- Bertrand Burgalat
Bertrand Burgalat (1963) is a French musician, composer and producer.
Background
Bertrand Burgalat was born in the Corsican town of Bastia in 1963. His father, a high-ranking civil servant, was the sub-prefect of the island at the time, but as often happens in this profession, the Burgalat family moved several times in the course of Burgalat senior's career so young Bertrand grew up in several different towns in
France . Obsessed with Classical Music from an early age, Burgalat apparently became fascinated with the possibilities of pop music after seeingPink Floyd in concert when he was 10 years old.Work
Burgalat is well-known for his cool, breezy 1960s-style pop sound, something he has lent to his production work with Air,
April March ,A.S Dragon ,Dalcan ,Jad Wio ,Mick Harvey , Louis Philippe and the French writerMichel Houellebecq . His musical influences include the "ye-ye " sound of French pop made famous byFrance Gall ,Françoise Hardy andBrigitte Fontaine , as well as the singersJacques Dutronc andSerge Gainsbourg , as well as the 'folk-music of the Ruhr' created byKraftwerk . Reputed to possess one of the most acute ears in the business, 'BB' (a nickname he shares withBrigitte Bardot ) also draws inspiration from 20th century French classical composers such asMaurice Ravel ,Francis Poulenc andOlivier Messiaen , and was greatly influenced by the writings of cult French journalist-cum-pop visionary Yves Adrien.At the age of 25, he produced the Laibach's album "Let It Be", which is an entire cover of
The Beatles ' album of the same name.In 1995, he remixed and rearranged the
Renegade Soundwave song "Positive Mindscape" (as "Positive BB") for release on the "Positive Dub Mixes" CD single.His own releases, "The Ssssound of Mmmusic" (2000) and "Portrait-robot" (2005) fuse subtle electronica, psychedelia, soaring backing choruses and string sections with wry lyrics (some of them written by
Philippe Katerine ,April March andAlfreda Benge ,Robert Wyatt 's long-time companion), and finely-crafted melodies. Burgalat is also expert at using discords and dissonances in his harmonies, some of which bear more relation toavant-garde classical music than to pop. On his album, "Bertrand Burgalat Meets A.S. Dragon" (2001), Burgalat places his crooning style directly in contrast with A.S Dragon's hard-groove rock/jam-band sensibility.Tricatel
In 1995, Burgalat established his own record label,
Tricatel , which has become synonymous with futuristic retro-chic, innovation and fierce attachment to its independent spirit, characteristics which are both natural to him, and derived from his fascination for labels like theCompact Organisation andél records . This boutique label (whose very high profile in France has not yet been matched by commercial success) has helped define the "Burgalat sound," which has been billed as a French response toPhil Spector , and has been a major influence on acts such asAir andDaft Punk . Struggling with distribution problems, and despite the huge critical acclaim gained by many of its releases, Tricatel has downsized its activities over the past two years, concentrating on acts such asAS Dragon , new signingLes Shades , and Bertrand Burgalat himself, who is currently (January 2007) working on a follow-up to 'Portrait-Robot'. Other notable artists in the Tricatel catalogue include Swedish avant-pop trioEggstone ,The High Llamas ,Ingrid Caven , and award-winning novelistJonathan Coe , who teamed up with Louis Philippe and jazz pianist/double-bass player Danny Manners for the occasion. Tricatel has also released compilations of some of Burgalat's musical heroes, such as French composerAndré Popp and legendary English arranger and soundtrack composerDavid Whitaker . Bertrand Burgalat picked the name 'Tricatel' from a successful French comedy of the 70's, "l'Aile ou la cuisse", starringLouis de Funès andColuche .Discography
*"The Ssssound of Mmmusic",
2000
*"The Genius of Bertrand Burgalat",2001
*"Bertrand Burgalat Meets A.S Dragon",2001
*"Portrait Robot",2005
*"Inédits",2007
*"Chéri B.B.",2007 Links
Publisher website: http://www.tricatel.com
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