Space Art – Entrevues

1 review for Space Art – Entrevues

1. 

   Sylvain Lupari – 2022-11-22

   To tell you about the time spent trying to tame this album! And yet … And yet, I drank every note of Trip in the Center Head and the eponymous album at the end of the 70’s. And yet, from the first piano chords in Lunes I noticed a little colder side. There’s that buzz, too, lurking around this digital sequenced momentum. I was a little lost, as if confused! It was not this sound recollection that was wandering somewhere in my memories. The synth on the other hand was the same. And when its so melodious chant got lost in the heavy strikes of percussions, in order to structure a Jazz Lounge or even a cosmic Blues, with this appearance of saxophone taking the place of a false guitar. I was more than confused. And what about the progressive Jazz of Psychadeliose? I was definitely not in my place. Especially that Retrouvailles sounded alike. Synth with aromas of saxophone and nervous percussions. I thought of hearing Chick Corea. I stopped ever y thing! And I put it in my drawer 13. It was late January 2020! Deserted Island Music kicked off the rebirth of Space Art with only a vinyl version of ENTREVUES. At the time I asked Remy Stroomer, the owner of DIM, if this vinyl was going to become a CD or a digital format. He wasn’t sure. Still unable to tame it, I discussed it with Remy, I gave up the idea of writing a review that would be unfavorable because I didn’t like the genre, nor this sound. The months passed and I did try a few listenings Until the album was officially released in CD and in download format in early December. So, I listened to the first 2 albums of the famous French duo. From now on, I was ready to talk to you about ENTREVUES.

   Lunes’ piano is dazzling. Descending lazily from its keyboard, the resonance of its notes meets keyboard riffs which draw improvised circles until it crosses the synth. The latter’s air is as beautiful than melancholic. It cooes with ease and with that old-fashioned tone up until it gets harpooned by the drums and a heavy suggestive bassline. Lunes comes down from its throne to dance in the arms of a slow cosmic dance with a Blues aroma. Heavy and whirling like in this first dance with my first girlfriend, the music cannot hide its EM petticoat which surrounds it with sequences fluttering in this mist without drizzle, unique to the art of electronic music. First observation, and comparison for comparison; this first title of ENTREVUES is essentially built on the same kind of compositions that we find on the first 2 albums of Space Art. Short and structured compositions around refrains and verses, obviously without words, with a place for solos. That’s the backbone of this new album where each track flirts with an average of 4 minutes, like in the years 77-78, with a few exceptions. Dominique Perrier’s synth is still oneiric with its perfumes of a trumpeter sitting on a quarter of the moon. This distinctive sound, based on a mix of trumpet and guitar, is st i ll dominant. Even the guitar’s patches are amazing. Roger Rizzitelli’s drums have become those of his son Tommy. And in no way the drum pattern has lost a second of surgical precision, slowly bringing me to my senses. In an attentive listening trapped in my Totems, this Space Art’s comeback album also enjoys a very good realization with a sound as precise as it is frank in a sound envelope which enhances the value of the compositions all sculpted around a recurring pattern, short and lively tracks. And as much Psychadeliose had initially recommended to me to give up, as its madness became contagious, and as much I like this opening filled with chimes sequenced la King Crimson (Larks’ Tongues in Aspic). This duality between the ferocious drums and its counterweight in sequences, while the synth seems above this percussive melee while blowing harmonies which take the form of broken solos on the reefs of a lightning electronic Jazz-Rock, is a summit. efficiency here. Take out your h e adphones and sharpen your eardrums, the joy is in the percussions! Sorry, but Retrouvailles always has the same effect on me.

   A poignant title with an intense synth-guitar solo and a majestic contemporary EM hymn, Meteo offers us a structure armed with a movement of the sequencer that brings us closer to the excellent L’obsession D’Archibald that we find on Trip in the Center Head. The title climbs into our emotions with a movement of bass-sequences as sustained as this Roger Waters’ in One of These Days. Very structured, the movement runs in a good electronic rock where clings the presence of a synth imitating a guitar and which brings back the unbridled rhythm in a melodious phase decorated with a magnificent solo. Meteo goes back to an electronic rock mode for its last rhythm lap before succumbing to another phase of intensity that brings it to its final. A great track with great guitar! The more we go, the more ENTREVUES emerges with Space Art’s old coat of arms! Inox falls between our ears with a heavy and slow rhythm, like a good electronic slow. The sound travels between yesterday and today with these aromas of guitar magnetized by an excellent bass, played here by Michel Valy, which even marries the flamboyance of this synth-guitar sound combination. A big slow with a very good drum! Atmosphere is a mainly built in the same mold of cosmic slow beat with a dialogue-style synth, sounding a bit like Jean-Michel Jarre, in its second lap. The attack of Space News makes us jump with a nervous quivering rhythm to finally feed on an acid rock eyeing towards Techno. What should be remembered is this wild rhythm in a dynamic decor la Daft Punk where the vocoder is not unpleasant at all. Powerful, intense and hammering! Like 2B and its pulsating rhythm to make this synth-guitar bawl. The title falls in a powerful and intense slow with arpeggios running in harmonious loops on another rhythm of lead. The album ends with an incendiary version of Nous Savons T o ut, remixed and vitaminized by Diakar. We are in a solid techno-rave mode here! I have the vinyl version of this ENTREVUES, so it’s the only edition that includes Space News. Now, the CD version comes with a different order for 2B to end with Drone and Psychadeliose (Remyx), while the download version offers only 8 tracks. Psychadeliose (Remyx) is this 8th title and is preceded by 2B. Drone has nothing of its title with a synth-pop driven by a synth in dialogue mode. Structured according to the same principle as the other titles, it offers a semi-catchy rhythm with a short verse animated by a synth-guitar solo which will return in the final with a more inspiring guitar offering. This is the guide to the new IEM (Intelligent Electronic Music)! Psychadeliose (Remyx) is less violent while being more rock. Lively rock with an approach of street gang rhythm leaping with a victorious allure being king of its alley. If you have a title not to be missed, this is it! In this case, we must f o rget Nous Savons Tout (Remixed by Diakar). One day, there may be a best of in order to find these titles. One day! Who knows? Editions of the eponymous album and Trip in the Center Head remastered from the original soundtracks would therefore also be welcome. In the meantime, there is this ENTREVUES!

   From yesterday to today, the musical structure of Space Art has not changed with short, well-structured titles. The sound is not the same, in particular this audacious synthesized guitar which is absolutely brilliant and these percussions whose surgical strikes carry us from rock to Jazz without forgetting these lascivious cosmic Blues. A solid album whose 3 versions are mixed independently of the visions of Patrick Pelamourgues, who mastered the vinyl edition while Michel Geiss took care of the CD and downloadable editions. The moral here is to take your time before writing that this ENTREVUES is an excellent album with such punchy, dynamic music that deserves its place in a d iscography separated by almost 40 years …

   2021. Sylvain Lupari