{"title":"Benoit Pioulard","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"temper","title":"Temper","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTemper\u003c\/em\u003e is the second album by \u003cstrong\u003eThomas Meluch\u003c\/strong\u003e under his \u003cstrong\u003eBenoit Pioulard\u003c\/strong\u003e nom de guerre. Assembling various analog sources on basic software at home, Pioulard has honed his craft into a form that suggests something far grander.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePioulard creates crystalline folk-pop teeming with fragile vocals, acoustic guitars, electronics, and percussion in a hazy style that's more than a little easy to fall in love with. For fans of \u003cstrong\u003eDabrye\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ePostal Service\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eDntel\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eFour Tet\u003c\/strong\u003e, etc. on \u003cem\u003eKranky\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50436585783627,"sku":"303411","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50436587061579,"sku":"303410","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/62d62b2f-cf3b-44d4-b0d7-ecf99e95df79_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726919227"},{"product_id":"lasted","title":"Lasted","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLasted\u003c\/em\u003e is the third album by \u003cstrong\u003eThomas Meluch\u003c\/strong\u003e under the alias \u003cstrong\u003eBenoit Pioulard\u003c\/strong\u003e. Thomas has toured throughout North America and Europe since his last record.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe process of touring has had a marked impact on the development of these songs, as lyrics and structures have been scrapped, tweaked, and reworked in the live setting. As with previous albums, \u003cem\u003eLasted\u003c\/em\u003e was recorded and mixed in domestic isolation, this time throughout the rainy season in his current home of Portland, Oregon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the extent of the dreary climate's influence on the results is left to the listener's discretion, what is certain is that Thomas has a preternatural ability to weave disparate sound components into a cohesive sonic tapestry. He mixes a varied palette of field recordings and percussive elements along with melancholy melodies to create songs that recall - and are akin to - vespers of long-buried memories.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50436588634443,"sku":"331702","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/222afafd-0fe5-43c5-b30b-34663da0e94c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726919248"},{"product_id":"hymnal","title":"Hymnal","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThomas Meluch\u003c\/strong\u003e, the singer-songwriter better known as \u003cstrong\u003eBenoit Pioulard\u003c\/strong\u003e, releases a new album \u003cem\u003e'Hymnal'\u003c\/em\u003e on Kranky.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe songbook of Benoit is one of uniqueness, beauty, and originality. Themes aside, \u003cem\u003e'Hymnal'\u003c\/em\u003e contains some of Meluch's most expansive instrumental works (\u003cem\u003e\"Knell\"\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e\"Gospel\"\u003c\/em\u003e) and fully realized pop compositions (\u003cem\u003e\"Hawkeye\"\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e\"Reliquary\"\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e\"Margin\"\u003c\/em\u003e), making for a rich and dynamic long-playing arc.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlso featured are string arrangements by Kranky label mate Felix and guitar work from ambient maestro Kyle Bobby Dunn.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50436590600523,"sku":"359558","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50436591452491,"sku":"359559","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a567d3cd-4663-4fd3-8a49-782eef14e061_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726919280"},{"product_id":"the-benoit-pioulard-listening-matter","title":"The Benoit Pioulard Listening Matter","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eBenoit Pioulard Listening Matter\u003c\/em\u003e is the sixth Kranky album from Thomas Meluch under the nom de plume \u003cstrong\u003eBenoît Pioulard\u003c\/strong\u003e. It arrives on the 10th anniversary of his first LP \u003cem\u003ePrécis\u003c\/em\u003e, and offers a rekindled focus on self-examination, as well as a return to vocal-based pop structures following the mostly instrumental \u003cem\u003eSonnet\u003c\/em\u003e (2015).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRecording for the \u003cem\u003eListening Matter\u003c\/em\u003e began during a period of grief, turmoil, and self-medication, and continued throughout two years of growth and healing. Reflections on vice (\"Layette\", \"Anchor as the Muse\"), virtue (\"Narcologue\"), and death (\"A Mantle for Charon\") feature equally in this concise treatise aimed at the flawed-but-resilient core in us all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy coincidence, this album was completed on the very day Meluch’s only brother died; accordingly, it’s dedicated to him and anyone seeking paths away from their demons.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kranky","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50465846034763,"sku":"1000108","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50465846362443,"sku":"1000109","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e2f820be-cf20-410e-99f2-e1d3c8bb7dd2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727297378"},{"product_id":"sonnet","title":"Sonnet","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe sound of the fifth \u003cem\u003eBenoit Pioulard\u003c\/em\u003e full length is lush and verdant, a temperate rain forest of ear ecstasy that reflects the environment surrounding the artist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA mostly instrumental work, it is an adept melding of song and sound, melody and texture, the intangible and the palpable, that in an abstract sense recalls the more fractured and loose end of the 70's krautrock movement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe basis of the album was a series of field recordings of tones and unintentional harmonies that I made in the summer \u0026amp; fall of 2013 - whistling industrial air conditioners, bird songs, locust drones, washing machines - that I mimicked or interpreted on the guitar, making loops that developed into fuller compositions.