French musician
Laurent Girard
normally works in a primarily
electronic
medium, subtly altering the sounds of acoustic instruments into a form of glitchy but ultimately placid
lounge
music. On his seventh album under the project name
Melodium
,
Girard
steps away from that style into something simpler and more melodic. The 17 brief pieces on
Flacana Flacana
(
"Flacana 01"
through
"Flacana 17"
inclusive) are built on simple acoustic guitar and piano melodies; some, like
"Flacana 14,"
are processed a la
Fripp & Eno
into
ambient
pop
soundscapes, and several introduce subtle layers of
crust under the primary instruments. Overall, however,
is almost new agey in its peaceful, dreamy elegance. Fans of the pastoral instrumental
of
Virginia Astley
will find much to love here. ~ Stewart Mason