IGOR WAKHÉVITCH

Igor's father was an art director in France but born in the Ukraine. He and his family escaping to the south of France. Igor being taught piano by a classical composer when he was just six years old. He would grow to be influenced greatly by contemporary avant-garde performers and eventually hanging around with some legends who were impressed by Igor's work. His meeting with Terry Riley influenced his "Hathor" album significantly. And really those first three records he released are the ones to focus on from the early seventies. "Logos", "Doctor Faust" and "Hathor" are all are quite different from one another.

This debut is described in the promo for the 2012 reissue as such "Originally recorded in 1970, this is the perfect introduction to Wakhevitch dark, powerful and often menacing sound world. An unlikely mixture of 20th century classical avant-garde, both orchestral and electronic, and psychedelic rock courtesy of french psych-prog band TRIANGLE." Igor was influenced by Russian thinker Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff and also Kabbalistic and Alchemistic traditions, coupled with Igor's vision of cosmic art for the 20th century.

As far as the music goes, this is soundscape music that is dark and haunting much of the time. Unique sounding with the use of voices, like mellotron choirs for example but different. This is similar to modern classical and dark ambient. A lot of these eight tracks blend into each other. This is a very uniform sounding record. And very much headphone music. I do prefer this to his next one called "Doctor Faust" but this is certainly not for everybody. Salvador Dali was a fan and used Igor's music for his work related to operas.

The enjoyment level is not at that 4 star level but this album in my opinion deserves that rating for other reasons. Not the least of which is that Igor was blazing new trails, and that counts for a lot.

Once again NAGUAL featured small snippets of much longer pieces extracted from two hours of music and was performed under the title "Human Called Being" which would be presented to the Empress of Iran, Farah Palhavi at the International Festival of Shiraz-Persepolis. The term NAGUAL means "master of the consciousness" in the Toltec language and once again WAKHÉVITCH delivered deep philosophical meanings through sound that according to him delivered the occult side of nature and conscious energy from the form of dreams that found physical form in our 3D construct. Heavy, man! Can't say i get that listening to this but whatever! The NAGUAL basically tells a similar tale to "The Lord Of The Rings" mythology and the entire concept was inspired by the writings of Carlos Castaneda. This album was a lot different from WAKHÉVITCH's previous works as it's more cosmic and closer to to the word of Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze at times than what came before but still varied enough and wild enough to fit into his idiosyncratic avant-garde musical style.

This album of 13 tracks features primarily shorter tracks that sample longer passages of a larger score with the exception of the closing 8-minute plus "Chirakan-Ixmucane." The majority of the sounds come from keyboards, synthesizers and computers but several other instruments are heard or at least simulated. Sounding something like a dark new age album, the sounds are eerie, ominous and enigmatic with Berlin School techniques such as cycling patterns and trippy cosmic tones and timbres. The album is very meditative actually and most surely reflects WAKHÉVITCH's mindset after chilling out in India many times (he would eventually quit music and move there permanently). While almost exclusively an electronic album this time around, NAGUAL features a diverse roster of strange squeaking sounds, swirlies, reverb, echo effects and processed fragments of speech. Even percussive sounds are processed and the sound of harps and other instruments are included.

The album is fairly diverse with spastic piano movements, reverb soaked motifs, crazy dynamics shifts and even an Irish jig. The tracks are either monotonously consistent or can throw extreme curveballs by changing gears completely. The creativity is quite clever on this one and it really makes me want to hear the entire two hours accompanied by the visual treat that surely must have matched the intensity. Tracks like the crazy reverberating "Sppenta Armati (Ritual Of The Zelator)" remind me of some of the techniques psycho-electronic act COIL would adopt in the 1980s and 90s whereas "Hunahpuguch" almost sounds like an aboriginal didgeridoo and drum circle session. "Beginning Of Peter's Journey" totally shifts gears and evokes a Chopin étude of some sort whereas "The Smile Of The Wolf On The Beach" just sounds like a silly happy love ballad that comes from left field. "Never Poem For The Other" continues the piano playing only with a cyclical bass line. "Cinderella" evokes a music box while the closer "Chirakan-Ixmucane" sounds more like traditional 1970s progressive electronic.

