(Hypothetical) Prophets, The – “Around The World With” – [InFine’]

Kai Sync   8/3/2016   A Library, CD

Bernard Szajner is a French producer with a style similar to the early day Eno productions. He does not even consider himself a musician, rather a visual music sculptor and has worked on a variety of projects including theatrical events and laser shows. He is also considered the inventor of the laser harp. On this 1983 album he was using the pseudonym The (Hypothetical) Prophets together with Karel Beer for a tour the force audio trip concerning field samples, electro psychedelic walls of sound, collage loops as arranged songs with a variety of singing material, drum machines and odd lyrics. The concept was to present themselves as Russian new wave pop stars acting as anti-nuclear movement artists, hence some of the tracks have Russian voicing.. Some of the productions sound very modern for today, half-way to contemporary techno productions, some tracks are in the vein of Cabaret Voltaire, some have Gong influences (Bernard did work with Gong), but some tracks are modulated into goofiness due to the silliness quota that is cranked up too high. All together, this is a rare album re-released due to its new wave electronica classic status — with occasional warts included.