Sucre De Pasteque

Description

The legendary French industrial pioneers Vox Populi! arrive at Dark Entries with a reissue of Sucre De Pastèque. Vox Populi! was founded in Paris in 1981 by Axel Kyrou, a multi-instrumentalist of Greek, French, and Palestinian descent. He soon recruited his future partner, Mytra, along with her brother Arash Khalatbari, both second-generation immigrants from Tehran, as well as bassist Fr6 Man (Francis Manne). Their sound was eclectic, combining elements of musique concrète and early industrial with brass, flutes, and traditional Persian instrumentation. Prodigiously prolific and consistently divergent, Vox Populi! appeared on dozens of cassette compilations during the golden age of the 1980s DIY scene, including influential labels like Insane Music, Cthulhu Records, and their own Vox Man. Sucre De Pastèque, the band's sixth album, was released in 1986 on Unlikely Records, Robert Cox's (Rimarimba) cult label. Like most of Vox Populi!'s output, Sucre is a sprawling endeavor, encompassing psychedelic laments, cosmic drones, hypnotic chants, and fractured machine-funk. The atmosphere is subtly dark, but the band's stylistic agnosticism and sense of curiosity prevent the whole from becoming oppressive or heavy. The artwork for Sucre De Pastèque was designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh and features a collage by band member Fr6 Man. Each copy includes an insert with photos and liner notes from the band. This is deeply "fried" material, perfectly capturing the obscurantism that characterized much of the 80s DIY cassette scene.