Search - Dominique Grimaud :: Les Quatres Directions

Dominique Grimaud is a hidden treasure of France's psych, free rock, electronic, and jazz improv scenes. From his role as a founding member of the legendary psych/krautrock-inspired French act Camizole to his equally celebrated no wave/new wave duo Video-Aventures-- whose groundbreaking music has been viewed as a precursor to the sound of Stereolab--to his jaw-dropping audio visual performance installations and live performances with celebrated performer Colleen, Grimaud has spent his entire life exploring the musical fringes of the French underground. With Les Quatres Directions, Grimaud emerges with his first release in nearly a decade, a whirlwind mind-altering long-form microgroove composition of grand proportions that hearkens back to the expanded audio visoneering and spiritualism of '60s electronic music luminaries from Stockhausen to Ramon Sender. Here, Grimaud combines the otherworldly synth effects of his moog, EMS Synthi AKS, and Sequential Circuit Prophet with the hairy electric guitar bravado of his Fender strat and shamanic chanting into a celestial homemade orchestra. Les Quatres Directiones pays homage to the culture of the American Indians of the Great Plains. This culture is deeply rooted in the themes of the circle and the cardinal points they call the four winds. The whole piece evokes the both outside world of the Four Elements (water, air, earth, fire) and the inner world (heart, mind, body, spirit).