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BIOGRAPHY
A: A.
B: Brain.
Levitating and mediating, introspective and ecstatic, Turzi;s music is
a mental and sensory experience, an invitation on an internal journey
of the mind and body.
C: Cover
The cover art on the record is the work Marke Newton. A student of
classic portraiture with a passion for street culture. This British
artist mixes religious iconography with psychedelic pop.
D: Dieu
God. "A notre pere" the seventh song on "A" is not an invitation to
conversion but an automatic and fantasmic chant, a nervous cultural
reflex. The prayer memorized automatically during catechism is here
nothing more than an abstract succession of blank words. An
incantation empty of meaning, repeated indefinitely until the collapse
of conscience. Only one sensation remains: elevation.
E: Electronic.
Electronic waves are used here as live instruments. The synthetic
partitions are neither sketches nor products. No Pro Tools in the
horizon. Master of the domesticated synth, Turzi nonetheless
fantasizes, in the manner of Kraftwerk or Arpanet, the revolt of the
machines, whom, finally liberated of human kinds dictates, would only
play themselves.
F: Family
A contemporary French psychedelic one: One Switch to Collision, Aqua
Nebula Oscillator, Total Peace, Zombie-Zombie, Steeple Remove. But
also our relatives from the 70's: Gong, Alpes, Areski + Fontaine and
also Dashiell Hedayat who noted on the liner notes of his album
"Obsolete": "this record must be played as loud as possible, must be
heard as stoned as impossible and thank you everybody?"
G: Guitar
Used and abused, guitars have a tough life with Turzi. Removed from
their heroic role, they are demystified and returned to their role as
instrument-martyrs.
H: History
The working title for "A" was "In the Face of History?"
I: Inflammable
"A" is a visual trip recorded on inflammable film. Each piece was
envisioned as an individual cinematographic sequence building towards
a narrative whole. There is meant to be little or no space between the
pieces as they intertwine organically.
J: Jesus
After an appearance on "Made Under Authority" (see "M") Jesus is back
on "A" and he still has no business on the dance floor.
K: Krautrock
Or "rock choucroute" as it is known in France. The term used to
describe that incredible wave of German bands (Ash Ra Temple, Amon
Duul, Can, Faust, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Cluster) that in the beginning of
the 70's destroyed the carcass of rock by exploring the possibilities
offered by minimalism, electronics, and tribal music.
L: Live
"A" was mostly recorded live and partially improvised. Roman Turzi and
his band Reich IV gave precedence to aural experimentation in the
studio. It was on stage, were the group displays this quasi-hypnotic
power best, that most of these compositions were born.
M: Made Under Authority.
The first Turzi EP was released in November 2005. The six songs on
"Made Under Authority" were composed by Romain Turzi in the kitchen of
his Paris apartment. The press had some nice things to say: "Turzi's
music provokes, before anything, a giddy happiness in its listener,
this along with the vital need to make the innocent suffer and to be
married before god to a total stranger" Technikart.
N: Narcotic
In the words of Romain Turzi: "Music, whether you are initiated in it
or not, should make you have the same sensations as doing drugs. With
this is mind it is our intention to play with the listener, to make
him go up and down, to create a malaise as well pleasure."
O: Oppression.
In contrast to the "good vibrations" so dear to Brian Wilson, music
can also be a source of "Bad Vibrations". Turzi paints with both of
these palettes.
P: Pan European
Far from the hegemonic traditions of the Anglo-American world (blues
and pop), Turzi re-vindicates the old European heritage. A Europe that
is cold, experimental and synthetic that found its own voice in Italy
(Goblin), in Germany (Kraftwerk), in France (the (Hypothetical)
Prophets) or in Switzerland (Grauzone). Brainticket, a visionary group
form the 70's whose members were Swiss, Italian, and German are an
emblem for Turzi's Pan-European vision.
Q: Question.
Are you thinking about Jesus'
R: Reich IV
The band formed by Romain Turzi to accompany him on stage and in the
studio. The four stars of Reich are:
Sky Over, drums. Met him at catechism class.
Hard Rock Gunter, Guitar. Met him in boarding school.
Judah Warsky, Keyboards. Met him in the street.
Arthur Rambo, bass. Met him at a record store.
S: Stones, Nick
Psychologist and a true sound sorcerer, Nick Stone mixed "A", erasing
all the vintage mannerisms that existed propelling the album into the
future.
T: Turzi
Romain Turzi was born in Versailles in 1979. A French mother and an
Italian father from Calabria. His studies at the Sorbonne helped him
discover all the record stores in the vicinity of the university. He
held a couple of temporary job at record stores before deciding to
pursue music full time. "A" will be released at the same time as the
birth of his first child.
U: UHF.
As in Ultra High Frequency. While most rock music stays within the
confines of medium frequency to facilitate a comfortable listening
experience, Turzi enjoys using the highest and sharpest frequencies he
can find. He enjoys exploring the entire sonic palette, from one
extreme of the spectrum to the other.
V: Versailles
It was in Versailles, the hometown of most of the members of Reich IV,
that Romain Turzi met Marc Tessier Du Cros who eventually was
responsible for signing Turzi to his label Record Makers along side
such luminaries as Sebastien Tellier, Arpanet, and I love UFO.
W: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Austrian composer (Salzburg 1756 - Vienna 1791). A master of melody,
he searched for purity and elegance and knew how to obtain grandeur
through simplicity and grace. But behind the clarity and the fantasy,
irony and a worried soul shone through. Amadeus is the 9th song on "A".
X: Ecstasy
1. A trance or trancelike state in which an individual transcends
normal consciousness.
2. Admiration and pleasure derived from listing to the music of Turzi.
Y: ye-ye
Popular French musical style during the 60's in which French bands try
to recreate the sounds of Britain and the US. You could consider Turzi
to be an "anti ye-ye" band.
Z: Z machine.
The Z machine is the most powerful x-ray generator in the world.
Conceived as a tool to control materials that have been exposed to
conditions of extreme temperature and pressure, the machine is used
primarily as a tool for collecting and organizing the data from
nuclear weapons. Turzi is a Z machine. |
