Search - Thomas Belhom :: Remedios

First solo album : Remedios. Far from the tormented rise of the past, some quietness exudes from the slowed down rhythms, sowing the scorches and cracks with preciosity. No double pedal to the drumkit but a remarkable work on the touch, the physical approach to the instrument and the resounding objects (Cadillac pieces, bells, tindrums, gongs, kid's toys?). The drums are not only used as a vector of melody or rhythm but express their own language. Once deeply rooted in American music, this globe-trotter has freed himself from his ancient territory of exile by fishing into miscellaneous cultures (latin, african, asiatic). In these twelve no man?s lands, Thomas never watches the almighty sun; he merely sounds the cracks of the ground. His music resembles a desert whose sand would slowly and steadily interfere with the innermost recesses of our neurons and settle for life. This second step doesn't make him an hermit since his own aim is to elevate his monotonous pieces to their highest level of perfection. Thomas is surrounded by outstanding musicians playing with congruous exigency. In order to administer this new antidote, Red and David Grubbs summon up their rich and diverse ideas as well as their pronounced taste for tightrope walking over subtle silence and delicate experimentation. On board of their spacious and poetic stagecoach are seated Viva Yazon (his companion, guitar, composition on Eugène), Gilles Constantini (languorous violin on Eugène and Whales), Pierre Favard (keyboards). This strolling band takes time to pace through the shortcuts, to seize the fineness of these dry but generous, raw and spiritual songs. Sweat and intellect slowly merge together as their transhumance goes along.