rabirius

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La Bête Noire – A Track Becomes a Story

You may remember that I’ve already shared a few remixes of La Bête Noire over the past months—single pieces from what has grown into a much larger project. I’m happy to announce that the full album, simply titled La Bête Noire, is now available for streaming and download.

mockART: La Bête Noire - Cover

This release marks the continuation of an idea that first emerged after mockART invited a number of artists to remix our album views || interrupted. Back then, we were amazed at how far the contributions went—not just in terms of sound design, but in how they expanded and redefined the original tracks. Many of those remixes stood entirely on their own, as independent works with distinct identities.

That experience left us curious: what would happen if multiple artists were given the same track to work with? Would they follow similar paths or diverge completely? Could one track generate an entire ecosystem of variations?

We selected La Bête Noire—a piece that has become something of a mockART staple over the years—as the nucleus of this experiment. With its hypnotic structure and eerie atmosphere, it felt like fertile ground for interpretation. We handed the track to several collaborators, inviting them to rework, remix, or completely deconstruct it in any way they wished.

The results surprised even us.

Each artist brought something entirely personal to the piece. Some explored its darker impulses, while others pulled unexpected rhythmic or harmonic threads to the foreground. A few took the material into entirely new sonic territories—sometimes to the edge of recognisability. What ties the tracks together is not their similarity, but the way they all circle around the same core presence: the “black beast.”

It was only natural to begin thinking of the remixes as chapters—fragments of a nonlinear narrative, told in many voices. Together, they form what we now call “the complete story” of La Bête Noire. To bookend that story, we included the original studio version of the track, along with a live version recorded last year at the Rush Hour Kulturfestival, organised by the Heussenstamm Stiftung. That live performance captured something raw and immediate, and it felt like the right way to close the loop.

La Bête Noire - T-Shirt
La Bête Noire - Pin
La Bête Noire - Bag

Visually, the album cover offers its own take on the beast. The artwork—created by me—shows the eye of La Bête Noire, and within the iris, a haunting reflection: a woman running away. Whether she’s escaping or being hunted, we don’t know. The image captures something central to the music itself—a sense of ambiguity, of motion, of being watched and haunted at once.

For those who’d like to carry a part of La Bête Noire with them, we’ve also created a small line of merchandise, featuring elements of the artwork on t-shirts, pins, bags, and more. Just click on the images and you will learn more.

In the end, this album is a celebration of artistic transformation—of what happens when a piece of music is opened up to reinterpretation and allowed to evolve freely. We’re grateful to the artists who took part, and excited to finally share the full story with you.

Thanks for listening—and for following the beast this far.

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29 responses to “La Bête Noire – A Track Becomes a Story”

  3. Hi Rabirius,

    I downloaded Spotify so that I’d be able to listen.

    Opening it up, I realize that I don’t know how to listen to this kind of composition except to think of it as a soundtrack for a movie about a beast.

    As that, it is rather disturbing. (That means it is successful?)

    Some education here would be gratefully received.

    Best, Kim

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Hello Kim,

      well, I guess there is not one way to approach this. I would suggest that one can listen to it and just see what images come to mind. One can also look at the titles and listen to the music with the titles in mind. Or you can also listen to the original version (the first track) and see what you can find of the original in the other versions.

      But I could imagine that it might not be easy to get into if you are not listening to experimental music. Maybe I can suggest to start with our albums Men Who Lost Their Heads or views || interrupted which are probably more accessible because they play with established musical structures and I could imagine that it is easer for getting in our music. You can also try to listen to the singles. Then you can take it track by track.

      I hope that helps.

      Greetings,

      rabirius

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Thanks, Rabirius.

        I remember in my college music appreciation course, the professor said that music is the slowest art form to change. We had one session of experimental music (a person singing notes into an open piano while someone else cranked a manual egg-beater) – it made no sense to me at all, and I could not imagine how or why anyone would think that was music. Professor said, “music is organized sound.” Interestingly, that is the ONLY session of the music appreciation course that I remember 55 years later. ha ha.

        So I will try those other tracks, in the expectation that whether I “get” them or not – I will most likely find them memorable 🙂

        Your friend in the sticks, Kim

        Liked by 1 person

      • I think the definition is right: “Music is organised sound.”
        Certainly, a lot of music developed in certain cultural contexts and some music from other cultures might sound strange to our ears. But so is experimental music. I think it is interesting what kind of effects you can reach if you experiment with the accepted formula of which sounds are used and how they are organised.
        And yes, you will remember if something sounds strange. The music of your culture you will only remember if you listen to it several times so it gets stuck in your head.

        Like

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