Dec 5, 2018

RhoDeo 1848 Aetix

Hello,


Today's artists are a French cold wave group, formed in Denain, near Lille, France in 1980 by brothers Philippe and Hervé Lomprez. They are mainly active during the 1980s and 1990s.....N'Joy

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Centered around brothers Philippe and Hervé Lomprez, Trisomie 21 (often abbreviated to T21) are a French cold wave group who have endured since the early '80s, spanning styles such as brooding, experimental post-punk as well as a more danceable synth pop sound. The band formed in 1981, taking their name from trisomy 21, the medical term for the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome. The two Lomprez brothers were initially joined by keyboard player Jean-Michel Matuszak (who also served as their manager) and bassist Pascal Tison, and their music was influenced by dark post-punk acts like Joy Division and the Cure as well as the experimentation of the Residents and Yello. Belgian label Stechak released T21's debut mini-album, Le Repos des Enfants Heureux, in 1983. Bassist Laurent Dagnicourt replaced Tison for the group's 1984 full-length Passions Divisées. Emphasizing the band's rhythm section while keeping their keyboard-heavy experimentation intact, the album included the haunting "La Fête Triste," which would emerge as one of their signature tunes.


Following two successful concerts in Belgium, T21 signed to Brussels-based industrial/goth label Play It Again Sam, greatly increasing their visibility. The 1985 EP Wait & Dance was issued by PIAS' short-lived Scarface imprint, followed by the 1986 full-length Chapter IV: Le Je-Ne-Sais-Quoi et le Presque Rien, which contained the group's biggest hit, "The Last Song." A re-recorded, remixed version of the album appeared in 1987, as did the full-length Million Lights, which appeared on PIAS proper following the Scarface sublabel's closure. The album was created solely by the Lomprez brothers, without a bass player, and was significantly more electronic than their past material. Arriving in 1988, Works marked the debut of guitarist Bruno Objoie, who also contributed to the more atmospheric Plays the Pictures (1989) and live album Raw Material (1990).


The 1992 full-length Distant Voices, which featured Tuxedomoon violinist Blaine Reininger and backing vocalist Lena Kane, found the group experimenting with jazz, pop, and cinematic textures, resulting in some of their strangest yet most accessible work. However, disputes with their label would delay their next album by several years. Following the release of three compilation CDs, 1987's ambient-influenced Gohohako would be T21's final album for PIAS.

The group went on hiatus for a while, but returned in 2003, when they were asked to remix the song "Le Grand Secret" by French pop/rock band Indochine. The comeback album Happy Mystery Child was released by Le Maquis in 2004, followed by a series of remix albums featuring producers from throughout the techno, electro, and EBM scenes. In 2007, the Belgian label Alfa Matrix released T21's live album Rendez-Vous en France, some copies of which included a CD of early rarities and demos. The group's final release on Le Maquis, 2009's Black Label, was one of their heavier, more driving releases.

The group embarked on what they assumed would be their final tour, playing one last gig in Brussels. However, the Lomprez brothers secretly returned to the studio in 2017, with early member Tison contributing to some of the sessions. The full-length Elegance Never Dies was released by the group's own Chromo Music Production by the end of the year, and the group toured throughout Europe in support of the album. Additionally, the American label Dark Entries released Chapter I-IV, a vinyl box set containing expanded editions of T21's first four records, which were also reissued individually. The group also released a three-CD box set of early material titled Originally in 2018.


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"Passions divisées" is a really interesting coldwave record. The Lomprez brothers apply their maximalist approach to minimal wave which results in fairly rich sound, with interesting drum patterns and synth arrangements. However, these 'brooding' attempts at gothic vocal delivery is really unfitting and even irritating at times. Unfortunately, this really takes away from the excellent composition. That said on Is Anybody Home ? Trisomie 21 created a track where vocals don't suck; they even made them fucking amazing.

Even though by 1983 the new-wave movement (and all it's subsidiaries) was a bit long in the tooth, Trisomie 21 delivered a charming EP with gusto and finesse. It contained ghostly waltzes ("Il Se Noie"), bass-laden (faux Western?) wave-themes with an abundance of sound-effects ("There Is Something Strange Tonight"), elegant -almost spectral- catatonic dark-wave ("Logical Animals"), plus wave serenades with fragmented arrangements - leading to a  spectacular display of ectoplasmic fireworks ("Coming From Darkness"). So the record ends and once the silence is back, one gets the impression that the Trisomies 21 could not have started their musical journey better.  In the future would be followed by many other jobs, but Le Repos des Enfants Heureux, is, and remains in effect still today, one of the leaders of their great and unfortunately too ignored career.



