Systems of Romance

Clair Obscur are a classic French minimal wave/synth act who began in 1981 as a three-piece collective. Throughout their expansive tenure, members have come and gone, though two core members, vocalist Christophe Demarthe and guitarist Nicholas Demarthe, have always been present.

In the 80s, Clair Obscur developed some success and a bit of cult following for mixing their blend of bleak minimal wave music with expansive visuals, and earned spots on prominent local festivals and an opening slot with Killing Joke. Though the band has gone through several lineup shifts over the years (and has recorded as CO2 during bouts of inactivity), Clair Obscur is still active to date, playing sporadic gigs throughout Europe.

I’ve uploaded the entirety of their full length, Play. Though the record was released in 1988, Play. comprises several earlier releases, including the 1984 Dansez 12” and the 1982 La Cassette Noir cassette release. When the record was pressed to CD, the tracklist was chronologically rearranged, resulting in the version I’ve uploaded. Also, four separate covers were issued with the original LP.

Details:

Clair Obscure- Play. LP
1. Sequence
2. The Last Encounter
3. Blume
4. K.G.
5. Pessimiste Combattif
6. Revol Dub
7. Vivant
8. Hibernation
9. Kriegs Opera
10. The Pilgrim’s Progress
11. Zeda
12. Die Kinder Sind Allein
13. Tremendous

*download it here*

For your viewing pleasure, here’s a clip of Clair Obscur performing ‘La Ballade des Gens Heureux ‘ in 1986. The song is originally featured on the 1986 Smurf In The Gulag 12”.

CD copies of Play. are available through Infrastition. Otherwise, for more on Clair Obscur, including full discography, bio, pictures, and fun facts, click below:

Clair Obscur dot net

This entry was posted on February 6, 2008 at 5:48 pm and is filed under 1980s, 1988, 1990s, 2000s, french, minimal, synth . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.