Julien Ash & Philippe Neau :: Notes de saisons (Lotophagus)

At once conceptual and profoundly sentient, Notes de saisons guides the listener through a somber canopy (flowing, blurry textures and windy chimes, distant echoing voices and detached notes), occasionally punctuated by fragile and ethereal light (designed through sinuous, melodious timbres and repetitive acoustic microtonal patterns).

Through a vast palette of tonal colors

Lotophagus Records is a new but rapidly growing indie label based in France whose objective is to occupy a singular and vital position in the sphere of plural sound explorations: from sonic meditations to experimental pop, with slight incursions into electro-acoustic research. The adventurous perspective, and the constructive and imaginative sonic canvas brought to the fore by the label, is embodied in this new collaborative effort between Julien Ash and Philippe Neau. Connected to other small publishing entities (La Voix dans le désert, Klendathu Records), Lotophagus Records introduces a network of producers and sound artists who, in one unified movement, express the desire to participate in challenging and groundbreaking innovative music rooted in electronics, collage sound, noise rock, and more.

In collaboration or solo, the two sound artists behind this intriguing Notes de saisons have already released a handful of works, notably for Bulgarian Mahorka Records, blending flourishing melodic lines, unusual manipulated sound effects, discreet avant-garde accents, and soothing audioscapes. Notes de saisons offers a brilliant sonic excursion through a vast palette of tonal colors embedded in erratic field recordings and various sound collages. At once conceptual and profoundly sentient, this body of pieces guides the listener through a somber canopy (flowing, blurry textures and windy chimes, distant echoing voices and detached notes), occasionally punctuated by fragile and ethereal light (designed through sinuous, melodious timbres and repetitive acoustic microtonal patterns).

All in all, an enveloping, disorienting, woozy, intricate, and haunting glitch-esque ambient orchestration that delivers abundant details to soothe the mind or enthrall it. Highly recommended for those who enjoy aural soundscapes infused with micro-sounds, tense drones, and cloudy field recordings (Ben Vida, Claire Roussay, Chris Watson, Stephen Vitiello, Leila Bordreuil, Zan Trow et al). Notes de saisons is a convincing, lively, environmental, and poetical electroacoustic dialogue—a darkly flowing music that won’t leave the listener indifferent.

Notes de saisons is available on Lotophagus. [Bandcamp]