Patrick Vian - Bruits et temps Analogues (Egg Records, 1976 / Straubold, 2013)

This year has seen the vinyl re-issue of a phenomenal and little known album. French musician Patrick Vian's "Bruits et temp Analogues" is improvisational jazz meeting synth rock for a journey into the unknown. Think early Tangerine Dream jamming with Soft Machine and Heldon, Conrad Schnitzler's bizarre noise experiments, and a deep prog groove, all held together by masterful percussion (Mino Cinelu of Gong, Miles Davis and Weather Report).

Vian plays Moog c2, ARP 2600, Moog sequencer and piano. Also joining him are Georges Granier on Rhodes and marimba, and Bernard Lavialle on electric guitar. This lineup emits deep droning psychedelic vibes, for an undeniable head trip. And incidentally, I can't stop looking at this album cover.



Here is a track by his other project as well:

Berangere Maximin - No One is an Island (Sub Rosa, 2012)

French electro-acoustic composer Berangere Maximin's latest album is the eleventh installment for Sub rosa's New Series Framework. She was joined by Christian Fennesz, Richard Pinhas, Rhys Chatham and Frederic D. Oberland.  Each performer recorded duets with Maximin. The results are stunning. There is chaos and concrete, powered by visceral rhythmic noise, and beauty and ephemera, by way of her subtle vocals paired with the processed guitars and trumpet.

This is an incredibly moving and beautiful record. If I had heard it last year, it definitely would have been in my Best of 2012 list.

   
Read full review of No One Is An Island - BERANGERE MAXIMIN on Boomkat.com ©

Spektr - Mescalyne (Moribund, 2007)

This entire album is frantically sharp and steeped in hollowed layers of tattered atmosphere. The French black metal duo present the four song ep Mescalyne with full electronic voracity of brightly distorted, melodic guitar hiss and meticulous drumming that often slips into a rhythmic dichotomy, enhancing a sense of depth. I would almost venture to say that this album is seemingly gray rather than black in it's tone. This album is far too taken care of, as an important representation of it's creator's art to be thought of as low-fi or cold recorded. Though it's feeling brings a chill, it doesn't remind me of damp viking crawl spaces, looming heavy moans. Mescalyne is reflective of the Gothic shadows of the ages and the intellectual horrors that emerge from progress, holy faith and validity. Or it sounds like broken glass has been inserted behind your eye sockets while waking up in a wind tunnel, which ever translation you prefer.

--Sean Dail

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Overmars - Affliction, Endochrine...Vertigo - 2005

My favorite underrated French metal band will rot your brain, confuse the hell out of you and weigh heavily on your mind if you manage to endure the 69 minute barrage. This 2005 release is extremely honest and radically brutal. I call it metal out of necessity. Its ripe with Black Metal, Sludge,Hardcore, Horror film soundscapes, instrumental interludes and dissonant atmospherics. Patiently delivering a story that seems infinite, this septet runs the gamut of moods underneath Arnaud's plaintive and growling vocals. Avant-garde intellectualism sides with grace and intensity in the face of their depressive and grisly subject matter. Meticulously produced, I highly recommend listening to this one in headphones. Only...not before bedtime.

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