Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Vox Populi!/Vox 231 - Ebats Spirituels Cassette (Cthulhu CR03) 1986

This is a split release between Vox Populi! and Vox 231 (Vox Populi! w/ Pacific 231). I recently acquired this cassette in a trade (thanks Stefano!!) and am pleased to share it with everyone here.

One of the primary reasons I do this site is to expose music I truly enjoy and feel others will also appreciate. A big unexpected bonus to doing this has been the people I have met, both on-line and in-person.

Many readers are aware that some artists are not too pleased to see their work posted on these sharing sites. I understand the different opinions and reasons behind this, but I have to admit I admire those who are so generous in allowing their music to be shared for greater exposure and appreciation.

Axel Kyrou contacted me several months ago approving his music to be posted here and also providing information on his recent musical activities. For those not already aware, Axel continues making music under the name Gitanjali, going further into ethnic, mystical & ambient directions.

An interview with Axel appears in the comments to the Aither LP post here.
Axel himself has recently provided more info in the comments section here and here.
Axel has a myspace page located here.

There has also been a recent Vox Populi! archive release via the label Monochrome Vision which features a couple re-mastered tracks from this cassette. Also on the horizon is more remastered and unreleased/new material.

I asked both Axel Kyrou and Pierre Jolivet (aka Pacific 231) to contribute to this post.

Axel mentions:

Only 2 tracks from it (Ebats Spirituels) were featured on the Cd 'Cthuluh Revisitation' by Pacific 231 & Vox Populi! released in late 2007 by MonochromeVision.
We're gone have very soon (within a couple of weeks) our best - and longest- Cd so far released on the Infrastition label. It's called '1987-1990' and recollects 2/3 of Aither and Face to Face Lp's. As for the MonochromeVison item there is no contradictions or difficulty with the already downloadable items : first the tracks have been carefully mastered (in the 80's we never used any finalizing tools) and then there is 50 % of unreleased recordings, which are far from being leftovers. We were still very active in 1990 but didn't have a record label to release our stuff anymore.

He continues:

The 'Ebats Spirituels' cassette is not one of my favorite Vp! release, though I haven't heard it for a long time. In fact I find the Vp231 side a bit too harsh for my taste but it may appeal to some.

I do remember that we recorded the VP231 side at Pacific 231's bedroom, from which we had a
wonderful - dreadful for some- view of the big cemetery of Bagneux (a town in the suburbs of Paris). We were very much listening to tibetan religious musics at the time and I was getting more and more interested in budhism.

We had a female guest on trumpet on one of the tracks of the Vp231 side. I don't remember her name but I'm so thankful to her because she was the one who introduced me to the art and subtleties of breathing correctly. To make it short : to use mainly the bottom part of the lungs. When I say 'feed your hara, you'll be greatly rewarded', a sentence you can find on our
Myspace, that's what I mean.

Music making has always had for me a strong mystical resonance : Ebats Spirituels means approximately Spiritual Lovemaking. I'm also very thankful to Rose and Will I from the Cthuluh crew. At the time so many cassettes were released, but they were one of the very few labels to do it with great care. They hired a graphist for the cover of this cassette !! They even published a T-shirt with the 'Half dead ganja music' cover.

With this release now available on AtlantisAudioArchive, all our stuff from the 80's are now downloadable (see also http://nostalgie-de-la-boue.blogspot.com -see the very rare and full of
wonders La Cathedrale Morte cassette wich collects works made between 1979
and 1985- and http://thethingonthedoorstep.blogspot.com\).

We're 100% pro-sharing. As you may have guessed by the music, we never made all this for
money. For us music should be free of any rules. No limitations and total freedom. A breathing space compared to the limitations imposed on us by today's society. Honestly a couple of years ago, we thought we had been completely forgotten. Many thanks to empathic music lovers like David (of Atlantisaudioarchive) for making our recordings available again. Musicians
and bloggers hand in hand.

Yours friendly,
Axel

Pierre comments:

This was before the time I stopped to play with Vox Populi! live, rehearsal was taking too much of my time and I had to choose between Vox Populi! and my own projects at the time: Pacific 231, Ankh with Le Syndicat and of course my personal life. I recall the Vox 231 - Ébats Spiriuels side being a more personal artistic aspect from Axel and myself, a kind of fusion between our style.

Pierre has also provided several links that should be checked out for more info on his past and present activities:

Official Site

Blog
Discography
Biography & Title
Video extract at DOM, Moscow

Latest performances:
www.longarms.net/festivals/2007/www.maisondesmetallos.org/Bruits-de-fond.html
www.studioforum.net/festival.html

Thanks to Axel and Pierre for their kind words, great attitude and talent. I hope everyone reading this will support them by purchasing their new releases.

Enjoy:

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

axel has in fact switched back to the Vox Populi! alias.
soon, a little 3"cdr with unreleased tracks will be available...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that great post.
Laurent

Anonymous said...

Thank you for that post.
Laurent

hogon said...

'The 'Ebats Spirituels' cassette is not one of my favorite Vp! release, though I haven't heard it for a long time. In fact I find the Vp231 side a bit too harsh for my taste but it may appeal to some.'

Ébats Spiriuels is my favourite Vox Populi! release for the exact same reasons. there wasn't a lot of music like it back then :)

and i'm glad to see Vox Populi! being re-released, it was about time!

Anonymous said...

Wow, thank you for sharing!

And very nice to see Axel and Vox Populi! back in action.

It's the type of music that never really seems to bore me in any way; you can find something new during every listen. Music with soul and deeper thoughts.

Also have to appreciate Axel's frankness when it comes to sharing music.

"Musicians and bloggers hand in hand."

Laurent said...

Hi,
you can hear another VP! tape, "Créations Alternatives" very very rare, and may be the best one, here :
http://thethingonthedoorstep.blogspot.com/
no new post ?
Laurent

Anonymous said...

thx for leaving these vox pop! posts up for so long after they were news. i always figured i'd get around to them & i finally have in a big way, in no small part due to these fine posts. thx david