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSeveral of the pieces are recreations of harmony loops that I heard in a series of extraordinarily vivid dreams, and then woke up and recorded.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA few pieces had lyrics and vocal parts that I ultimately removed; at a certain point the album became an exercise in restraint, so I strove to leave only what I felt absolutely essential.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUnlike most of my previous recordings, there are no digital \/ software after-effects on the album; all sounds are from analog tape and \/ or my few guitar pedals.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThomas Meluch (Benoit Pioulard).\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kranky","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50471105134923,"sku":"385873","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50471105331531,"sku":"385872","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/4359fd5f-e97f-4625-878c-43c0abd610a1_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727391283"},{"product_id":"eidetic","title":"Eidetic","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmerican singer-songwriter, poet, and photographer Thomas Meluch, known musically as Benoît Pioulard, returns with his most structured and vocal release to date. Titled Eidetic,« a word denoting the ability to recall mental images with extraordinarily rich precision, the album presents unprecedented clarity and vitality for Benoît Pioulard. To access its thematic ground, Meluch looked inward with an affinity towards the people he loves during a period marked by his move from Seattle to Brooklyn in 2019. The resulting work engages with the universe's unflinching mortality and, as he says, the ways it has modified and improved my relationships, especially with family.« Embodied by the creek, leaves, and ferns of the cover photography -- taken in Michigan's Burchfield Park, where he and his dad used to hike and muse on existence« -- the music glistens and unfurls with the flow of life he's come to know. Eidetic« is the culmination of Meluch's craft both as a producer and writer. An evocative sonic vocabulary meets deft lyrical introspection, articulated with the nuance, vulnerability, and confidence of a longtime artist hitting a stride. Meluch has continually refined, redefined, and adjusted the focus of his gentle pop project over the last 20 years. Recorded primarily with guitar, tapes, and voice -- and spanning labels with albums for Kranky, Morr Music, Beacon Sound, and Past Inside the Present -- his catalog flows seamlessly between ambient improvisation and pop composition. Much like the analog photos that often accompany his releases, songs can feel dreamily softened and distant, and others beautifully vivid and detailed. 2021 full-length Bloodless« found Meluch deep in droning decay, expressive yet wordless. With Eidetic,« he swings back to sharpened forms. Lush banks of treated guitar and synth brush against hushed percussion; there is mist in the distance, but everything up close is intricately constructed and radiant. Meluch's voice is notably forward in the mix -- a warm and calming tenor, a harmonic coo more than a whisper -- ever-observant and actively processing. To record much of the album, Meluch filled a cabin in rural Maine with his usual setup of simple percussion, a couple of Fender electrics, and a parlor guitar made by his friend who does bespoke luthier work. The modest utility is what he knows best, and here he pushes the output to its most pristine potential. Eidetic« opens in a swirl of familiar haze; Margaret Murie« eases listeners in, as lush and verdant as the landscapes conserved by its famed namesake. With the setting established, Meluch, the narrator, enters the foreground with Crux,« a tender piece written about finding new motivations in a new city. We covet this rare green hue \/ Here at the farthest point from home,« he sings above a reassuring pattern of strums and percussion. Meluch's prose shines on the swiftly-moving Nameless,« inspired by the neurological effects that came with the antiquated practice of manufacturing mercury mirrors; folks would slowly go insane while looking into their own reflections every day,« he adds. The idea informs a series of surreal abstractions before everything drops out in the final minute, and we are left free-floating in eerie nothingness. Across the album, labyrinthine lyrical ponderings scatter with dazzling imagery, artfully blurring scenes from world history with Meluch's more personal, present-day. The propulsive and earnest Thursday Night« catches his mind overly active and too stoned, riffing on black holes and songwriting itself. Halve« references the splitting of the atom, what he considers the beginning of man's downfall,« and the unrealized initiative proposed by the US government that would have created 'nuclear refuges' in its national parks. Meluch's loved ones weave throughout; Tet« holds his father's experience in Vietnam and its lasting effects. Lillian Isola« touches on his maternal grandmother's spinal curvature, and Pastel Dust« navigates the wake of his cat, who died on New Year's Eve 2020. At first blush, Meluch's atmospheric and melodic sensibilities resonate purely in their own right. Upon closer meditation, his ability to render stories -- many of which surround human tragedy, misfortune, and understanding -- through the prism of his poetry makes Eidetic« even more rewarding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Morr Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50502198788427,"sku":"2009789","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50502202786123,"sku":"2009802","price":36.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_73dff538_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727789279"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/benoit-pioulard.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}