This album is a wild ride for sure and all the better for it. Whereas the previous "Les Fous D'Or" could be a bit monotonous at times, no such problem on NAGUAL as this is a roller coaster ride of sounds but a fairly chilled one more like the coaster in a kiddie park. It's new age music but fused with the darker recesses of classical music and the modernities of synthesized tones, timbres and textures of sound. The music is nothing less than hypnotizing as the mix of melody, droning, cosmic swirling and strange avant-garde weirdness coalesce into what supposedly represents specific concepts and ideas. While the connections to the overall theme may prove elusive nevertheless the musical procession is well designed as each vignette and cadence cleverly connects and contrasts in the most pleasing of ways. A nice later offering from one of the true geniuses of 1970s electronic music. For anyone seeking a progressive electronic album that packs a real punch filled with surprises then you can't go wrong with this one.

More steeped in modern classical music than progressive electronic experiments this time around, LES FOUS D'OR will come off as a less frightening experience as WAKHÉVITCH's first three releases that created some of the most terrifying, alienating and esoteric musical experiments possible. This album was divided into two parts. The original A-side was titled Cornerstone and featured three tracks while the B-side which also featured three tracks was titled LES FOUS D'OR. The musical procession though is quite avant-garde and without the visual dancers to narrate the storyline in some way, virtually impossible to follow in any logical way. The instrumentation is also sparse with WAKHÉVITCH delivering mostly minimalistic synthesizer drones along with a few scattered electronic sputtering as well as a cello and trumpet. Other uncredited sounds do occur though. There are occasional percussive clanging but for the most part this is a haunting ethereal vocal experience as well as spoken narrations in French and occasionally English.

As far as any connections to the progressive rock or progressive electronic universe, there really aren't any. While the electronic sounds are scattered throughout the album's run, they flow in connection to the avant-garde opera parts that feature quivering sopranos and a cello. The synthesizers are mostly clustered into looping patterns and a tape collage adds extra effects. A declarative trumpet also is featured towards the end of the album. Although the music was scored for a ballet it does provide enough zesty bravado in its own right to enjoy without the accompanying visuals however the sparseness and nebulous nature of it will be alienating to all but those who can patiently drift through the album's procession while suspending any expectations of where the music should lead. This release obviously derived inspiration from WAKHÉVITCH's collaboration with the visual surrealist Salvador Dalí's avant-opera "Être Dieu."

WAKHÉVITCH himself describes LES FOUS D'OR as constructing audio-mental landscapes and sound images which is supposed to inculcate a journey inside ourselves however what artists themselves envision and what the audiences will experience doesn't necessary coincide especially in the heady abstract world of the avant-garde. While the album is very much a departure from the electronic-fueled wild rides of the first three albums, this fourth release is by no means not without its merit. Particularly captivating are the unusual vocal performances that are utterly unique ranging from strange alien siren calls to breathtaking octave leaps in an oscillating frenzy. A few attentive listening experiences will give some context to the madness at hand and the album offers enough classical orchestration to at least paint a rudimentary structure of the nebulous nature of it all. While hardly my favorite of the WAKHÉVITCH canon, LES FOUS D'OR is still a fascinating mix of modern classical, avant-garde opera and electronic music. Not one i revisit often but an occasional visit now and again isn't uncalled for.

3.5 rounded down

HATHOR evokes a 34 minute occult ritual soundtrack that takes you on the darkest abstruse journey through sound that you could possibly imagine. The full title hosts the appellative subtitle LITURGIE DU SOUFFLE POUR LA RESURRECTION DES MORTS which translates from the French language as "Liturgy Of The Breath For The Resurrection Of The Dead," so just from the title alone you can surmise that this will be one electrifying ride! Having recently collaborated with Terry Riley earlier in 1973 on his "Happy Ending" soundtrack, WAKHÉVITCH picked up some tricks from Riley and married them with his own avant-garde sensibilities that resulted in an odd mix of early Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, Mort Garson (especially as Lucifer on "Black Mass") and even a bit of early Cluster in tandem with some of the most uncanny avant-garde vocal performances and high-spirited percussive sequences.

Permeated throughout with a magical and ritualistic ethos, HATHOR segues the tracks together perfectly as one morphs into the next without failing to sever the connection to the overall liturgical ambient intent. Percussive heavy motifs accompanied by eccentric keyboard exhibitions give way to vocal outbursts that range from narrations (en français) to shouted out tirades and operatic choirs delivering a more traditional requiem. The most bizarre and alienating track is surely the penultimate "Amenthi" which delivers a droning effect for nearly eight minutes accompanied by a monks' choir, oscillating kosmische sound effects and a whole range of freakily manipulated gothic vocal performances that extend from the highest registers to creepy baritone vocalists that sound like they're on the verge of breaking out into some sort of throat singing technique.

