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PRICE:
$17.50
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Meridiens
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
IDA 144LP IDA 144LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
6/4/2021

LP version. Includes download. An overall map... Ici D'Ailleurs used to enjoy presenting Chapelier Fou's work using the idea of music in the form of a treasure hunt. However, while the phrase in itself it still just as relevant today, the label would never have imagined that it would become such an integral part of one of his albums. Or two of his albums to be perfectly exact -- Méridiens and Parallèles (IDA 145CD/LP). Two records with twelve songs each which answer each other back in the form of anagrams. The starting point is a sombre night in Uqbar... Chapelier Fou's opening reference to Borgès was obviously not made by chance. He subsequently confides in the listener the objective of his diptych, namely to combine reality with fiction to question certainties and our relationships with the imaginary sphere, using his traditional classical-contemporary electronic approach. Throughout Méridiens, each composition can be seen as a universe in itself or a specific landscape with its own temporality. Proof of this is the introduction to the chamber music format composed for and performed by only strings which can only be given the date we want to give it. This is "État Nain" in which violins are played like guitars. In some parts you find the spirit of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and the idea of cheering up classical instruments and not taking everything too seriously. In other parts, you find something close to a mischievous and childish unplugged grunge anthem that could be from the French series Les Shadoks. This mischievous view of things is shown to full effect in "Am Scharchtensee". The introduction shows Chapelier Fou's whole classical universe and mastery of orchestration in which "modular" electronics provide a subtle and discreet backdrop. Then, the record suddenly switches to a surrealist dialogue between these classical sounds and modular synthesizers with the flavor of the German pioneers Kluster/Harmonia, to provide an example. "La vie de cocagne confirms" this choice of total freedom. It's traditional music with old sounds, a kind of forgotten bourrée (old French dance) in which electronic sounds disturb the established order and thus reach another musical dimension. "Le méridien du Péricarde" followed by "Désert de Sonora" push this idea of a trompe l'oreille and a hall of mirrors even further. The latter track ends almost like a catchy '80s melody and we can no longer find any logical meaning.