TIEMKO

TIEMKO are a trio out of France and this is album number two from 1990 called "Ocean". That album cover is so cool. I have the debut as well as this one and for me this is an upgrade as they have moved into more of a Jazz Fusion style but this is different. Not always good different but this has a unique sound to it. No electronic drums this time around. I'm not always into the stark and cold synth pulses or the upfront acoustic guitar even though it's so well played. Check out that acoustic guitar on "Bonbon Tres Sucre" where it reminds me of another band from France that would come later called SYRINX but that's all they used was acoustic guitar even if it was inventive like here at times. Here we get many styles of electric guitars and tones but they don't always appeal to me. The drummer adds vibes and bongos while the keyboardist adds bass plus we get a guitarist as I just mentioned. It's weird how I get put off yet I'm so drawn by how different it is. And man when it's warm and melodic it's a thing of beauty. The title track is epic at almost 22 minutes as we go for our salt water trip. The opener "Episode" is my favourite. A powerful sound and check out the bass at 1 1/2 minutes. Drum solo after 4 minutes that lasts a minute when huge bass lines return and more. So good. Truly a 3.5 star album for me but I'm bumping it up.

Once again, Tiemko managed to totally surprise me!

"Ã?a tourne..." is the last Tiemko album, released by the Musea Records after Eric Delaunay's death in a car accident. The CD consists of two parts. Firstly, we get a collection of previously unreleased studio recordings from 1989 to 1996. Secondly, we have a computer program, which is a great addition to the band's most die-hard fans (including me).

Let's talk about the audio content first. The album has only five tracks, which gives us merely 30 minutes of music itself. But what a music this is! From one hand, the music sounds almost nothing like the previous albums, but from the other hand - a watchful ear can hear a lot of familiar sounds and effects. It is extremely weird, experimental and bizarre, even for Tiemko and avant-prog standars. "Hi!" has some great drumming by Mr. Delaunay (truly he was one of the greatest french drummers) and jazzy keyboard chords. "Ã?a tourne...", "Variation" and "Gnome fantaisie" are all impovised tracks, quite simmilar to each other. Every one of them is a great journey, with tons of craziness. The thing I most love about them is usage of various electric drums sounds and dense layers of keyboards. All these things combined give us amazingly strange, yet full of atmosphere improvisations. "H.T.V" is a short bonus track, based on a drum loop, which reminds me of another french group DeBoCo (which Mr. Delaunay was a member of). Cool little track.

Regarding the computer content: the program has its issues. First of all, it doesn't seem to be fully compatible with modern software. I tried to run it on windows 10, and partialy it did work. Sadly, my computer is unable to read the font, so there's nothing I can read really. And even if I could - everything is written in french. However, I was able to check some things. With the program, we get a live video of Tiemko playing "T.87" from their debut album. There is also a discography part, with some audio samples. Some animations and photos are there as well. I've read somewhere that there is a fully-written biography about the band, but I couldn't find it anywhere (because of the lack of compatibility), so I can't guarantee if it's truly there. The resolution is 800x600, so you get the idea that this thing is very obsolete.

In conclusion - overall, I really enjoy this release. Total time is way to short, and should be extended by adding some more material. The music is definitely not for faint-hearted people, but if you enjoy avant-garde - you're going to love it. Because of the obsolescence, the computer content is almost unusable for me, but if you do have an older computer, you should have no problem with it. Like I mentioned before - it's a great thing for the band's die-hard fans, who want to own any extra materials related to the band.

Although the "collectors/fans" sentence may be an accurate description for this album, giving it only two starts would not be accurate at all. After all, the music is very good and refreshing, especially if you like experimental/improvised stuff. If you're new to Tiemko, I'd not recommend starting with this album, but it's definitely a must, if you know all the previous albums already. A very nice addition to your music collection.

With their third album, Tiemko once again managed to create an outstanding piece of music, which could be easly considered a "masterpiece of progressive rock music". The band seems to have taken every great element of thier previous albums, and also add some new flavours to the formula to make something really special - thus "Parade" was born.

I'd say this is the most peaceful and calm Tiemko album (not counting "Ca Tourne"), yet it still remains quite bombastic and majestic. The sound remains very electronic: the album is ruled by dense synthesizers, a colourful guitar and great drums (switched to vibraphone at times). This release reminds me a bit of the Miriodor's spirit, which comes from mixing uneasy atmospheres with dynamic and quirky avant-prog. There's a lot of grotesque here as well.