Trisomie 21 - The First Songs (flac  354mb)

Passions Divisées
01 See The Devil In Me 6:25
02 Relapse 6:50
03 Djakarta 3:50
04 Moving By You 1:50
05 Is Anybody Home ? (Part 1) 3:40
06 La Fête Triste 6:35
07 No Way 4:10
08 Love For A Life 5:20
Le Repos Des Enfants Heureux
09 Il Se Noie 4:25
10 There's Something Strange Tonight 4:45
11 Logical Animals 5:10
12 Coming From The Darkness 6:30
13 Breaking Down 4:20

Trisomie 21 - The First Songs  (ogg   154mb)

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For their fourth album the Lomprez brothers spent September and October of 1985 recording nine new compositions. In January 1986 Chapter IV, Le Je-ne-sais quoi et le presque-rien was released by PIAS sub-label Scarface. The title came from a 1957 book by French philosopher and musicologist Vladimir Jankélévitch. The songs on the album, including the emblematic The Last Song , were captivating, original and without concession. This record further opened the door to new opportunities, and the band's music spread further internationally. Sadly some of the songs had phase related problems and caused partial cancelation playing back monophonically, so the band remixed and re-recorded the songs and reissued them on CD only in 1987. Added here the remixes/re-recordings as bonus tracks. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. . The album gives a so-strange feeling to the songs, the structures are unpredictable, the beats are syncoped, yet it is very emotional and powerful.



 Trisomie 21 - Chapter IV and Wait and Dance Remixes (flac  316mb)

01 The Last Song (Re-Recorded) 4:36
02 There's No Trouble There (Remixed) 4:42
03 Memories (Re-Recorded) 4:35
04 Pleasure (Remixed) 3:43
05 The Cave And The Light (Remixed) 2:18
06 Night Fly (Remixed + New Edit) 4:47
07 Is Anybody Home (Part 2) (Remixed + New Edit) 5:10
08 Is Anybody Home (Part 3) (Remixed) 2:52
09 Your Dream (Remixed) 4:10
10 Waiting For (Remixed + New Vocals) 3:35
11 Crying Wolf (Remixed) 3:59
12 Relapse II (Remixed) 3:19
13 Shadow Of Time (Remixed) 3:44
14 Son Of Time (Remixed + Some New Instruments) 3:21

Trisomie 21 - Chapter IV and Wait and Dance Remixes  (ogg   135mb)

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This is where Trisomie 21 became more solid. Their first records were great post-punk, great dark electro in a more naive way. With Million Lights, their musical and production skills shift up a good bit. But that's not good at all, at least in my book. Their unpredictable side and their musical limitations was their charm, IMHO. Since Million Lights, they never recaptured their previous freshness. That said Trisomie 21 do for synth based pop music what the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive did for guitar based alt-rock. Wonderful, expressive, existential French coldwave with the most beautiful lush atmospheres and textures. Perfect for a melancholic walk in the park.



Trisomie 21 - Million Lights (flac  255mb)

01 The Hazy Ridge 2:15
02 Sunken Lives 4:40
03 There's A Strange Way This Morning? 5:25
04 Sharing Sensation 5:00
05 The Rickshaw 6:00
06 The Fairylike Show 4:18
07 Some Twenty One Miles From The Coast 5:30
08 Magnified Section Of Dreams 2:00
09 The Clencher 4:54
10 Million Lights 6:30

Trisomie 21 - Million Lights   (ogg  100mb)

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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank you for these

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the tunes you share.
May I suggest that you avoid using cloudyfiles? That link took me to an adfly site which attempted to install a virus. I usually use a downloader but adfly will not let that happen. I don't want to complain, just let you know. Thanks again for all your hard work. This is one of my favourite sites.

Graham said...

Amazing! Thank you! I never thought I'd find this.

Anonymous said...

For me the same with cloudyfiles: download failed because of virus warning. Thanx for all te hard and constant work here for such a long time - it is very appreciated by me.

May be you can provide another download link if possible.

JC said...

Same here with the virus. That's a pity, as Million Lights is a great album. Love what you're doing though.

JC

Rho said...

Hosts like cloudyfiles live of ads they push through, unfortunately some of these adds contain more then a message they can contain virusses of sorts but then that's why you have a scanner to keep one safe. Now as some of you didn't get passed the shock of your virus scanner alarm, i decided to re-up Million Lights to Deposit....N-Joy

Charles said...

Great post, thank you! I have all of these except the Chapter IV Remixed CD. I have the original vinyl and it's nice to finally hear the difference. More than remixing going on on that one.

Thanks again

aurora said...

Ogg is always appreciated. Thanks, Rho

Anonymous said...

I already have these albums but can't do less than thank you for showcasing this great band for the uninitiated. Very ecclectic taste indeed. Speaking of it, please keep in mind my request for Style Council's Cost of loving. Cheers from Patagonia.

Toyman Blood said...

Any chance you could upload their 1988 album Works as well for FLAC and OGG format?

Rho said...

Hello Toyman, i posted Works a week later rhodeo 1849 aetix,btw i don't re-up oggs Easy enough to recode yourself

Toyman Blood said...

Thanks for the heads up! 👍