s music were on every turntable at every event. It was the Berlin dub sound that defined that era. And there were a plethora of young newcomers such as Scott Monteith who works under the moniker Deadbeat and Sasu Rapatti also known as Vladislav Delay who took that sound aesthetic to another groundbreaking level.
What were other influences on the sound of this particular album, in terms of music, but maybe also in terms of art, films or literature?
That album specifically was a tribute to several artists of all fields who obviously had an impact on my musical upbringing. WIthout getting into extensive name dropping, I will name a few major. Steve Reich is probably one of the most persistent throughout my career. Manuel Göttsching is another musician whose influence you can feel on the album, especially with the lush accoustic guitars.
Most of the artists from the Raster Noton collective, and Rechenzentrum as well. And there is a handful of film composers who weren’t necessarily afiliated to the electronica scene, such as Bernard Hermann who is a favourite of mine, and Ennio Morricone, whom I believe had an impact on most musicians.
Canadian painter Jean-Paul Riopelle from the automatists movement and co-signer of the Refus Global manifesto has always been a personal inspirational source, for his entire body of work, but also for his dedication and strong contribution to Canadian cultural impact on the world, along Paul-Emile Borduas who was at the forefront of that revolutionary movement that defied all the social rules, conventions and traditions of art in Canada. They have sacrificed their lives, some even their families. The Automatist movement was the answer to the surrealists of Breton in Europe.
From the seventh art, If I may name a few inspirations I’d say Tarkovski, Kurosawa, Lynch, Cronenberg, Lumet and Hitchcock. I actually work on music mostly from images, visual memories and dreams. I’ve always thought of my music as being closer to the work of a visual artist, being myself an art student in my young adult life. I was primarily a painter and an illustrator and eventually chose music over being a visual artist.
There’s a tangible Berlin connection through the opening track, originally a commission from Rechenzentrum. How did this one end up on the album?
Originally Mark and Lillevan from Rechenzentrum who were performing at Mutek, met with me at a small event where all the artists who’ve played the festival that year were invited to exchange with local artists. And so Mark and Lillevan asked me to do a remix of one of their pieces from an album they’ve released at the time. And so I accepted their invitation with great pleasure, as I appreciated their work.
The remix at the time came out under the name “Empire of the Bees“, which later became the opening piece of the album with their kind permission. The song itself was built from a couple of sounds on the original piece. I just thought it illustrated perfectly the first instant of a pregnancy when the ovary is fertilized. The title itself says so much. The bees reference I think was the hint. And then I was invited to perform at the Berlin festival Transmediale the whole album and later the Tate Modern in London and Ars Electronica in Linz.
“As long as there will be pregnancies I believe this work will be relevant. (…) This album celebrates life itself in all its beauty.” (Marc Leclair)
Why do you think you gravitated towards more atmospheric and calmer sounds at the time you recorded this album?
I spent much of my young teenager years listening to a lot of classical and experimental modern music. Lots of Russian music like Scriabin, and more obscure abstract music like Stockhausen, Boulez and Berio. Those musicians were looping in rotation in my big yellow Sony Walkman. I could walk forever listening to their work, and also to various more “popular“ artists such as Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Tangerine Dream, Asmus Tietchens and Andrew Poppy. And of course tons of films music scores. I am a confessed film buff. I listen to at least one movie every single day where I get a lot of my inspiration.
Who were the three pregnant women in your life at the time? What was your relation to them and how did their pregnancy influence the album and its genesis?
Valérie Jodoin who is my daughter’s godmother. Isabelle Painchaud who was at the time the girlfriend of my daughter’s godfather. And Élise Deblois who is a good friend of mine. There was clearly a baby boom around that period. Those three young future mothers were from the same circle of friends and artistic community in Montreal. They were also close friends which made these three pregnancies even more meaningful. They all got the news within a month or so. It was obvious that I had to highlight that event that has an impact on everyone in our community. My personal experience as a father some years earlier also had a lot to do with the recording of that project.
Do you remember the technical set-up for this album? Was it mostly software or hardware? Any special memories about the recording process?
A bit of both worlds. Obviously most of the editing was made on hardware, a traditional PC. I used Yamaha NS-10 studio monitors, a Yamaha automated sound board. A keyboard controller to play the piano and synth parts, a Nord 2, both electric and accoustic guitars, FL Studio, SoundForge, Cool Edit Pro, Acid, Reaktor and some granular synthesis DAW.
It took me roughly three years altogether. The first song was recorded around 2001 and was featured on an Akufen single on the Montreal label ORAL whose founder is a friend of mine, Eric Mattson. Then the Rechenzentrum remix happened, and I developed the remaining pieces slowly as I did not want to rush the project. I was quite busy at the time, as my career as Akufen kept me on the road steadily for several months sometimes. Not to mention that my daughter was fairly young still and necessitated my presence when I was home.
20 years later, this album absolutely holds up and still sounds gorgeous. Do you have an explanation why this one specifically turned out to be so timeless?
I think it is timeless solely because of its purpose. It’s been reported that a lot of women have listened to the album throughout their pregnancies. Some even have written to me to express their gratitude as it became part of their journey. As long as there will be pregnancies I believe this work will be relevant. I don’t see it as belonging to an era, a specific social context or historical event. Mother earth has been pregnant since the beginning of times. This album celebrates life itself in all its beauty.
What are you listening to these days?
A bit of everything as always. I just love music so much. I couldn’t live without it. A Tribe Called Quest, Bach, Liszt, Satie, Debussy, Django Reinhardt, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, XTC, Talking Heads, Steve Reich, Scriabin, DEVO, The Residents, Boris Vian, Gainsbourg, Nick Drake, Fela Kuti. I could go on for days.
The vinyl reissue of Marc Leclair’s Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes is out now on In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi in collaboration with Community Music.