Unreleased Material From Electroacoustic Pioneers Bernard Parmegiani and Francois Bayle Set For Release In October

Just in time for the 60th anniversary of groundbreaking Groupe de Recherches Musicales, the center for research into electro-acoustic music opened by composer Pierre Schaeffer in 1958, French label Transversales Disques has announced the release of previously unheard music from two figures closely associated with the GRM: Bernard Parmegiani and Francois Bayle.

The collection of work from Parmegiani, titled Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 1, pulls together material from between 1966 and 1990 that the French composer intended for use in film and television soundtracks or for dance and theater performances. As is the case with the two excerpts from the compilation that Transversales shared today, the pieces provide evidence of the breadth of his work, which brought jazz and classical elements and influences into his daring electronic experiments.

Electrucs ! brings together some of Francois Bayle’s never before heard efforts, which, as the title of the album should tell you, leans much more into straight synthesized fare. Some tracks on this collection were composed as an imaginary film soundtrack using only the EMS Synthi AKS, the first commercially available synthesizer, while others built off of previous work he had done, like, the euphoric and strange 1978 work Grand Polyphonie.

Both release will be out on vinyl and CD and available digitally on October 12th.