Owun - Le Fantome de Gustav

by Andy Cassidy

published: 2 / 4 / 2012

Label: Owun
Format: CD

Disjointed, but occasionally brilliant fourth album from reformed French shoegaze act, Owun

Review

'Le Fantome de Gustav' is the first release from newly reformed French shoegaze outfit Owun. The group initially got together in 1992 but split after ten years of moderate success and three albums. In 2007, former members Alexandre Turpin, Cedric Correard and Ludovic Turpin decided to restart the project, and were joined by guitarist Julien Chaize. The album opens with the atmospheric drone of 'Premisses', a blissed-out electronic exercise in minimalism which slowly builds providing a platform upon which the remainder of the album sits. In tone the piece is reminiscent of Marconi Union and, while it is perhaps not as ambient, it is certainly as meditative and soothing. The album’s second track, 'etoile en bout', again utilises an electronically generated drone, but, unlike the opening track, it is overlaid with some cutting industrial guitar-work. The looping guitar and the powerful atmosphere combine to great effect, and the piece sits somewhere between the deepest depths of industrial rock and the more ambient shallows of chillwave. Third track 'Persephone' is what I can only describe as an atonal tone poem – all chiming guitars and post-grunge drone, while 'Carbone' is a heavier, more brutal affair with menacing, crunching chords obscuring a heavily treated vocal. Indeed, the main problem I have with this album is this obscurity – there are moments of atmospheric grunge guitar overlaying fine ambient drones and vice versa, but the two tend to clash with, rather than compliment, each other. This lends a jarring unease to the album which is, in my opinion, to its detriment. It almost sounds as though the trio of original members are playing one style of music while the new member of the band is playing another. There are, however, moments when the disparate strands come together quite magically – 'Berceaux' and 'Acclame' in particular are stand-out tracks. 'Berceaux' in particular really excited me – it’s a melange of field recordings, looping guitars and an urgent, yet dreamy beat. As a piece of musical montage, I thought it was superb, reminiscent of Pink Floyd at their most experimental (it wouldn’t sound out of place of 'Ummagumma' or 'Atom Heart Mother'). There are moments of excellence on' Le Fantome', and the highs more than make up for the low points. It is by no means, though, easy listening. It’s not the prettiest album out there, but for fans of no-wave and drone it’s well worth a listen.