Sylvain Chauveau
Without any big announcements or major-label support, Sylvain Chauveau emerged in the early 2000s as one of France's most interesting figures. His solo albums and projects Micro:Mega and Arca have ties to the post-rock sound of the late ‘90s, but Chauveau refines the recipe, dropping the "jamming" associated with the style while retaining its melancholia, creating large-scale works out of humble parts, cinematic albums out of fragments of cello and piano melodies. His first solo CD, Le Livre Noir du Capitalisme, came out in 2000.
Chauveau started out in the Toulouse alt-rock/post-rock outfit Watermelon Club. Formed in 1994, it released two compilation tracks, a couple of singles, a 7" EP, and one full-length album, [Str:m] in 1997. A year later, disappointed by a certain lack of commitment from the other members of the group and eager to earn a living with his music, the young Chauveau asked Frédéric Luneau, a guitarist and electronician who engineered some of Watermelon Club's sessions, to join him in a new project. Christened Micro:Mega (following one of Voltaire's stories), the duo aimed for a form of ambient rock influenced by Labradford, but less "shoegazing." Their debut CD, Photosphere, was released in 1999 by Noise Museum and, although only a first step, received much critical acclaim in Europe and America. The release of Human on Alice in Wonder the next year consolidated their underground success.
Between the two Micro:Mega albums, Chauveau slipped in his first solo CD, Le Livre Noir du Capitalisme. Deeply personal and high on emotion, it received little attention from the press, but that didn't stop the artist from preparing a follow-up. The release of Nocturne Impalpable in October 2001 marked Chauveau's signing to the influential French new music label Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier and was accompanied by the debut album from a new project, this one with Joan Cambon: Arca. As Micro:Mega's third opus, Annex, came out in 2002, DSA made Le Livre Noir du Capitalisme more widely available.
© François Couture /TiVo
Discography
21 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Life Without Machines (feat. Melaine Dalibert)
Ambient - Released by flau on 17 Apr 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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How to Live in Small Spaces
Alternative & Indie - Released by Brocoli on 2 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Down to the Bone (An Acoustic Tribute to Depeche Mode)
Sylvain Chauveau, Ensemble Nocturne
Alternative & Indie - Released by Ici d'ailleurs on 28 Aug 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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l'effet rebond (version silicium)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Sub rosa on 14 Oct 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Le livre noir du capitalisme
Miscellaneous - Released by Sonic Pieces on 13 Jan 2000
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
ultra-minimal (live)
Miscellaneous - Released by Sonic Pieces on 2 Feb 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Echoes of Harmony - Early Music reworked
Alternative & Indie - Released by Sub rosa on 9 Oct 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Abstractions (Sylvain Chauveau Remix)
Classical - Released by flau on 6 Aug 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
p. n (Simon Scott remix)
Miscellaneous - Released by Sonic Pieces on 12 Apr 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Variety Is the Spice of Life
Electronic - Released by Statik > Rek on 30 Oct 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Absence (Sometimes Repeated)
Rainier Lericolais, Sylvain Chauveau
French Music - Released by Brocoli on 4 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
No Rest for the Wicked (feat. Joseph Mills, Myriam Pruvot)
Pop - Released by Brocoli on 4 Aug 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Follow Rivers (feat. Myriam Pruvot)
Pop - Released by Brocoli on 4 Aug 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
or (feat. Melaine Dalibert)
Classical - Released by flau on 23 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
e (feat. Melaine Dalibert)
Classical - Released by flau on 4 Feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo