Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Jean-Pierre Massiera & Others

Weird and wild work from producer/performer Jean-Pierre Massiera -- the force behind Les Maledictus Sound, and an even crazier talent on his own! The tracks on this first volume are completely over the top -- a psychotic, psychedelic blend of fuzzy guitars, rough percussion, spare electronics, and occasional funky touches -- sometimes topped with some even weirder vocals that further trip out the sound, and push things into territory that almost makes the Cherrystones compilations sound mainstream. Massiera clearly has plenty of skills in the studio -- as the production here is as imaginative as the vocals and instrumentation -- and work on the set is by a variety of artists, with titles that include "Bizarre" by Les Chats, "Space Woman" by Herman's Rocket, "Space Inferno" by Venus Gang, "Engins Bizarres Et Gens Etranges" by Basile, "La Turbie Piranhienne" by Piranhas, "Psychose" by Les Monegasques, "Jingle Jungle" by Starlights, and "Dali Court" and "Plus Jamais Ca" by Jean-Pierre himself!

Lots of the music here is a strange blend of disco rhythms, spacey production, and echoes of Massiera's fuzzier past -- tied together in ways that are surprisingly compelling, and which almost make the album a clubby version of some of the rock break compilations we've stocked over the years! There's lots of surprising breaks and standout funky moments here -- but even the more conventional club tracks are great too -- and show Massiera to be one hell of a mighty talent in the studio. The whole thing's an amazing discovery in sound -- filled with rare tracks that include "Love To Fly" by Venus Gang, "Dies Irae Fuse 80" by Barbed Wire, "Mao Mao" by The Starlights, "Daddy & Mama" by J Joyce & Co, "Sad My Love" by Barbara Potts, "Ma Jackson" by Mickey & Joyce, "Indian Planete" by Herman's Rocket, "Love Like This" by Human Egg, "Toi Qui Reve De Baisers" by Sex Convention, and "I Got To Bahia" by Brasa Brasil & Helena. (Dusty Groove)

2 comments:

the saucer people said...

Thanks so much for sharing the MP3 copies of the two Massiera compilation albums, a rip of the second album is kicking around the blogs at 320 bitrate but as for the first compilation, you are the only blog I have found in the last year that has posted it!
If there is anyone who has a higher bitrate version of the Freakoid compilation please get in touch, I am sure there would be Massiera material I could swap with you for it. Please don't think I am being ungrateful in this request, I just cannot afford the 30 or so euros at the moment to buy a cd version of the first compilation!
Anyway,thanks again for sharing this amazing music from the one and only JP MASSIERA!

zappahead said...

Thanks for the Jean Pierre stuff...things I hadn't heard before but hey...makes a change from the norm...very much obliged...cheers.