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CD
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MELO 058CD
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Your Ear Knows Future is the second album by Brighton's Baikonour, aka Jean-Emmanuel Krieger. Three years on from For The Lonely Hearts Of The Cosmos, his acclaimed debut, Baikonour has delivered another burst of smart, proggy poptronica, bursting with Gallic charm and myriad, fully-realized ideas. Krieger was born in Versailles, France, the city that also spawned Air and Phoenix -- but it's Brighton, UK that he calls home and where the album was recorded, with Jean-Emmanuel playing all the instruments on the record bar the drums, which were played by Fujiya & Miyagi's Lee Adams. Your Ear Knows Future finds Baikonour making confident strides as an artist, turning in a collection of tracks that fuse electronica with motorik Krautrock and the dynamics of My Bloody Valentine and The Cocteau Twins. However, it never strays from Krieger's modus operandi: to mix electronic and traditional instruments and produce music with timeless quality. In describing individual tracks, Krieger cites Amon Düül 2, Popol Vuh, Harold Budd, Eno, Neu! Vangelis, Magma and Melody Nelson-era Gainsbourg as inspirations. The biggest influence, however, is Nepal. Krieger is a frequent visitor to South Asia, and has worked raising money for Tibetan refugees. He set up and runs his own charity organization, Help Rural Nepal. For this record, Krieger took each track title from phrases and names he has encountered there. "Shikarettes & Khukuris" are Nepalese cigarettes, "Chiru" is an antelope that lives on the Tibetan plateau and "Fly Tiger" is a Himalayan spider. "Ye Ama Pioo!," meanwhile, translates as "I'm having sex with your mum" in the Tamang language. He makes his music on computer, using emulations of classic '60s compressors and EQs. As well as a large selection of vintage guitars, keyboards and effects spanning the '60s, '70s and '80s, he always tries to select the correct element for the sound he's after.
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LP
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MELO 058LP
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LP version, limited to 250 copies.
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CD
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MELO 031CD
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Brighton, UK-based Jean-Emmanuel Krieger's debut full-length for Melodic. Named after a Soviet missile launch base in Khazakstan, Baikonour's distinct, prog-jazz flavored electronica takes its cues from a rich seam of like-minded artists that have been mined from Krieger's hometown of Versailles, including names such as Air, Super Discount and Alex Gopher. Jean-Emmanuel's own musical upbringing progressed through many stages, as is reflected in his own creative output, as the man himself admits. Growing up with "Pink Floyd from Dad and Marvin Gaye from Mum" he later found himself "obsessed with British indie-pop of the '80s, like Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine. I think you can hear a lot of guitars in my album and I've always been fascinated by guitars and the variety of sound you can get. This is why I like the Cocteau Twins, MBV and Sonic Youth as they have that in common." These days, however, you're more likely to find him plugged into a wide variety of styles, such as Jamaican music, Krautrock, as well as Indian music. What other influences? Alice Coltrane, Soft Machine, Os Mutantes, Television, Manuel Gottsching, Japanese noise, Neil Young, Eno, Cluster and Deuter, '60s psych, Scott Walker, Amon Tobin, Boards of Canada and Mouse on Mars. This intricate path of musical touchpoints has served to enrich Baikonour's own output with every flavor imaginable, steering from Kraut-influences to jazz and always underpinning each piece with, simply, great tuneage. For The Lonely Hearts Of The Cosmos adheres closely to its principles, and to the style and inspiration of the sounds he grew up with. Recorded and edited on a Mac using digital emulations of classic '60s compressors and EQs, this record lives by the oath of collaboration and was recorded in a truly pan-continental sense with live drums played by Lee Adams from Imitation Electric Piano except on "Hoku To Shin Ken" which was played by Eiji F. Morotomi and recorded in Tokyo, Japan, with additional guitar contributions from Etienne Rodes. The result is weirdly gorgeous, spiralling electronics punctuated by familiar, anthemic pop-song sounds.
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MELO 031LP
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12"
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MELO 022EP
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"It was only 18-months before Baikonour's new EP that the original EP (where these tracks originated from) came out. In true Melodic fashion, like a fine wine, maturity is something that takes time... either that or Melodic is very slow at getting records out. Let's go for the former; Baikonour, the electronicist on the Melodic stable that has that distinct prog-jazz-odyssey flavour brings forth his friends/remixers to the table.... As you'll soon find out each remix here is something very special and the one thing that runs in common is that all of the people who participated in this project are friends. For the initiated, Baikonour is Jean-Emmanuel Krieger, not only a resident of Melodic Records but inhabits the real world in Brighton. Named after the Soviet launch-base in Kazahkstan, Baikonour brings forth a typically French goujon of electronica, idiosyncratic yet accessible, progressive yet funky and warm. You may already have guessed from the name his Gallic origins; Versailles to be precise, home to such names as Air, Super Discount and Alex Gopher. The very water must be imbued with the essence of great electronic music." Mixes by: Amon Tobin, Gavouna, and Topo Giogio.
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