#261 Sí, esa fue la primera sintonía con sintetizadores que escuché... los ponían en la tele a deshoras.
Y me costó años dar con él, pero tirando del hilo descubrí a otros artistas franceses de la época y me sorprendió que hubo muchos que hicieron breves incursiones en la síntesis durante los años 70 y la mayoría no siguieron, pero hubieron muchos discos y muchos artistas.
Aunque no tenía mucho que ver con la BerlinSchool en la mayoría de casos.
https://www.self-titledmag.com/stream-cosmic-machine-and-read-an-interview-with-justice-about-french-electronic-music-from-the-70s/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMwv6_EuIAbKpmqdlhFQqHeGgmdH11uFY
some recommended stuff for the Kosmiche, Progressive Electronic, Emusic crowd! New Age Free!
*Archaia - Archaia (1977)
Heldon fans take note. Hard boiled mixture of Heldon / Magma influences resulting in an extremely intense and powerful brew.
*Jean-Baptiste Barriere - Pandemonium Ville Ouverte (1975)
Non Jamais L’Esperance (1976)
Electronics similar to Tangerine Dream in style, but darker and with a more violent sound.
*Didier Bocquet - Voyage Cerebral (1979)
Sequences (1980)
Didier Bocquet released several albums of Electronic Music in Klaus Schulze vein during the 70's and 80's.
*Christian Boule - Non Fiction (1979)
Christian Boule played guitar with Clearlight, Gong and Lard Free. It contains guitar-fronted Space Rock / synthesizer music.
*Francois Breant - Sons Optiques (1978)
Keyboard prog / Electronic Music. Excellent studio wizardry and some guest musicians. At times hints at Zeuhl.
*Clearlight - Symphony (1973)
Forever Blowing Bubbles (1975)
Visions (1978)
Cyrille Verdeaux’s band from the seventies.
*Delired Chameleon Family - Delired Chameleon Family (1974)
Soundtrack featuring Cyrille Verdeaux, Christian Boule, Joel Dugrenot, Gilbert Artmann, Tim Blake and others, sounds like Clearlight.
*Eden - Aura (1979)
French duo whose music has been described as a cross between Schicke, Fuhrs & Frohling and Bo Hansson, symphonic electronics with a "progrock" edge.
*Fluence - Fluence (1976)
With Richard Pinhas. Music by Pascal Comelade, similar to Heldon.
*Patrick Gauthier - Bebe Godzilla (1980)
Patrick Gauthier was the keyboardist of Heldon and Weidorje. Synth music with jazz influences, includes Richard Pinhas, Bernard Paganotti, Benoit Widemann, Didier Batard and others.
*Jean Philippe Goude - Drones (1980)
Classic Electronic to zeuhl-influenced stuff. Jean Philippe Goude was member of Weidorje.
*Georges Grunblatt - K-Priss (1977)
Very much in the style of Heldon. A French classic. With Didier Batard, Richard Pinhas, Francois Auger and others.
*Heldon - Allez Teia (1975)
Agneta Nilsson (1976)
Un Reve sans Consequence Speciale (1976)
Stand By (1979)
French electronic band led by Richard Pinhas. If you're looking for really uncompromising and rough music - this is it. Very neurotic and tough. I should probably warn some people here: this is music not for the faint-hearted! It's quite aggressive stuff, usually very alien sounding, with cold and abstract synthetic drive. If you like sweet twittering music for relaxation, you will probably have a heart attack when listening to this.
*Hydravion - Hydravion (1977)
Stratos Airlines (1979)
Similar to Jarre, albeit more exotic. Music by Philippe Besombes(Pole)
*Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene (1976)
Equinoxe (1978)
Zoolook (1984)
Rendez-Vous (1986)
Oxygene
A classic which should be in every collection, his best work so far.
Equinoxe
Same style as Oxygene. The second classic.
Zoolook
Probably his most experimental one.
Rendez-Vous
Great atmosphere, but some tracks are just plain electronic pop.
*Lard Free - Lard Free (1973)
I’m Around about Midnight (1975)
Spirale Malax (1977)
Gilbert Artmann's band. Very similar to Heldon, with the same sort of abstract and aggressive drive. Heavy synthetics and electronic guitar soloing, together with rather wild sax outbursts. A classic example (and decidedly uncommercial) of French electronic scene. Richard Pinhas guests on the second album.
*Magma (France) - Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (1973)
Kohntarkosz (1974)
Udu Wudu (1976)
A relic of French progressive scene. Magma were the creators of musical style known today as "zeuhl" music. The band's drummer, Christian Vander, invented his own language called the Kobaian, in which the band sang sci-fi stories about a peaceful race living on a distant planet Kobaia and their relationships with the people of the Earth. With it's shattering bass lines, super eccentric vocals, darkish keyboard sounds and heavily repetitive structure, Magma's music is nothing for the faint-hearted. The band has influenced a host of musicans, not only in rock music, but also in the electronic camp, the good example being Peter Frohmader. For their more electronic sound, check out Udu Wudu.
*Alain Markusfeld - Le Desert Noir (1977)
Platock (1978)
Contemporus (1979)
Le Desert Noir is more in the Space Rock mould, while Contemporus is a very synth-oriented effort.
*Ose - Adonia (1978)
Music by Herve Picart with Richard Pinhas. Lard Free style.
*Richard Pinhas - Chronolyse (1976)
Rhizosphere (1977)
Iceland (1980)
French synthesist and experimentator, leader of Heldon. Pinhas is a very interesting character who has participated in many French electronic, progressive and experimental projects. His albums are classics and well worth hunting.
*Jean-Luc Ponty - Individual Choice (1983)
Open Mind (1984)
Jean-Luc Ponty is the famous electric violin player, he has a decent discography but the above two albums may be the most interesting ones for EM fans.
*Pulsar - Pollen (1975)
The Strands of the Future (1976)
Halloween (1977)
French group that mixed spacey Symphonic Rock with Electronic Music, not exactly one of my favorites.
*Spacecraft - Paradoxe (1975)
Similar to electronic spacey excursions of Ash Ra Tempel / Ashra.
*Urban Sax - Urban Sax 1 (1977)
Urban Sax 2 (1978)
Paradise Lost (1982) (with Pierre Henry)
Gilbert Artmann's experimental project that included huge (up to 27) saxophone orchestra.
*Patrick Vian - Bruits et Temps Analogues (1975)
A cosmic classic in Schulze / Pinhas vein.
*Video Liszt -Ektakrom Killer (1981)
Synth music produced by Richard Pinhas. Halfway between Pinhas' style and melodic ala Jean Michel Jarre.
*Richard Vimal - Transparences (1977)
Migrations (1978)
Aquarythmies (1980)
A classic of French electronic scene.
*Weidorje - Weidorje (1978)
A group of ex-Magma musicians doing jazzy synth fusion. Hints of Heldon and, naturally, Magma. Some wordless vocals.
*Benoit Widemann - Stress! (1977)
Tsunami (1979)
Former member of Heldon and Magma. His music sounds like a mix of the said groups, based on synthesizers.
*Bernard Xolotl - Prophecy (1980) (with Cyrille Verdeaux)
Procession (1981) (with Daniel Kobialka)
Last Wave (1982)
French synthesist. He is a true nomad and has travelled all over the world. Some of his albums feature Cyrille Verdeaux and Daniel Kobialka.
*Zed - Visions of Dune (1979)
Zed is Bernard Szajner. A classic of French electronic scene. Sometimes reminds of Heldon.