JEAN-PIERRE SACOMANNI AND JEAN-LUC BERTHELOT

Equilibre Thermique de l'igloo en phase de font

MPC and Somewhere In Time (2002)

review by Mark Morton

Most of the information on this recording was in French, which (my high school teachers would be glad to inform you) I do not understand. However music being universal, I did understand that and am pleased to say that the music inside was a refreshing surprise, just offbeat enough to be hard to classify (here's a soundscape, there's a Berlin-style sequence, here's some melodic-sounding ambience) and stand out in what is fast becoming a vast market.

The musicians apparently wrote separate pieces and sent them to each other's studios for further embellishment. Saccomani, who has a lighter style, wrote tracks 1,3,5, and 7 while Berthelot, who leans towards darker, more experimental sounds , wrote tracks 2, 4, and 6. The collaboration works, as Saccomani's tracks receive an extra contrasting dimension from Berthelot's contributions, while Berthelot's pieces get an infusion of calming melody to contrast with the darker tones within.

The artists accomplish their aims through the utilization of a lot of delay and pitch modulation, which provides a way of keeping the listener off balance and provides shape to the works, and by using the occasional single-line sequence pattern in an atmospheric manner rather than as the main foundation for improvisation. The 2 players are unabashed synthesists and make a variety of electronic sounds that no one would mistake for a piano sample. When the 2 players keep the mood light, as in "Prelude a l'apres midi d'un matelas sans resort," the opening track and my favorite, the collaboration becomes charming and fun. The wobbly pitch sounds, the atmospheric sequences, the periodic complex harmony, all combine to make a genre-crossover sound that is fun to hear. The artists prove adept at panning and delay and there are many synth washes, whooshing and whizzing sounds to keep the listener occupied. Indeed the intro to this piece sounded like many a Berlin School entrance of the past, except that the mood was relaxed and airy, not "heavy" and sometimes ponderous. String pads and filter sweeps dance around the themes that are developed minimally and then discarded before the first repeating sequence is presented. Unlike typical Berlin school compositions, the sequence does not take center stage, but stays in the background, augmenting the composition.

The second track, "Oscillo structure en equilbre incertain", sounds more mysterious, with harmonic complexity and the lack of much shape or structure. Many of the timbres, which tend to be bright throughout the recording, are modulated here in inventive ways.

The other tracks follow a similar pattern to the first 2, with only the sixth track, "Les temps insolent de l'espirit," failing to please me. It was a little too dark and experimental and never crossed the line into a successful hybrid of styles like the other pieces.

Although I have not heard these artists before, their assured composition and expert sound programming reveal that they are experienced synthesists. The music carries enough emotional weight that I found myself enjoying repeated listenings more than the initial one. I hope that their collaborative efforts do not cease here. I can recommend this to anyone who enjoys electronic music that leans toward ambient but avoids cliché.