The dark, ethereal atmosphere only add an extra layer of horrific dirge-like ambience to the mix as fluttering spacey sound effects randomly emerge and then sputter out of range. In fact, the strangest moments with the vocal performances and eerie synthesized backdrops make me believe that surely Philip Glass must have heard this album to inspire his stylistic approach on "Glass Works" and the "Koyaanisqatsi" soundtrack. Even the track titles are creepy! Lengthy French headings like "Rituel De Guerre Des Espirits De La Terre" (Ritual Of Spiritual War Of The Earth" only evoke a great metaphysical cataclysm that remains utterly imperceptible to the five senses. The soundtrack to another realm just beyond our dimensional perception that we are allowed in this 3D construct. This album is put together so perfectly that it's impossible to distinguish where one track ends and the other begins.

A true oddball creation even within the already bizarre world of WAKHÉVITCH's eccentric palette, HATHOR is the scariest and even most mystical musical experience i have yet come across with a seamless delivery that wends and winds its way through the fabric of some imperceptible reality that lies outside our ability to detect. Like a prolonged meandering peregrination into the darkest recesses of occult ritualistic practices, listening to HATHOR for the first time is like a experiencing a happenstance discovery of the occult ceremony of some secret society and the awe of encountering something completely alienating in relation to our every day world. Musically unclassifiable, WAKHÉVITCH produced the perfect musical chimera that fused classical, progressive electronic, choral, tribal percussive and horror synth into one monstrous mystical masterpiece. Utterly brilliant from beginning to end.

A short running album of only 30 minutes and hosting seven distinct tracks, DOCTEUR FAUST still packs quite the punch with an incessant flow of varying styles that come and go with nary a reason why the music engages in a fully orchestrated classical symphony one minute and a hypnotic wild array of electronica and spoken word poetic prose the next. Obviously experiencing the music in context to the ballet itself would make most of this more apparent but given the relative obscurity of IGOR WAKHÉVITCH in the modern world it's not so easy to track down a physical copy of the album much less witness performances of the ballet that was in the upper echelons of the avant-garde even during the freewheeling 1970s. Perhaps some footage exists at ballet colleges in France or on tapes tucked away in some archives.

This is a much more varied album than its predecessor with moments of dramatic classical music ceding into the kaleidoscope effect of stoned out psychedelic rock and mystical trance inducing progressive electronic with strange tape manipulations, bizarre chanting and thumping bass grooves. The instrumentation varies significantly with a multitude of drumming techniques ranging from military marches to frenzied rock modernities while Hendrix-Inspired guitar riffs in conjunct with bizarre wordless vocal utterances. The album doesn't let up for its short duration right up to the last delirious avant-rock freakouts of the closing "Sang Poupree." The album defies any true categorization and despite the word "ballet" being associated with it, DOCTEUR FAUST evokes no sense of the word as it is the strangest musical piece of work that the experimental world of the early 1970s could've conjured up thus making more than a qualified candidate to appear on the outsider weirdos Bible of freakery - The Nurse With Wound List.

This is definitely one of those tripper's paradise sort of experiences but not just for those who like to get blitzed out of their gourd and listen to repetitive patterns. This is a highly intellectual style of psychedelic which is as complex as it is unorthodox. WAKHÉVITCH was a master of marrying the eccentricities of the world of classical with the most far out expressions that were emerging in the worlds of both the rock world and the newly gestating fertile grounds of electronic music. This is a wild ride unlike any other and the perfect score to evoke the real life antics of Johann Georg Faust, the German itinerant alchemist, astrologer and magician who haunted the German Renaissance and apparently continues to find his spirit evoked for strange works centuries later. The story will probably make more sense to French speakers but personally i feel the music speaks for itself. For a short 30 minute display of musical freakery, you really couldn't ask for a more diverse of array of excellent genre bending under one roof. Utterly brilliant but not quite as perfect as the debut for my ears.

WAKHÉVITCH released seven albums throughout the 70s and also scored the role as chief composer for Salvador Dalí's opera "Etre Dieu" in 1974. Crafting a mishmash of sounds so weird and alienating, WAKHÉVITCH remained an outsider but found a cult following after he was included on Bible of weirdo music, namely the Nurse With Wound list composed by Steve Stapleton. After writing numerous compositions for dance schools and winning a slew of accolades for his musical inventiveness throughout the 60s, WAKHÉVITCH began releasing his own albums which began in 1970 with this debut LOGOS. The music was originally recorded for a Norbert Schmucki ballet which premiered at the Festival d'Avignon 1970. The album showcased WAKHÉVITCH's haunting darkness that forged a bridge between the orchestral, the psychedelic and the newer sounds that electronic instrumentation were offering.

