Pierre Massé unleashes sonic excitement and lyrical wit with the second album Entre deux, Enter Two.
It is great to follow the lives of interesting musicians to witness the growth of their music as life happens. “Guess you could say where I would be ten years from now”…goes the line of the song” I Will Wait” taken from the second album of Pierre Massé titled Entre deux, Enter Two. The first album Situations was officially released in 2010. At that time, his music was mostly acoustic-based with few ambient flourishes. This was followed by the electronic remix of the same album which showcased his expertise with gears and the DAW.
Entre deux, Enter Two opens with My Mortal Enemy, a track included in a series of tracks he streamed online prior to the official release of the album. My Mortal Enemy is characterized by the fusion of electronic and acoustic instruments. His voice has matured too. It has become stronger and fuller. It is more expressive than when Situations was released. Observations1: In Her Eyes…follows. It is instrumental with a soundtracky appeal. The pace is enough to make you lie in bed staring at the ceiling and just let time pass.
When Tomorrow Comes is a rouser. It explodes in your face after several strums. It’s the result of the aggressive guitar riffs and reverberating bass-lines. Pierre has maintained his typical French slurs which was already noticeable with Situations. Un poète fermé nods on the folksy side, typical of his heroes like Francis Cabrel and other French singer/songwriters.The title track Entre deux, Enter Two is another instrumental. His acoustic guitar playing has acquired elegance with time. I Will Wait is probably the grooviest track in the album. Great electric guitar solo too. Take note of the rhythm changes. This proves to be one of the fascinating things in this track.
Another instrumental track Observations 2: …Coule cet air merges electronic beats and acoustic instruments. Quelques mots nods once again on his French side where verses are narrated. The track climaxes into an instrumental explosion of guitars. It’s the shortest track in the album. Sculpting the Light has rhythm changes and abundant guitar solo parts. The track penetrates your senses like smoke. Dans nos pas closes the album with a forlorn melody. For those who love sensual male vocals with French accent, you will love Entre deux, Enter Two. That, and the richness of his lyrical talent that wraps itself like pasta strands into the tasty bits of his music. Not too sweet, not to sour..a little peppery but with a dash of bitterness for beer. This is Pierre Massé.
Every track of Ox Cohen is like a portal into another world. You don’t know what to expect when you open it. And in every track lies its own Jack in the Box. There are strange and mesmerizing sounds that happen within the span of the track. Tri Axis Triple Works is an album about voyage within and into space. The use of experimental rock calls to mind Vangelis and Tangerine Dream with the melodic beauty of Yes.
I think this is the kind of album you would like to listen to in your bedroom while staring at the ceiling for an hour. It really takes you away. Tracks like Cloud Voyage and Refinder really do their job in transporting you into an electronic sound scape that moves forward. Gem Highway almost has that Flock of Seagulls 80s synth vibes. Coupled with hypnotic beats, everything swirls as if in colored lights. You can sample most of his music here: http://www.banguskahnmusic.com/music/
Tri Axis Triple Works sounds like a taster of what’s more to come from this classically trained musician from Chicago.
Bio:
Ox Cohen artist born in St. Louis and raised in Chicago began his music training at age thirteen learning the basics of Blues and Heavy Metal to start and later expanding into Jazz and Classical throughout the years as he had gone to Music High School and College. Later played in several bands. The band experience was semi-professional, one of which was mainly a grunge/alternative influenced one and the other a metal band. Then as time had passed Ox Cohen became more into composing, although he had written throughout the time period. In the last seven to ten years became more enamored with computer recording, the keyboard as well as the cello and fusing guitar within the synthesized instruments. Ox Cohen is a big fan of a lot of the Hard Rock and Progressive Rock bands coming from the Seventies as well as the bands of the Alternative movement of the Nineties yet as well influenced by many other genres including the Sixties and Classical music. He hopes that listeners can appreciate his music and hopes it will bring a healing effect when it is possible.
Electronic Music Artist / Label Owner / Photographer Alex Pardini talks about how imagination plays an important part in the creation process of music, visual art, and so much more.
Alex Pardini creates the kind of sound that’s sophisticated, groovy and friendly. It is a fat sound with the sweet icing of pop. It is also a craft he has perfected for decades and continues to do so. But this is just one facet in his lust for creation. He also has a great passion for photography. He lives in Switzerland and he definitely has that old Celtic blood in him.
Check out pictures of his recording studio which I will post at the end of this article plus random photos he took. Great ears and eyes. A passion driven by the need for perfection and innovation. Opportunity knocked to discover the story behind this fascinating Music Artist / Label Owner / Photographer. Sphere Music is proud to feature Alex Pardini.
Your musical career goes back as early as 1999.What made you decide to be a musician?
