Jean-Pierre Massiera

[sound.out.light]

anyone a fan of this guys stuff?

i recently discovered him through a few Finders Keepers Records reissues and compilations. There is not a ton of information available on the guy and I've only been able to put bits and pieces together from little mutterings from various websites.

For those not in the know, he did stuff from the late 60s up till the mid 80s (if there's more after that I'm not aware of it) and has most commonly been described as the french Joe Meek. He was a producer, arranger, composer and released under many pseudonyms. I don't own any of the reissues and I'm hoping to find a little more information on the guy and how much he had to do with each track on the comps.

His career seems to be divided into two seperate stages...One being "early-electronic style experiments through to insane African mutations, psychedelic patchworks, fuzz-funk, spooked-surf, interplanetary-prog" and the other being a very odd form of disco...it calls to mind some of Arthur Russells stuff in it being just a little bit...off though sonically, quite different.

If anyone is interested I suggest checking out this stuff for his earlier phase:

http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=161256

http://www.soundohm.com/les-maledictus- ... cho-gusto/

and this one for his later late 70s early 80s disco phase:
http://www.soundsoftheuniverse.com/releases/?id=13432

[fearandpanic]

anyone a fan of this guys stuff?

One being "early-electronic style experiments through to insane African mutations, psychedelic patchworks, fuzz-funk, spooked-surf, interplanetary-prog"

I've heard the one you describe here (Midnight Massiera: The B-Music Of Jean-Pierre Massiera). Not sure what to make of it in some respects, but that's largely a reflection of my own feelings about production in pop music (I don't think it's improved by things being "a little off," as you describe). Then again, the musique concrete importations into rock and psych here work a hell of a lot better than Pierre Henry's attempts in this direction. There are appealing things on it, some heavy psych-rock especially, but I'm a bit wary of the idea of mediocre tunes enlivened by sound effects...and most of the praise for him is based on the freakish sound effects and bonkers atmosphere. One track has samples of cocks crowing, sheep bleating, cows mooing; okay, but what's the rest of the track doing? Basically nothing, some rhythm loops. Reminded me of Nurse With Wound in that respect. Joe Meek, who he seems to be compared to, was aiming at the charts and had a few massive hits. These seem destined from the start to be underground curios--I can't imagine many were commercial successes, but you never know. Dub can be full of bizarre sounds and effects (especially when Lee Perry is involved), but usually the underlying parts are solid too. That can be a bit lacking here. But when he turns his hand to more musical production, I think he's pretty good at it. The more outright experimental pieces (like "Onomatopaeia," based entirely on vocal sounds, building them into a rhythm tracks) can be excellent. Some of his unusual musical choices work really well (plucking directly on low piano strings in an otherwise syrupy ballad "Songe Mortuaire"). The disco-ish tracks on this one were highlights for me on a first listen through as well, so I should try that second collection you mention.

[sound.out.light]

anyone a fan of this guys stuff?

One being "early-electronic style experiments through to insane African mutations, psychedelic patchworks, fuzz-funk, spooked-surf, interplanetary-prog"

I've heard the one you describe here (Midnight Massiera: The B-Music Of Jean-Pierre Massiera). Not sure what to make of it in some respects, but that's largely a reflection of my own feelings about production in pop music (I don't think it's improved by things being "a little off," as you describe). Then again, the musique concrete importations into rock and psych here work a hell of a lot better than Pierre Henry's attempts in this direction. There are appealing things on it, some heavy psych-rock especially, but I'm a bit wary of the idea of mediocre tunes enlivened by sound effects...and most of the praise for him is based on the freakish sound effects and bonkers atmosphere. One track has samples of cocks crowing, sheep bleating, cows mooing; okay, but what's the rest of the track doing? Basically nothing, some rhythm loops. Reminded me of Nurse With Wound in that respect. Joe Meek, who he seems to be compared to, was aiming at the charts and had a few massive hits. These seem destined from the start to be underground curios--I can't imagine many were commercial successes, but you never know. Dub can be full of bizarre sounds and effects (especially when Lee Perry is involved), but usually the underlying parts are solid too. That can be a bit lacking here. But when he turns his hand to more musical production, I think he's pretty good at it. The more outright experimental pieces (like "Onomatopaeia," based entirely on vocal sounds, building them into a rhythm tracks) can be excellent. Some of his unusual musical choices work really well (plucking directly on low piano strings in an otherwise syrupy ballad "Songe Mortuaire"). The disco-ish tracks on this one were highlights for me on a first listen through as well, so I should try that second collection you mention.

Sorry, I missed the response on this one until now. Thanks! I'm actually with you all the way here. This kind of falls into the category of threads I start all too often right after the initial "high" I get when I find something new. (I'm working on it...)

There is definitely some quite heavy handed stuff on both collections that is great for, well, costume parties...But when he's on, it makes me wish he was on more often.