Nicolas Bougaïeff - Decompress EP - Trapez 148


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Welcome Nicolas Bougaïeff on Trapez

You might be are familiar with Nicolas Bougaïeff through his release together with Max Cooper on Traum and through his podcast for Minus which stirred up some interest.

Nicolas Bougaïeff and Richie Hawtin

But most of you, especially those who make music themselves might know Nicolas Bougaïeff’s company Liine (he is one of the founders of Liine – alongside Richie Hawtin, Gareth Williams and John Acquaviva). Liine has put out the Live iPad controller "Live Control 2" this summer... so you can imagine Nicolas is pretty tied up with software technology discussions and you can imagine him on the plane more then on the ground. But he is serious about music as we can assure you.

The New Trapez by Nicolas Bougaïeff

Nicolas Bougaïeff has produced electronic dance music, composed commercial music for video games, developed interactive art installations and created sound art for contemporary dance choreographies.
Nicolas holds a degree in electroacoustic composition from the Montreal Music Conservatory and has recently submitted a thesis for a PhD in Music Composition at the University of Huddersfield so the music he has written for Trapez is a matter of translating all this into a dance formula, which we can say with full believe he has done in a great way. There is a lot of talk about the cross over tendencies in music and the way that music often nowadays is written for a particular club or audience, so we can even more appreciate as Trapez the fact that we have signed a person who is pretty much focussed on writing music using his compositional skills.

"Decompress" by Nicolas Bougaïeff

The EP starts with the track "Decompress" and you can witness right away Nicolas Bougaïeff’s awesome production skills and his journey into creating sound as one of the main pillars of his music.
"Decompress" has the clarity of Kraftwerk and the acuteness of thought expressed in "simplicity" a form that is so sharp and determined, it gets you all worked up and attentive. Nicolas Bougaïeff may have not given the term "minimalism" a new meaning but there is a silent revolution in the way he moves and in the way he plays his sounds.
"Decompress" goes beyond the loop based music as we know it from icons such as Robert Hood and Terrence Dixon... and the energy it creates never fades away. This is great piece of art and we hope many people will get into it.

"Tone Row" by Nicolas Bougaïeff

Track 2 "Tone Row" is much more of a trip and has a less classic composition than "Decompress". With sovereignty Nicolas Bougaïeff steers through the fog of soundscapes and movements. It seems Nicolas Bougaïeff works himself from the inside to the outside... it is an endless journey which gives it a track format. What starts pretty funky turns out to be a real voyage and the longer it takes the more gripping and thrilling it gets. Imagine the time-bomb ticking away in "The Wages of Fear" directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Yves Montand and it might show a bit. "Tone Row" is great art and great fun to listen to at the same time and you can see feet flying through the air in clubs like Berghain and Tresor.

"Jack à Paris" by Nicolas Bougaïeff

"Jack à Paris" is the third original on this EP and shows that Nicolas Bougaïeff is a person with multi faced music interests. The title of the track is very much to the point, wailing trumpet like sounds give it a French feeling and in a way the classic compositions connect it to "Decompress".

Nicolas Bougaïeff hands on Nicolas Bougaïeff

A nice remix comes from the artist Ambivalent from Minus, who has remixed "Decompress" and turned it upside down adding vocal sounds and afro influences for a vivid and untamed club version.


Release date: 11. November 2013