A POSSIBLE WAY OF SPENDING TIME		  
back

 

TRACKLIST :
1. anna-thema
4'43
2. yesterday
4'50
3. pause 4
1'17
4. miljo zon
5'07
5. felt melt
5'22
6. pause 5
1'06
7. erythree
4'19
8. modulo pi
4'16
9. pause 7
1'40
10. trois idees fixes
4'45
11. compose organique volatil
10'56
   
 
48'21


this album was written and produced in 2001 - it was released in april 2002 on Peter, i'm flying !


-------REVIEWS--------
 
LES INROCKS 05/2002
Romantique et lancinante, une électronique pour grands enfants. Activiste d'une électronica aux motifs simples et ondulants, le Nantais melodium sort ses disques sur des labels du monde entier: normal, il y a partout de grands enfants qui ont besoin que des synthés sensibles jouent la BO de leur propre nostalgie – les jouets, casimir ou les premiers émois. Paisible comme un emer d'huile (on pense à Isan ou Lali Puna), même si des requins marteaux régulent les rythmes.
--Benjamin Montour
MAGIC 06/2002
Ce Nantais est un Petit Prince en quête de réponse. Tout comme certains affichaient une certaine « surdité » doublée d'une fossette, ce garçon discret et effacé vient de sortir un second album intime et important. C'est moins de côté de Dominique A que de chez Warp qu'il faudra trouver les clés de cette cellule pour jeune solitaire mélancolique. On l'imagine amateur de thé et bidouilleur gêné face à son matériel informatique trop préscient. Un outil froid et obéissant dont il va pourtant extraire les plus belle détresses et de grandes notes saturniennes. La mélodie affable mais triste rebondit sur l'écran, les scories électroniques en font leur affaire. Mais on ne peut, à l'écoute, croire ou déceler d'infortune dans les divagations surlignées par un sens de la mélodie touchant et fragile. On sent que le coeur a fait un pacte avec l'intelligence pour trouver un juste équilibre à ces petits voyages sensuels. Comme son titre l'indique, 'a possible way of spending time' joue avec l'espace-temps, brouillant électroniquement les sentiments, laissant chaque âme le soin de s'inventer son propre mélo, son mythe, son minuscule bonheur égoïste. Il y a de l'amour et du scepticisme dans ce disque. Ce qui en fait un objet rare et précieux.
--Jean-Fabien Leclanche.
THE MILK FACTORY 08/2002
A classically trained pianist, Laurent Girard discovered electronic music only five years ago, when he made the acquisition of a synthesizer. Two years later, he sent a first tape to London-based label Tugboat, then a second a few weeks later. Label boss Glenn Johnson passed them onto Static Caravan who released a first 7”. Followed a few more singles for a variety of labels and a first album, QuietNoiseArea, published by Disasters By Choice in 2001. These releases as Melodium have gained Girard a lot of recognition around the world. However, his native country still seems reticent, but all could be changing with this second album.
Based in Nantes, South Brittany, Girard has teamed up with new French label Peter I’m Flying! to release A Possible Way Of Spending Time. Chronologically, this album is actually his third, its predecessor being released later on this year by New York label Audiodregs. The music created by Girard belongs to a long line of melancholic electronica, fed with beautiful sounds and acoustic elements. Reminiscent of Boards Of Canada, Isan or Múm, A Possible Way Of Spending Time is a fascinating collection of warm melodic instrumentals, partly built around guitar and piano sounds wrapped in blankets of analogue waves. His crisp languorous beats and soundscapes might not be entirely original, but Girard demonstrates here a truly personal approach to compositions and textures. From the delicate Miljo-Zon, Pause 5 or Modulo Pi to the more upfront Anna-thema, Yesterday and Trois Idées Fixes, his minimal structures seem to develop in multiple directions at once, concentrating each time on the evocative elements of the track more than on the technical input. The closing track, Composé Organique Volatil, is a perfect demonstration of the fine balance achieved by Melodium. Here, Girard works simultaneously on electronic and acoustic grounds, shifting between them at regular interval by inserting new melodic lines, to finally amalgamate them.
If the album lacks variety slightly, it is however very consistent and interesting all the way through. The music created by Laurent Girard is refined and subtle; his classical background proves to integrate perfectly with his more contemporary form of expression. Melodium is definitely a name to remember.