Pierre Bastien
Pierre Bastien (born Paris, 1953) post-graduated in eighteenth-century French literature at University Paris-Sorbonne. In 1977 he built his first musical machinery. For the next ten years he has been composing for dance companies and playing with Pascal Comelade. In the meantime he was constantly developing his mechanical orchestra. Since 1987 he concentrates on it through solo performances, sound installations, recordings and collaborations with such artists as Pierrick Sorin, Karel Doing, Jean Weinfeld, Robert Wyatt or Issey Miyake.
Pierre Bastien (born Paris, 1953) post-graduated in eighteenth-century French literature at University Paris-Sorbonne. In 1977 he built his first musical machinery. For the next ten years he has been composing for dance companies and playing with Pascal Comelade. In the meantime he was constantly developing his mechanical orchestra. Since 1987 he concentrates on it through solo performances, sound installations, recordings and collaborations with such artists as Pierrick Sorin, Karel Doing, Jean Weinfeld, Robert Wyatt or Issey Miyake.
Dialogues and Shadows
Among its many qualities, music relies on a special force: transcendence. When we listen, we are placed in a different reality, where sound is a vehicle for a much higher meaning. Naturally, not all music is capable of such a thing. But a few musicia…
Aquapelagos Vol.2: Índico
Presenting the second thematic volume on the »Aquapelagos« series - a collection of split LPs where selected artists offer their own take into water surrounded cultures and communities. After the initial release of the Anthology compilation Aquapelag…
Baba Soirée
Two visionary maestros, Pierre Bastien and Michel Banabila, unite in their first collaborative album, Baba Soirée. The veterans of electronic music bring their unique expertise to the table, resulting in a captivating fusion of experimental styles. B…
NEN (feat. Pierre Bastien)
*100 copies limited edition* Inspired by the work of Arte Povera, NEN achieves a high level of perceptual density with a limited sonic palette, combining remnants of musical instruments and electronics between fragments of samples and field recording…
Suspicious Moon
A collection of Elvis Presley covers recorded by the duet David Fenech & Pierre Bastien
Sonic Folkways
By now counting more than four decades of constant activity, Pierre Bastien erected such a towering and influential body of work that any blurb attempt regarding his music could easily fall into redundancy. Not that his revolving soundworld, deeply p…
Phantoms LP
Eddie Ladoire, composer and plastic artist, meets Pierre Bastien, an emblematic figure of the french experimental music scene to compose the soundtrack of an original choregraphy made of edited old movies of dancers from all times and spaces.
Bandiera di Carta
Bandiera di Carta represents the ongoing collaboration between instrument builder and composer Pierre Bastien and the London based experimental duo Tomaga (Valentina Magaletti and Tom Relleen).Bastien has been called a “mad musical scientist with a c…
Impressions de Meccano
**numbered edition of 40 copies** This Album is a Unicum in the Œuvre of Pierre Bastien... He has always played together with the Meccano Orchestra, in these Pieces however, the Music contains the mechanical Sounds by the Meccano Orchestra only, with…
Tinkle Twang ‘n Tootle
Pierre Bastien orchestrates his meccano marionettes on Tinkle Twang 'n Tootle to form the charming imaginative ensemble that he’s been known for since the late '80s. Equal parts composer, inventor, mechanic, and performer, Bastien translates his imag…
The Mecanoncentric Worlds of Pierre Bastien
Discrepant present a magical live recording from the legend that is Pierre Bastien, showcasing his mecanoid orchestra at its intricate best during a performance at Studio M, the historical studio-concert hall of Radio-Television of Vojvodina, Serbia.…
Blue As An Orange
French composer and multi-instrumentalist Pierre Bastien delivers another entry in Morphine's increasingly diverse catalog. Active since the mid-'70s, Bastien is best known for building automated orchestras. His previous album, Machinations, was rele…
Entomology
A threesome of coloured vinyl by WORM Records. These records are extraordinary not just because of their appearance (bright yellow, blue and pink vinyl), but also because of their unique origins. The a-sides of the records were recorded for Soundpiec…
Visions of Doing
Pierre Bastien is well known for his orchestra of musically gifted robots. Driven by electric motors, the machines deliver stuttering rhythmic loops. These unsteady tempos constantly fluctuate, imbuing the songs with an emotional and honest quality n…
Musiques Machinales
1 copy only, long out of print - for many years, Pierre BASTIEN has developed his personal music based on musical machines made with Mecano. His orchestra MECANIUM is his backing band both on album and on stage. All this creates a tender, delicate an…
Eggs air sister steel
A homage to Ray Monk Eno and to his Exercices in Style. 13 versions of the same musical theme, some interpreted on the Mecano musical machines built by Pierre Bastien. Musically mechanical.
Les Premières Machines 1968 - 1988
Manipulating and experimenting in all directions, Pierre Bastien gets help from a lot of human-being (Percussions, piano, cello & accordion) but also from machines: toy robots play percussion, xylophone or even the guitar. The result is surprising, v…