INTENTA

Description

EXPERIMENTAL AND ELECTRONIC SWISS MUSIC FROM 1981 TO 1993. FEATURING: ANDREAS HOFER, CLAUDINE CHIRAC, SKY BIRD, FIZZÈ, BELLS OF KYOTO, ELEPHANT CHÂTEAU, DRESSED UP ANIMALS, PETER PHILIPPE WEISS, D-SIRE, AIR PROJECT, JEAN-PIERRE HUSER, OLIVIER ROGG, CAROL RICH, CARLOS PERÓN, UNKNOWNMIX, ABORTED AT LINE 6, I SUONATORI. 'Intenta' is a compilation that highlights Swiss experimental and electronic music composed between 1981 and 1993. It brings together 17 tracks produced by artists from all corners of the country, including Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, Bern, Basel, St. Gallen, Zurich, and Aarau. The compilation is divided into two parts: one on experimental music and the other on electronic music. The term "Intenta" comes from Latin, the root of the four official Swiss languages, and translates to "understanding" in French. This is a central point of this compilation: despite the distance or the "Röstigraben" (a term referring to the cultural divide between French and German-speaking Switzerland), a certain homogeneity resides in the approach and musical production of the compiled artists. Moreover, some of them have had a significant influence on Swiss musical history, while others have been forgotten. For example, Carlos Perón founded the group Yello before having a formidable solo career, whereas Claudine Chirac, ex-saxophonist of Grauzone, fell into obscurity in her solo career. In this sense, Intenta aims to revive a little-known yet very rich period of modern Swiss music, featuring both essential artists of the era and others much less known to the public. "A brilliant panorama of modern Swiss music from the 80s." "Given how long the Geneva label Bongo Joe has been introducing us to the delights of the vibrant Swiss underground (Hyperculte, l'Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, la Tène), it was more than time for them to introduce us to the generation that preceded it. As its subtitle indicates, "Intenta", Experimental & Electronic Music from Switzerland 1981-93 is exactly that: an anthology full of surprises and unexpected music from the Confederation in the midst of the post-punk era, from which, until now, we had only really heard the brilliant, flashy collages of Yello or the furious synth-punk of Grauzone, Stephan Eicher's first band. Diversely inspired by Pasolini, new wave, Italo disco, the Lounge Lizards, nascent rap and house, or the beauties of Lake Constance, the myriad of musicians dispersed "between Geneva and St. Gallen" represented here experimented in all directions, regardless of good or bad taste or any body cohesion. We will thus savor, at a good distance (between 30 and 40 years), the industrial poems of Carlos Perón, the robotic melancholy of Carol Rich, or the wonderfully apathetic new wave of Elephant Château, a Basel collective whose independently produced maxi single Dreamings in 1988 has enjoyed a growing reputation among collectors in recent years thanks to a few influential blogs." --- Olivier Lamm, LIBÉRATION ---