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LP
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TU 001LP
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"Akusmi is the new project moniker of French-born, London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Pascal Bideau, who signs to the new Tonal Union imprint for the release of his album Fleeting Future. With its hallucinatory, genre-defying blend of minimalism, cosmic jazz and Fourth World influences, and in its quest for optimism in the face of unknown and limitless possibility. Fleeting Future stands apart as an inventive and inspirational debut. The creation of the album's richly colorful and multi-layered sound world was originally inspired by Bideau's journey to Indonesia, where he immersed himself in traditional Gamelan and gong music. Many of the themes, motifs and melodies on Fleeting Future seed from the Slendro scale, one of the essential tuning systems used in Gamelan. However it is not musical scales, but scales as in the size or extent of things that most fascinates Bideau, specifically he explains; 'the compelling way things dramatically change when you shift from any given scale to another.' The album connects directly to nature and the wider world in its evocation of perceptive shifts and transitions from microscopic to macro scale, as evidenced by the opening title track 'Fleeting Future', on which a simple dotted saxophone line morphs and billows into synths, brass and strings, indicating the musical voyage that lies ahead. Like the start of a journey or adventure it is full of anticipation, its arborescent growth conveying the optimism of the unknown and of limitless possibility. The album centrepiece 'Neo Tokyo' is a vibrating, ebullient mass of colliding elements which feels like zooming in to the electron level, as it teeters on the edge of chaos. The title is a reference to Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, a dizzying work of art set in a sprawling futuristic metropolis. Fleeting Future was composed and recorded by Bideau between 2017 and 2019 in his North London studio and features additional contributions recorded in Berlin by Florian Juncker (trombone), Ruth Velten (saxophone) and regular collaborator Daniel Brandt of Brandt Brauer Frick (drums / electronic percussion). Having been living through uncertain times, one thing that keeps spiraling into the unknown is the future."
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TU 003LP
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"London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Akusmi presents Lines, an exhilarating new collection of works born from the desire to take where the acclaimed debut album Fleeting Future left off -- in search of new forms. Formed with a sense of urgency and a reductive approach, Lines is almost entirely comprised of alto saxophone, clarinet and piano, with embellishments of ambience and minimal percussive elements. Recorded in full at his home studio in London, Pascal Bideau speaks about the process: 'I wanted to go a bit more horizontal and ambient, work with layers of lines, might they be dotted or straight, and leave them to unfold and see where they would take me.' 'Secant' is the electrifying and cinematic opener, emerging with the main motif deriving from the recording sessions of Fleeting Future. It's distinct sound echoes New York, a homage in part to the works of Steve Reich and inspired also by train travels across the English countryside. Rhythmical looping pianos unite with shifting strings that build to a symphony of hypnotic rich layers, towards a euphoric and filmic climax."
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TU 003LE-LP
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"London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Akusmi presents Lines, an exhilarating new collection of works born from the desire to take where the acclaimed debut album Fleeting Future left off -- in search of new forms. Formed with a sense of urgency and a reductive approach, Lines is almost entirely comprised of alto saxophone, clarinet and piano, with embellishments of ambience and minimal percussive elements. Recorded in full at his home studio in London, Pascal Bideau speaks about the process: 'I wanted to go a bit more horizontal and ambient, work with layers of lines, might they be dotted or straight, and leave them to unfold and see where they would take me.' 'Secant' is the electrifying and cinematic opener, emerging with the main motif deriving from the recording sessions of Fleeting Future. It's distinct sound echoes New York, a homage in part to the works of Steve Reich and inspired also by train travels across the English countryside. Rhythmical looping pianos unite with shifting strings that build to a symphony of hypnotic rich layers, towards a euphoric and filmic climax. 'Oblique,' on the other hand is otherworldly and hopeful, a breathtaking musical meeting between jazz and ambient minimalist music. Rich layered saxophones sound a patterned melody, meshed with dotted piano, swirling electronics and percussive hits, before deep-diving into shimmering ambient tones echoing like summer rainfall against windows. Akusmi uniquely finds the spaces in between experimental, crossover classical and ambient music. 'Parallel' is the ambient companion to the acclaimed title track 'Fleeting Future,' featuring a stripped back chord progression constructed with less order and written render. 'Tangent' is a pointillist piece that stemmed from a session with friend and collaborator Daniel Brandt. Cyclical guitars loop ebb and flow reminiscent of Manuel Göttsching."
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