PASCAL LANGUIRAND

"De Harmonia Universalia",1980, composed and performed by Pascal Languirand is another true example of how rich and unique the Canadian prog-electronic scene developed alongside its European counterpart.

The blend of acoustic or analog instruments (and vocals here and there) with very well thought electronic environments, in a perfect progression of music composition ideas (5), which are perfectly crafted and performed single handedly without any other purpose but perfection and I suppose a personal sense of achievement yet without condescending nor becoming egotic-obtuse or over-grandiose.

The whole project is felt conceptual and shares themes that appear to construct new passages and directions which conjure its "mystic" and cosmic atmospheres and also its closer to earth connection ("Atlantis" track 3) .

Now as far as rating this effort, I will certainly admit that even though it gets dangerously close to "sweet tinkle bells music" at some peaks and Tangerine Dream's idiom ("O Nos Omnes", track 4), it never abuses these compositional solutions and somehow detours from crossing those lines.

Altogether it offers, I repeat, a very different perspective of Progressive Electronics as opposed to its European counterparts (and schools) , the "real deal" in this sub-genre's universe.

Easy ****4.5 PA stars

Thanks to reviewer Progfan97402 for bringing this artist to my attention!

There didn't seem to be a huge electronic scene in Quebec, but there were a few examples, like Dionne Bregent, Michel Madore's last album La Chambre Nuptiale (his debut Le Komuso a Cordes is more prog rock/space rock), and Pascal Languirand. Pascal Languirand appears to be the son of Quebec radio and TV personality Jacques Languirand. In 1981 he starred in a TV series called Vivre Ici Maintenant in which his son recorded music for, and became his third album (listed in ProgArchives, as it was available to the general Quebec public). 1978's Minos is Pascal's debut, released on Kebec Disc, just like the sole album from Pollen and the original version of Michel Madore's La Chambre Nuptiale (it was later issued in France on EGG, but without the gatefold and a slight modification of the cover artwork). I was surprised to find out it has an embossed cover. What you get is sinister droning electronic music. It seems he gets most of that from the Moog Taurus bass pedals, which is not usual (I'm used to the Genesis style of use of Moog Taurus), but he also plays guitar, sings, and also plays drums. Much of it relies on his keyboards. It's a bit like Klaus Schulze meets Pink Floyd, although one song, "Dans le Vent, Dans le Temps" is so out of place, it's unbelievable. Here he explore folk rock that's unbelievable similar to Harmonium. I guess that was intentional, if you're from Quebec, you probably couldn't ignore Harmonium. The music here brings to mind the L'Heptade-era of the band or perhaps the more calm, acoustic moments of Pascal's labelmate Pollen, but it's easy to tell it's not Harmonium as Pascal Languirand has a higher pitch voice than Serge Fiori. The last song, "Omega" is more typical of the album. Strange electronic album with one clearly prog folk song. He has released two other albums which I will plan on getting. The great thing is you can get these at a reasonable price without hurting your bank account as none of his three albums have ever been reissued. It's quite a bit different from his '80s new wave/synth pop band Trans-X, that's for sure. Electronic music like this comes highly recommended!