Mlada-Fronta- Dioxydes

Artist: Mlada-Fronta
CD Title: Dioxydes
Label: Parametric Records
Reviewer: Matthew Johnson
Date: 5-22-05

With this release, Mlada-Fronta’s Remy Pelleschi has firmly established himself as the most talented composer of experimental electronic media not only in France, but arguably worldwide. This DVD-only release is conceptually the third part of the trilogy that began with the double-CDs “FE2O3” and “Oxydes,” but this time around Pelleschi has taken things a step further by making his latest album a film. Though it’s dedicated to the early works of John Carpenter, “Escape from New York” this is not. Pelleschi’s camera work takes the viewer through fields of the excruciatingly ordinary – street lamps, skyscrapers, telephone wires – and makes them alien and alive through inventive camera work and an experimental soundtrack that ranges from soft ambient to crunchy, ominous rhythmic noise. As a film editor, he uses a light touch, and adornments are kept simple – a block of text here, a diagram there – to keep them from interfering with the atmosphere. In one memorable scene, three lines of plain-text letters swirl and ride the currents generated by a wind farm. In another, a close-up of blurred highway paint pans back to reveal rows of screens – each playing the loops of paint on the asphalt – stretching into the horizon like they themselves are the road. Industrial music luminaries like Throbbing Gristle and Coil have been experimenting with “ambient film” for decades now, but Pelleschi’s work has taken things to a new level. More suited to the art gallery than the dance floor, Pelleschi’s indefinable creation transcends dance music and film alike. Few will get this, of course, but for those to do it will be an experience of sublime beauty.

Visit www.mlada-fronta.com for more information.