Christian Zanési - Le Paradoxe de la Femme-Poisson (INA-GRM, 1998)

Christian Zanési is one of my favorites among the later generation of GRM affiliates. He's at his best when exploring the more ethereal side of tape music, particularly in his ability to travel and inhabit space along the stereo spectrum. Le Paradoxe de la Femme-Poisson is his soundtrack to a Michel Kelemenis dance piece of the same name, which he realized at the Groupe de Musique Expérimentale in Marseille, France. The piece takes heavy cues from Homer's sirens, with Marjolaine Reymond's dreamy "mermaid" voice often dominating the sonic background. However, much of Zanési's touch here seems highly influenced by human movement, his sounds very acrobatic in nature. In addition, there is a very strong, albeit surreal, sense of place to the piece. While Le Paradoxe... is not his best (For me, that honor belongs to Stop! L'Horizon), the work certainly plays to his strengths and proves that imagination is still a strong presence in tape music.

Le Paradoxe de la Femme-Poisson & in .flac 1 & 2

Christian Zanési - Stop! L'Horizon (INA-GRM, 1996)

Christian Zanési is a French composer who studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique under the tutelage of Pierre Schaeffer and Guy Reibel. For the last two decades he's held close affiliation with the GRM while also maintaining a studio of his own. The three pieces presented here are stereophonic workouts intent on establishing, in Zanési's words, "a physical connection with the listener: that vibrant, organic being." In execution, this amounts to wide, dynamic sound environments doused in cavernous washes, interspersed with modulated breaths and not quote identifiable chirps and tinkerings. Played at a reasonable clip, Zanési succeeds in his aural goal, generating a sound field that deeply captivates the ear.

Stop! L'Horizon
& in .flac