Dorine Muraille

French composer Julien Locquet debuted at 23 with -1 (Artefact , 2001) under the moniker :Gel, a work of subtle and sublime post-ambient melody. Changing name to Dorine Muraille, he continued his exploration of gentle, dreamy melodies on Mani (Fat Cat, 2002), a collaboration with French poetess Chloe Delaume. His compositions are sculpted by means of computer-processed acoustic instruments, but the result is not noisy or futuristic. It radiates, on the opposite, a childish and nostalgic feeling. The fragmented Le Supplice De La Baignoire seems to deconstruct a church psalm. Dopees slowly disintegrates a children's nursery rhyme. Se Flinguer liquefies a street-band fanfare to the point that it becomes a lake of pulsing alien sounds. Bbraallen weds a warped psychedelic carillon and a drunk singalong. Madrague Retour blends neoclassical strings and guitar, aquatic electronica, a child's rigmarole. A wave of harsher dissonance attacks the lullaby of Perdre, like an alien in a distant galaxy listening to a confused human radio broadcast. The bucolic elegy of Techniques Du Lexo sinks in quicksands of sparse chords. The aquatic effects in 50actionexpess obscure what could be an acid-rock jam. La Regle is perhaps the subliminal zenith (or nadir) of the album, a noise that harks back to a primitive universe. The aquatic theme returns (a bit swampier) in closer Alexia. The repertory is virtually infinite.

Julien Loquet mysteriously disappeared after this promising album.