A veritable intermingling of taped electronics and the psychedelic prog rock courtesy of the French band Triangle backing it up, LOGOS mixed hypnotic percussive beats with ghostly choral parts that once manipulated electronically and loaded with spliced recorded parts became the what sounds like thesoundtrack for a house haunting. In addition to the rock and electronic aspects, an uncredited classical section provides haunting violins and other instrumentation however the spectral choral vocals are what leave the most long lasting impression. The album itself is relatively short playing with a running time of only 33 minutes and features eight tracks that alternative between ethereal minimalist classical moments such as the opening "Ergon" and then gradually incorporates more rock elements which by the time the seventh track "Danse Sacrale" begins features more robust guitar parts and energetic drum rolls however even that track quickly nosedives into an avant-garde frenzy.

A true underground gem of avant-garde mind f.u.ck music, LOGOS is the equivalent of Pink Floyd's "Saucerful of Secrets" hooking up with a classical composer like Gyorgy Ligeti along with a psychedelic prog band (Triangle in this case). Add to that the obscure rarity given the album was limited to 500 copies and is impossible to find. Only a box set that features many of the original albums is accessible in physical form. A veritable journey into tripper's paradise, LOGOS was too freaky, too dark and too outside the parameters of even what was considered outsider music of the era to have made a significant impact. While classical purists will frown upon the liberties taken, for lover's of psychedelic rock and electronica, this one will simply fly over their heads as it features the tight-knit compositional structure of the abstract nature of 20th century classical albeit fortified with the more contemporary sounds that were emerging in the late 60s and early 70s.

LOGOS is utterly unique even within WAKHÉVITCH's own solo canon as it was primarily constructed as a classical ballet and had not yet committed fully to the world of prog rock and the newly emerging progressive electronic. A comparison with the following "Docteur Faust" will reveal LOGOS as a true anomaly that defies any comparisons. LOGOS truly is one of the darkest and most freakiest albums ever to have been recorded and the true soundtrack for an apocalypse. One listen and it's little wonder why Salvador Dalí, one of the greatest surrealists of all time chose WAKHÉVITCH to compose for his ambitions in the world of opera. This really is one of those unrecognized masterpieces of the era and a true highlight in the world of abstract outsider weirdo music that takes you on one of those alternative reality rides.

4.5 rounded UP!

Wakhevitch still manages to maintain that odd, off kilter weirdness that only the French seemed to pull off with aplomb in the 70's. Surprisingly Michael Gira of 'Swans' was once a big fan of big Igor which isn't really that surprising when you hear all the looped treatments that are very evident throughout.

'Spenta Aramati' sounds very much like the end of 2001 - Space Odyssey - where that guy with the wrinkly face is in the white room with the breaking wine glass. In God's zoo.

If any comparison could be made to 'Nagual', it would be with Faust. This however, is more clinical, less chaotic and far more refined. There are some beautiful moments such as 'Beginning Of Peter's Journey' which has a lovely piano tune that is echoed heavily, and reminds me of UK Kids TV programme 'Ivor the Engine' from the mid 70's.

It's also nice to know that Wakhevitch let 'Gabriel the Toad' from 'Bagpuss' play his banjo on 'The Smile Of Wolf On The Bench'. Sorry to you European readers with regards to these 70's UK programme references, but that's the imagery it conjures up in my head when I listen to this oddity. Childhood BBC memories.

There's some Ron Geesin-like piano exploits in 'Never Poem For The Other', before the unsettling 'In The Nagual's Time' starts, which has a creepy metronomic set of footsteps creeping upstairs as airy 1940' piano reverberations fill your headphones.

On 'Cinderella' a barking dog and the sound of pouring rain gives way to a pretty music box tune and trotting horse. Yeah, it's weird stuff folks.

Seemlessly, some good electronic keyboards are introduced after a good 15 mins with 'Chirakan-Ixmucane' which has similarities with the more atmospheric parts of Jarre's 'Oxygene'. This is a difficult album not only to rate but to review. It's fairly minimal, excellently recorded with very clear sound separation throughout. A good solid straight 3 stars for this one, even though I can't find any faults with it.

This Igor Wakhevitch's Nagual - Les Ailes De La Perception is a musical understanding of his readings of Carlos Castaneda's recountings of his "magical" encounters with mexican sorcerer "Don Juan". (To younger generations which are are not familiar with these teachings or books, imagine "Star Wars", "Matrix" and "H. Potter", compressed, reloaded and FOR REAL!).

Anyway, I have not been fond of much of this musician's works, his opera-like electronics are not in my likings and this work is not that easy to acquire. So after deciding to acquire it, I got to listen to it, with my expectations not that high. I found out a very astonishing Prog/Electronic album.