The album starts with an absolute killer "Le Retour du Hero". What a bomb! A very powerful track, with magnificent, weird melodies and thick keys layers. The intense drumming should be noticed as well. To this day, it remains my favourite Tiemko's song, and one of my favourite avant-prog tunes in general. "Parade" is... well, it surely sounds like a parade (a surreal one, I might add!). Very majestic and tame. Three melodic instruments (guitar, vibraphone, synth-trumpets) exchange their dialogues, as the main theme marches on. "Copie Blanche" starts off quite mystically, grows slowly to the point in which the guitar takes over and delights us with a wondeful soloing over dreamy neo-prog synths and bombastic drumming. Man, Remy Chauvidan truly is an out of this world guitar beast! "Spirale" is a drumless track, which starts heveanly, then gets ultra crypticall. This one has a very experimental vibe to it. "Good Bye Mister Prog" is another fast and quirky tune, with constant time singatures changes. Lots of weird synths as well. "Vaine" and "Taille One" are both rather calm tracks. The first one is basically a relaxing jazz-fusion (something you'd listen to while having a drink at a golden beatch). The second one is more mysterious and keyboard-based, but gets a bit oriental too. "Moment" seems to be a little baroque-like introduction with string pads and splendid acoustic guitar. And finally comes "Hymne", which starts off with classical strings. After three minutes the madness starts to grow, as the band once again unleashes its magic. It really sounds like the whole album was compressed into one composition: majestic guitars, weird keys, agressive drumming and little vibraphone beats. Great!

So, as I said, Tiemko once again created an undeniable masterpiece. Another wondeful, and sadly forgotten gem which represents originality, sophisticated composing and unbelievable musicanship (you can easly say these guys were great frends). For those who spend their lifes on a brave quest of discovering adventorious and uncompromising music - this is A MUST for you. 5/5

After the first album, Tiemko apparently decided to give up a bit with their neo-progressive and symphonic roots to focus more on a fusion approach to music. Fortunately, the avant-garde and odd flavours are still present, so when you add them to the band's magical musicianship, you won't end up with just an average jazz-fusion album you'd expect to hear.

The first part of the album consists of four quirky and weird tunes, which are well composed, yet they still manage to have a lot of improvisational feeling. "Épisode" starts off like if you were just dropped into the impenetrable depths of the ocean. The whole tune brings Magma to my mind, although Tiemko's sound is much more electronic, as the music is mostly led by the synthesizers and colourful guitar. At the end, there's also a neat drum solo by Mr. Delaunay himself. On "Hypercontraste", instead of drums, you'll hear a lot of vibraphone and even weirder synths. There's a jazz part in the middle, which is rather disturbing, yet nice and calming in some way. This might be my least favourite track in here, simply because it's harder for me to enjoy a track without a solid rythmic section. "Bonbon Très Sucré" is the pure fusion track, based on excellent acoustic guitar playing. It's also the most pleasant composition in Tiemko's discography, which shouldn't scare anyone away. "Vodka Frappée" takes us back to the fast and adventurous playing. Furious guitar solos, great drumming and (once again) very strange keys - I love every single thing in this one! This is the most intense composition on the album - definitely not for faint hearted. The second part of the album is the single track "Océan", which is basically a 20+ min. improvisation with composed parts weaved in it. I gotta say, this is one of my favourite Tiemko's works. An amazing, experimental journey, which - as Evolver rightly pointed out - remains intense the whole time. Electronic drum loops, majestic guitar solos, playing with synth's sounds - pure magic.

I was actually a little bit dissapointed once I gave this album a listen, mostly because I'm more of a symphonic and neo-prog lover myself. However, after some time it really started to grow on me, and now I appreciate it much, much more. Even though there seems to be just a tiny lack of attention-catching moments, there's nothing more to complain about. If you want to give this one a listen, prepare yourself for a wierd trip, which will surly leave you both grinded and satisfied. Extremely recommended to all the fusion/avant-garde/ocean lovers out there.

Viva la France!

