Portraits: Alex Bastos
As a flag-bearer for modern French electronic music, Tour-Maubourg is celebrating the release of his second longplayer, Spaces Of Silence. It’s out now on Pont Neuf Records.
“I composed this album in Brussels at my grandparents’ house between February 2021 and July 2022 where I set up a small studio. I saw it as a return to my personal roots, as it was the first time since I left Belgium in 2013 that I found myself composing here again. I took advantage of this period away from the overflowing Parisian atmosphere and away from the people I loved who I’ve been around for seven years, to be truly alone with my music.
The name Spaces of Silence echoes the tinnitus that I have had permanently had since 2018. Silence is a state that I find paradoxically in music, one that allows me not to hear this tinnitus. Each track – each composition – is therefore one of the keys that allows me to find a certain balance. I composed this album with the intention of expressing this notion of noise and silence using tape, cassette, background noise and field recordings.”
Peep five influences below.
Ron Trent – Feel The Rhythm
As a Ron Trent fan for a few years now, it definitely influenced the way I consider music, or just even sound.
I love his use of opened and intense stabs on this track, but more generally the way he considers music, and how he is always trying to push the sound forward.
Rhythm and Sound – Smile
The first time I heard Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald’s music, it truly blew my mind.
The intensity of the textures and the mental and auditive space it creates is something I’ve been trying to add in my sound ever since.
Quincy Jones – Summer In The City
An absolute classic, sampled over and over by hip hop’s most influential artists, I’m totally in love with this version of Summer In The City by Quincy Jones (master of all masters). I definitely thought about this track when I produced I Never Will.
Daft Punk – Something About Us
An absolute classic for me and a “madeleine de proust”.
The chord progression on this track is a true masterpiece to me. Soothing yet so emotional, and I’m not talking about the melodies, some truly unforgettable melodies. I wanted to give the listener the same feel on La berceuse des vieux amants.
Moodymann – Jimmy D… Nickle
Musically and conceptually, moodymann has always been a great influence on me. With such tracks, small introductions, almost like forgotten tapes, he pushed me to not let on the side small loops that seem like unfinished tracks but are actually little golden gems. Art is a proposal, and it doesn’t need to follow a six minute format to be a consistent piece of work.
Worship the simple tracks, everybody .
