TRANCHES DE TEMPS JETÉ

As far as I've been able to see, I can't exactly tell which CD « album » relates to an STPO original album, as it seems that everything has been retouched re-recorded and whatever else is imaginable around. It appears to me that the last two albums (including TdTJ) are maybe the only CD disc of STPO, to have still their original form. In either case this Rennes (the unofficial capital of Brettons in eastern Brittany and a university city) collective is obviously born out of some art faculty and obviously treated in many different forms of arts including theatre and drawing/paintings, just to name these. Their brand of RIO is a bit the crazy French type of RIO, between Albert Marcoeur, Hector Zazou and Etronfou, rather than the more Zeuhl/classical Art Zoyd.

And the latest in the STPO discography, Tranches Du Temps Jeté might seem more user-friendly (OK, listener-serviceable ;o)), partly due to the fun animation figures on this digipack artwork, but it is maybe not the most accessible album of theirs. The least we can say is that as the collective nears its second full decade of existence, it is definitely not going soft on itself. Somehow stuck between their usual craziness and (new twist) a certain kind of post rock, the music doesn't have that theatrical Post Punk with chamber music twist anymore.

I wouldn't really suggest starting your introduction of STPO with this album, because it would be completely misleading in regards with the huge majority of their discography. Nevertheless, such a bizarre album still deserves an attentive ear from the RIO fanatic, because it might be opening a new avenue for RIO group to thread upon. Good but unrepresentative.