Tiemko is a French trio consisting of keyboards, drums and - not like the most of prog-trios - electric guitar. Don't let the lack of bass player fool you - Tiemko shows that the band can go without one and still make amazing music. The adventurous trio went in searching for their own musical identity, ranging from neo-prog, jazz-fusion, electronic and symphonic music to avant-garde sounds. The result is known today as "Espace Fini".

"Requiem" is a symphonic, yet very tame composition which reminds me of a Japaniese ensamble Zypressen. A lots of sublime keyboards, fake-trumpets (which usually sound terrible, but not in this case). With an addition of choir and xylophone it all makes a delicious piece to start an album with. "Chant transylvain du sud-ouest tyrolien" is just a grotesque intermission (Miriodor and Zamla Mammaz Manna come to mind), which leds us right into "Elephant de Siberie". Now that's a serious buisness! The powerful bass synthesizer, intense drumming and beautiful guitar solos make this one my personal favourite here. "T.87" from the other hand is a little goofy and weird sounding track, with a lot of 80's feeling in it. Quite complex, with a good guitar jamming and some sinister turns. "Contrastes" is a little bit too majestic pattern, with a disturbing, yet relaxing in some way jazzy vibes in the middle. "Bulgarian dance" is an uptempo, quirky tune, showing Tiemko's love for the avant-garde movement, which ends up sounding a little bit like the Belgian band Present. The same goes with "Attentat", but along with avant-garde comes neo-progressive feeling. "Espace fini" is my least favourite track in here, as it seems to be rather a sloppy tune. The piano does its work though, making the music much more claustrophobic. At the end we get "Post-scriptum", which is basically the jazzy version of "Requiem" - and it sounds good.

The one problem with this album is that there's not so many essential and attention catching moments, which might be causing it to sound a little bit immature. But the wonderful atmosphere, musicianship and courage (+ the great cover!) make this album an easy 4 stars for me. Not their greatest effort, but still a bloody good record, worth your time and being an excellent addition to your prog rock music collection.

God only knows how do I love "Clone".

It's just a record that never manages to bore me, no matter how often I listen to it (and I do a lot!). While I genuinely enjoy and adore the previous three Tiemko's albums, this one is their ultimate masterpiece. The celestial form of progressive rock, electronic, ambient, avant-garde, jazz, fusion, pastiche pop and many, many more.

Even though Tiemko was just a three-piece band (Jean-Jacques Toussaint on keys, bass and vocals, Remy Chauvidan on guitars and Eric Delaunay on drums and vocal), they managed to create such a dense, and filled with atmosphere recording. Mostly, it's thanks to very deep electronic drums, loops, and tons of keyboard layers. But let's not forget, that these guys were extremly well composers, and used unusual, yet surprisingly amazing harmonic solutions.

Besides the aspects listed above, every instrument sounds just right. The electronic drums of Mr. Denaunay really do the job. It'd have sounded much more flat, if it were recorded with an acoustic set (believe it or not). Mr. Chauvidan's guitar sounds quite like King Crimson in the 80's (colour era). Very colourful and warm tone, which kinda stands apart to the bizarre notes he's playing. And finally, JJT's keys. I know people generally hate those "cheesy, 90's computer-game-like" synthesizers, but holy cow, I love them with passion. They are filled with tons of mood, which lead into the territories not fully discovered before.

And, obviously, you can't ignore this wonderful cover art. I've always been sold on these obsolete 3D computer graphics, and I love prog albums that have such graphics as their covers. This one is my absolute favourite. It matches with the music so well, that if you listen to this album with your eyes closed, this is what you will see in your mind. Breathtaking.

In opposition to Mr. Jayem, who said in his review: "Let's rate this album as if it were the best in the World", I must object - this IS the best record in the world. At least for me. I wouldn't rate "Clone" with 5 stars, simply because I feel like it's not enough. I have to rate it 5, just so I can share my feelings with you. This is something you've never experienced before.

While ''Espace fini'' was far from being a masterful album, it was a decent attempt on intricate Progressive Rock, making Musea upgrade Tiemko in one of its most consistent products over the next years.A second album by the French trio was recorded in 1989 at Adam Studios, produced by the veteran sound engineer Phillipe Beaucamp, known for his past work on albums of Tai Phong, Patrick Forgas, Treponem Pal and Wooden Ear.Under the title ''Ocean'' it was released in 1990.

