Alain Meunier – Voyage aux fonds de la mer

To my knowledge, this is Alain Meunier‘s unique LP release – and not to be confused with French classical music cellist Alain Meunier. Titled Voyage aux Fonds de la Mer, or A Trip to the Bottom of the Sea, it is a rare example of electronic music on Le Kiosque d’Orphée. My copy doesn’t come with any information, though there was perhaps, in typical K.O. fashion, some xeroxed info sheet enclosed that is missing here. The Discogs page apparently knows better and lists a precise instrumentation as well as guest musician Christine Meunier on Hohner Clavinet on the 1st side, and that it was recorded and mixed in the Bordeaux area.

♫ Starting with an exquisite acoustic guitar track, the LP only progressively indulges into pure electronic endeavors to become a genuine, instrumental Kosmische Musik travelogue in the tradition of Pascal Comelade’s Fluence project (1975) or Richard Pinhas’ Chronolyse (1976). Aquatic, floating synth sounds emerges on track #2, graced by a sublime Fripp-ian guitar melody. Meunier unleashes the beast on #3: a Korg 800 DV duophonic, analog synthesizer (nice YouTube demo here), used by the likes of Vangelis or Kitaro. The next one, Promenade avec les Poissons, or A Walk with the Fishes, is a tripping, almost acid house instrumental. After #4, a short, funny interlude about sea slugs (!), the pièce de résistance is the epic, side-long Les Épaves, a stately, hypnotic exploration of underwater worlds by means of undulating cosmo-synth lines, a 23 minute ride on electronic music waves through semi-hypnagogic hazes. Happy diving!

01 Ballade (Sur les Rochers) (2:34)
02 Descente dans ce Monde Inconnu I-IV (6:18)
03 Promenade avec les Poissons (9:40)
04 Aplysia Depilans (Lièvre de Mer) (2:07)
05 Les Épaves I-V (23:08)

Total time 43:47
LP released by Le Kiosque d’Orphée, ref. KO 09.0410, France, 1979

Download option 1

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