René Aubry - René Aubry

Self-released - LP

France, 1983

Ambient / Folk / Cinematographic

Listening back to the stuff you used to like 10 years ago can be a difficult exercise in introspection. To be honest, I had to face a few disappointing experiences, lately. That was certainly not the case with this self-titled and self-released LP by René Aubry. Though it deeply exhales the time and space of its recording sessions (Venise, 1983), the music sounded so extravagantly fresh and exciting to my ear when I started playing the record for the first time in years, a few minutes ago.

I've always held René Aubry in high regard, but for some reasons, I did not take the time to listen to this record for years, maybe would I more intuitively go for the better-looking (and more pricey) Still Waters LP he recorded with Jean Schwartz and Serge Aubry for another of Carolyn Carlson's ballet (René Aubry's wife); but, unlike the aforementioned album, whose first side is no easy-listening stuff (dark bushy electronics by Jean Schwarz), this self-titled LP is fantastic from beginning to end.

It feels like music made by a French cousin of Simon Jeffes (founder of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra) or the soundtrack of a Derek Jarman film that would have been shot in Bretagne. It's distingué and quirky at the same time ; introverted but so emotionally charged that it can only flood any listener's whose childhood was spent watching French public television with memories of neo modern string quartet music and abstract acoustic fantasies. Probably just as enjoyable if you did not have that kind of childhood though... Highest recommendation! (VG/VG+ tiny scratches that slightly affect the play on two songs)