Four mid-length tracks introduce the listener to Tiemko's dissonant world of Prog Fusion with Electronic touches, tortured between electrified textures and more experimental moods and featuring striking ALLAN HOLDSWORTH-like complex, rhythmic guitar moves and atonal parts with pounding bass lines and dark keyboard tunes.The drums are half natural, half-programmed and remain Tiemko's most weak point, maybe next to some questionable keyboard effects.On the other hand the music still has a charming, obscure aura, dominated by its shifting moods, its Avant/Fusion atmospheres, some excellent jazzy guitar hooks (especially on the acoustic-driven ''Bonbon tres sucre'') and the changes from dramatic guitar-driven instrumentals to the atonal, keyboard-based soundscapes.Leaving these first four tracks behind, Tiemko attempt to deliver a long composition of their own with the 22-min. title piece of the album.Regarding its style, this comes as combination of cinematic Electronic Music with powerful Fusion, offering the strongest and weakest elements of the group.The rockier and more Fusion textures contain great guitar work again along with complex drumming and the spacey, electronic waves are trully atmospheric and intelligent.However, some flat keyboard themes and the average connection between the different variations rise question about this composition's consistency.Some passages are way too long and minimalistic, others are pretty stunning with tight interplays and competent performances, especially during the closing moments with the furious guitar/synth/organ battles.

Tiemko insist on playing an experimental type of Prog/Fusion with contemporary elements and a wide range of haunting atmospheres, lacking to come up with decent melodies, but delivering some impressive and captivating instrumental music.Recommended, especially if you love complicated and slightly experimental Progressive Rock.

Keeping it on their friendly, frenchy, homely foundation ; careless in some ways yet musically and creatively very committed , nurturing elaborated, well-thought adventurous music with the help of promising sounds and rich musical background, Tiemko went to explore its unique field for nine years.

Three years after their third album, the band included in Clone, as a major change, a couple of pastiche pop songs with doubtful meaning (sung by keyboard player Jean- Jacques Toussaint), and another bit of french banter (sung by drummer Eric Delaunay) , which could not hurt in the midst of fascinating instrumentals.

Let's rate this album as if it were the best in the World, simply because there must be an ultimate genius piece of music out here...

Although it is their debut album, Espace fini matches what the band has recorded later in terms of musical maturity, in spite of the comparatively limited variety of instruments and tones employed, ...and also the studio provided only 16 tracks for the whole band !

This first album has exclusively electronic drums and conveys the kind of unorganic techno-industrial feel that was quite fashionable in the 80's. Applied to this very music, it makes it feel as triumphingly uncompromising, somehow like the Merrie Melodies opening theme for Bugs Bunny and co. An exquisite sense of freedom as regards the very rich input of ideas, some very bold like the weird chords that start Contrastes, an impressive rigor in terms of having it all played right and in place, yet they dare introduce it all with a jolly song "Chant Transylvain Du Sud-Ouest Tyrolien".

Their way of getting a band into playing and cutting records is of highest value at my place, and it's amazing that they've managed to keep creating such demanding pieces for so long without massive ad investment and control by the music industry.

Way back about twenty years ago (Has it really been that long? It doesn't feel like it.), I contributed reviews to a progressive rock newsletter called "On Reflection". The main benefit of this was receiving prog releases from around the world, that I would not have discovered otherwise. This was the finest of any of the releases I received and reviewed.

Somewhere between the music of the great seventies fusion bands, and chamber rock groups like Univers Zero, lies the music of Tiemko. The album opens with Épisode, a piece that flows effortlessly between energetic prog fusion that recall some of the upbeat Happy The Man tracks, and UZ style power RIO. And I have to point out that the guitar solos are out of this world.

The second track, Hypercontraste, amps up the style, with the fusion sounding verry Zappa influenced, especially with the tuned percussion. Bonbon Très Sucré is a more traditional fusion piece, based around some fine acoustic guitar work. The piece provides a bit of rest before the energy is back up with Vodka Frappée.

The title track closes the album in a twenty minute epic. It's a more nebulous piece, where the trio provide spacy atmosperic soloing, which somehow manages to remain intense the entire time.

After all this time, I still enjoy listening to this one frequently.