Calm Ambient | Young Etienne Michelet is an experimental songwriter and delivery boy of rich, textural Ambient. Just recently, Michelet released two EPs at the notorious Resting Bell Netlabel, and over at Digital Biotope. But I’d like to talk about his former minialbum “Bleu Vespéral – A Music For Harmonium” published via La Nouvelle Dégelée earlier this year.
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On first try, I wasn’t sure if “Bleu Vespéral” is produced on a “hardware” harmonium solely. The sound of the instrument’s pipes is clearly there but I would have expected some more noises, certain glitches that occur if you hit the instrument’s keys, chiffing and such. The textures sound very clear, ethereal, even sacral with it’s huge cathedral reverberation flags. As Etienne told me, the music on “Bleu Vespéral” is programmed throughout: “I like this idea of a fictional music. I would form mental images of the little cold chapel where Bleu Vespéral could be recorded, in a tale’s time, and bringing this apparition just by quality of sounds. You just have to believe it, or not. It is fictional, like a little colored landscape in a illumination.”
Seven songs, rather short, strictly featuring the wide range of sound provide by the reed organ. Michelet is best when his compositions feature minimal harmonic changes and drifts. The second tune “Arcs (Mobiles)” e.g. fuses Ambient and Chamber music, huge and beautiful. Wouldn’t have been a dropout on the Nest EP. The delicate flute-sounds at “Hexa” are wonderful and the slightly optimistic “Cromorne” brings forth a soothing feel of late-summer nostalgia I enjoy a lot. As a comparions, Processing… comes to my mind. A good EP in a whole although some songs are missing certain hooks.
Direct Download: Etienne Michelet – “Bleu Vespéral” (ZIP)
Netlabel: www.lanouvelledegelee.com
Artist Website: www.myspace.com/etiennemichelet
As posted on Phlow Magazine