Actually, my musical career started around 1993/94 when I bought my first pair of Technics turntables and soon after that got my first gigs. 1999 was the year my first record was released. I never consciously decided to become an artist. It never was a question that I asked myself. I loved that magical and creative world of audio and feelings, so I just did it. If I would have had to ask myself if I want to be an artist, I wouldn’t be one today.
Being an artist is not something you actively decide to be by asking and answering yourself, it’s something you are long before you consciously realize it. All you might decide is whether or not you want to keep going on once your conscious mind catches up with the fact that you already are, and maybe always were, an artist.
Can you tell us more about your label Theatre Magique Records?
Theatre Magique started out as a necessity. In order to release my music, whatever the style and whenever I wanted, I needed a distributor. At the time, in order to get a deal, you needed a label with an artist roster – but I just had one signed artist. So i divided my music into several projects with their own aliases and eventually got a distributor to work with me.
Today it is mainly a platform for my music, though I love the possibility to sign tracks of other artists in search for a label.
In terms of sound, Made of Diversity has an aggressive feel compared to the rest of your releases. Did you also sing on this album?
Compared to the latest releases or the Pegasus & Manticor project this might be true. But if you check out my Audio Synapse alias, you will find way more aggressive music than on my “Made of Diversity” album.
The album definitely has a pretty wide spectrum in terms of “musical styles”. From the very soft ballad “Autumn Rain” to the fast paced and rough “Easy Rider”. I sang on the album. Actually it was the first time ever I sang at all.
Well I must say you have a good voice and hereby encourage you to sing more! I noticed this jazz and latin feel running all over your songs. It is an elegant sound. What other styles of music do you plan to explore?
Thank you.I never plan my music. I don’t sit down with an idée fixe. It’s not how it works, at least not for me. I just let it “happen”.
I fool around in my studio until something inspires me, catches my attention, gives me that feeling I need to keep going in a certain direction. If it doesn’t sparkle, I change direction or even stop doing music at all and go do something completely else. The muse can’t kiss you 24/7.
Where do you draw your experiences from when you write songs?
From my life – everything in or around it. Imagination plays an important part too. The creative process is a constant one. As a sensitive artist you develop, and maybe to a certain part you were born with, the ability and curiosity to analyse anything, anytime, anywhere and save essences of it (in other words: fill up your tanks) for the actual work in the studio, or any other creative output one might have.
Music is the end product of your life’s journey translated into audio. I live my life (over) consciously and this can be very intensive and exhausting. There are no breaks, no regulated working hours or free days. The moment I can let go is when I am creating something or, in my case, when I am doing sports – and believe me, that’s actually just a fragment of the time my brain runs at 101% trying to get “Input”. This is something most people don’t know. They usually just see the artist sleeping late and having fun at night.
You have interesting gears…among those is a movable table! Can you tell me more about it and how it helps you musically?
Love that thing! There are two reasons why I bought it. The first is a very simple one. My health, more precisely my back. Sitting all day long ain’t good for it.The other reason is the feeling while creating. I feel more free, can move to the groove, feel the music more intensely. Maybe I got used to it because of my deejaying years. Anyway, dependent of what I am working on, it kind of accentuates certain senses which helps me immerse myself even deeper into my music.
I understand that the use of different monikers and even releasing under a label give you the flexibility you need. But in terms of experimentation, how far will you go?
As Jeff Bridges said in one of his movies “The sky is the limit!”. Honestly, my approach to music was never conditioned by a certain style or any form of barrier. Stagnancy is an artist’s enemy. I try do hold on to what felt right in the past and move forward discovering the future by shaping my present. There is always something new to do, something to learn, something to dig deeper into.
What are the things that newbies need to know these days when they need to pursue the things you are doing? What changes happened for the past decade and what do you think needs improvement?
The past decade saw a lot of superficial approach to music by the artists and a decline in the appreciation of music by the audience. Maybe a sign of the times we lived and still live in. I hope to see the exact opposite to happen in the next ten years. Artists that don’t only talk about how much they love music, but also treat it accordingly. An audience that shows appreciation by digging deeper, not by consuming faster, cheaper and more.
Concerning your question about the newbies I’d say: Do it yourself and do it right! Buying construction kits and playing puzzle is not gonna cut it. Neither for yourself nor for the audience. It is this kind of mentality that led us to this silly, superficial music world where DJ’s who can’t even beatmatch two records with an active BPM counter get horrendous fees paid, where companies produce sample cd’s with finished music split into different files and wannabee producers using them think they are artists.
Music is art, art comes from Latin ars which means practical skill. Your skill. Not the sample CD producers’ skills and creativity, not the marketing companies’ skills, not the major label’s skills, yours. Music is personal expression (yours), it needs identity (yours), it needs to be authentic. Nobody else can achieve that for you. There are no short cuts in life.
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