Not opera-like at all, it is almost an all "instrumental" album, with scarce human voices here and there. It could be in fact, the music for a "theater play" of these books, its "soundtrack". Of course its not a geographical exact version, but not such a thing exists either way.

The concept itself, is far too extensive, as to single point each of its branches, so in able to compress the experience, Igor Wakhevitch writes a wide variety of songs that hold on to the concept but not to a single acoustic/electronic style. He composes and plays from dark experimental electro/acoustic songs to white/pink & blue noise like ambients to native like ritual music to classical like piano or harp pieces to pure and bright analog-electronic synth music to folk-like (or his idea of mexican folk music) songs. All blended but not mixed-up. Each song is rich as unique as to stand alone or within the concept of the project.

Therefore it offers an almost "flawless" experience and the best of all are its highly inspiring and achieved compositions and performances, without ever sounding pretentious at all.

****4 + "something" PA stars.

Talking about experimental albums from the past century and France - you're bound to wind up at the mad eccentricities of Igor Wakhevitch. With a musical upbringing many of us only can dream of, this cat studied under the majestic hands of both Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Schaeffer before the vastness of the outside world hit him over the head with a shovel: Stockhausen, Soft Machine, Varese, The Floyd - everybody was experimenting, trying to use the musical language in ways it had never experienced before.

One might be tempted to say, that Wakhevitch took this lingo evolution the furthest. Trust me, most people who encounter his music either run screaming for the hills with faces full of confusion and disbelief, or they start building large plinths on public squares in his honour.

Whereas most of the music claiming to have artistic leverage and refined haute couture trickery infused in its arteries more than often is based in ludicrous lyrics and mystical stage costumes, you sense that you're on an entirely different planet with Wakhevitch. His debut Logos is a sonic collection of poems reflecting a contemporary ballet's finer inner workings......This is stage blood, creaking window panes, dusty cobwebs vibrating to the age old world of the theatre. If this is a soundtrack to a ballet, I'd love to see the dancers....

The music is ritualistic and deeply fascinating. It shimmers and lurks with strange hovering almost static segments, where polyphonic musical voices pop up in the most odd of places. Unlike post rock where the crescendo is nigh on foreseeable, you DAAAAAAWWW get the DOOOOOUUMNM feeling BAAAAAAAAAAHHH with DOOOOOOUMM Igor that he seeks to highlight other moments in his music. It's perplexing at first - it even gets annoying - I seem to remember getting furiously angered with myself and the music, because it didn't behave as 'normal' music did. "AAAARGGGHHH!!!!!! Follow the Goddamn rules why dontjah!?!?!?!!"

I had long conversations with myself, trying again and again to prepare my mind to let go of its mental levies and let it all fall down. Surrender to the madness I say!!!! I succeeded in nothing however, and the feeling of being left on the side of the road every time I put the album on, only grew with subsequent attempts I had. I felt lost.

Some place around summer time, some 7 or 8 months after I'd burned it over to my I-pod and gladly forgotten about its existence, I obliviously pushed play whilst lying down on the beach. I think it was the sun that had blinded me, but I'm eternally grateful for its bright lights of the day. Nothing happened at first, mostly because I was expecting something different - but then at the flick of the switch the music ran over me with complete utter grace - a word I dared not associate with it the first time around. With the erratic movements of waves beneath my feet and the everchanging pulses of wind huffing and puffing at my parasol - Logos started to make sense.

Like a weird dream of reptiles and shadows a slow theatrical music emerges. Droning voices flickering on the air together with a delirious Saucerful of Secrets sheen that permeates the organs. The sudden jolts of choirs shooting up like involuntary bean-sprouts now feel more integrated and purposeful, and you see why it has to be this way. I finally understood the irregulars that needed to exist for the music to work properly.

It was like Zeuhl music had dropped its throbbing rhythms and melted into an old ancient electronic Indian chant. This is truly the stuff the Navajos call prog...

I believe Wakhevitch is a genius. With just under a half hours worth of music - Logos manages to interweave modern classical music into a ritualistic polyphony of metal hissing, choral magnitude, galloping percussions, musique concrete and fidgety jello-like shadings from the experimental rock world.

Before I stop, I'd like to mention that for some remarkable reason all Wakhevitch albums seem to have red music on them. When I hear his repertoire, almost instantly a ruby red colour starts to emanate from way back in my subconsciousness. Like a wound unattended it bleeds its way through the entire record leaving a strange morbid trail of just how far and wide I got with every bewildering listen.