Sans Soleil by pucemoment
'Sans Soleil'is an immersive musical piece that brings the ancient traditional Japanese music of Gagaku into dialogue with electro-acoustic and electronic music within a liminal soundscape—a meeting and transitional space orchestrated by Puce Moment.
Imperial and centuries-old, Gagaku encompasses the repertoire of court music and dances of Chinese and Korean origin, preserved in Japan and transmitted unchanged from generation to generation since the 5th century.
In February 2020, Nicolas Devos and Pénélope Michel traveled to Tenri, a suburb of Nara, Japan’s former capital, to meet and record the musicians of the Gagaku Music Society of Tenri.
These recordings formed the foundation for the musical and stage creation of 'Sans Soleil', developed in collaboration with choreographer and dancer Vania Vanneau.
The music is suspended between contemplation and chaos, subject to a shifting and organic deterioration populated by apparitions, contaminations and persistent sounds that resist mutation.
An invitation to the present—a ritualised celebration of the moment in which traces of the past are summoned up, 'Sans Soleil' questions the notions of transmission and the process of reappropriation, individual and collective memory, its representations, and its imaginary and mental constructs through what resembles a trance-like ceremony.
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- The press says -
"Puce Moment’s music is intense and immersive, provoking a sense of space, with deep synthesized bass lines accompanied by a trance-inducing ritual dance, creating a mystical aura." (Loop, Chili - https://tinyurl.com/ymee8nz8)
"Sans Soleil est une expérience à vivre, un voyage introspectif qui dépasse les frontières du temps et de l’espace, offrant à l’auditeur une plongée dans un univers sonore à la fois antique et résolument avant-gardiste." (Solenopole, France - https://tinyurl.com/58ra3j8e)
"The music is suspended between contemplation and chaos, subject to a shifting and organic deterioration populated by apparitions, contaminations and persistent sounds that resist mutation.” (African Paper, Germany - https://tinyurl.com/mrxkezab)
"An intense narrative in which sound pulses draw us into the depths of darkness, FAR FROM THE SUN." (Rockerilla, Italy)
"In other words, this is music that explores “possible worlds,” embracing the slow, tribal futurism theorized by Jon Hassell in the late 1970s."(Blow Up, Italy)
"The timbre is dark and trancelike, a reflection of the black cover." (A Closer Listen, USA)
Videos
Credits
Puce Moment : Pénélope Michel & Nico Devos
Puce Moment : sh101, MS20, Jen SX1000, modular synthesizers, theremin, vocals.
Gagaku Music Society: Gagaku instruments - Shô, Ryûteki, Hichiriki, Biwa, Sô, Taiko, Shôko, Kakko
All songs by Puce Moment
Recorded and Produced at Cercueil / Puce Moment Studio, Lille France
All Gagaku instruments recorded in Tenri, Japan.
Mastered by Lawrence English at Negative Space
Visuals by Puce Moment
Design and layout by Puce Moment
Thanks to : Koji Satoh and The Gagaku Music Society of Tenri, Lisa Tani, Vania Vaneau, Alice Dussart, Valérie Castan, l’atelier costume de l’Opéra de Lille, Alexis Courtin at Parenthèses Records and Lawrence English.
PREC20
© rchprod 2025 - www.pucemoment.org
Ⓟ Parenthèses Records 2025
License
All rights reserved.Tags
PUCE MOMENT
www.pucemoment.org
PUCE MOMENT is the musical and visual project of Nico Devos and Pénélope Michel (also known as the band CERCUEIL)
Puce Moment is both the sum of a singular journey, fueled by forays into dance and cinema - a confirmation of their simply unreal abilities - and the beginning of a long and disturbing procession.