Thursday, August 12, 2010

Yoran - Montparnasse 7" EP (Unbalance, 1981)

Tracklisting

Side A
Concert Maillol
Je Derve Avec Láir

Side B
Montparnasse
La Bou.....

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for being given the privilege to post on this very fine blog. I'll try to make my posts here as worthwhile as my record collection and writing abilities allow!

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This is the first solo output by Yoran, released shortly after his stint as a bassist with punk rockers Laughin' Nose. Released on Naoto Hayashis legendary Unbalance label (famous for putting out Hijokaidans first album, among other things, during its brief existence) in 1981, this very singular EP is a far cry from both his previous and subsequent musical efforts.

The tracks contained here are comprised of cut-up and collaged recordings from various unspecified french movies intertwined with the occasional spoken word segments - all seemingly recorded using a cheap-o cassette player making for quite the lo-fi work. Nevertheless, "Montparnasse" harbors a very intriguing surreal atmosphere - just check out the later part of "Concert Maillol" with it's haunting looped piano, indistinct sound samples and Yorans bizarre hummings, mumblings and fumblings (of the tape recorder). I think this would sit well as the soundtrack to any fever dream.

Another favorite is the melancholic and paranoid title track and the ethereal dialogue-ladden murkiness of "Je Derve Avec Láir", but reviews of individual tracks feel pointless as this is definitely meant to be consumed whole. For maximum impact; play this very late at night.

"Montparnasse" was followed up by two more singles (of a totally different nature, I should add) before Yoran temporarily disappeared from the music scene. He later reemerged as a trance DJ under the moniker Yoji Biomehanika and regularly plays at raves all over the world. Nevertheless, I'd say that his main musical legacy lie within the three singles he put out in the early eighties.

Again, I'd wish to give my thanks for being granted to post here on Stalking Duppi, and I sincerely hope you'll all enjoy this outlandish little EP.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow nice description really looking forward to hearing _ thank you
rus

Anonymous said...

dear all
thank you for this wonderful 45 t
i stay in Osaka for a few days and I'll get this pearl

rainier