Originally released 1980 on Sky records, this is music for the apocalyptic eighties inna Deutschland state of mind. When Serge Blenner left his native France for Hamburg, West Germany, neither he nor anyone else could have guessed that he would inadvertently compose a soundtrack for the Cold War. But his dark, monotone synthesizer album "La Vogue" (1980) turned out to be just that.

You don't get to make 17 albums and stay out of the public eye unless you live and breathe music. Focus on nothing else. Commercial success may come your way, but will always be subordinated to the goal of making music on your own terms rather than music designed to sell. Listener, meet Serge Blenner.

Blenner was born in 1955 in Alsace, the easternmost region of France. He studied composition and harmony at the Conservatoire de Mulhouse. He loved listening to electronic music from the Berlin School: Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel/Manuel Göttsching, whom he got to know when they played in Alsatian churches and chapels. Such locations added a magical dimension to what was already extraordinary music. Blenner the proselyte had seen enough to realise: it was time to move to Germany, whence this music came.

The year was 1975. He soon began experimenting with electronic music himself and graduated to live performances by 1978 and finally settled in Hamburg in 1979. One of the most important electronic music labels of the period, Sky Records, was based here, releasing music by such illustrious artists as Cluster, Michael Rother, Brian Eno and Conny Plank. Within the space of six months Blenner had recorded the tracks which would become La Vogue and sent them to Sky Records. A deal was done and La Vogue was officially released before the year ended.

The record was a resounding success, some tracks even made it onto the radio - crucially, aired at hours of the day when significant numbers of listeners were tuning in, instead of being confined to the niche programmes or graveyard shifts more commonly associated with the genre. The longest track on La Vogue by far clocks up 8 minutes, 49 seconds, a rarity in Blenner's oeuvre, well outside his usual range of three to five minutes.

La Vogue is an album of two halves. Through the first four tracks, Blenner still seems to be searching for his own style, beginning with the minimalistic, rather sombre fanfare of Phrase I built around a single melodic pattern. Next up is the almost poppy, harmonically rich Phrase II, followed by the spherical Phrase III and the crystalline, chiming Phrase IV. If the first four cuts are linked only by heterogeneity, tracks five to eight are very much of a piece. Together they represent a frosty, menacing soundtrack worthy of the apocalyptic mood which hung over the early 1980s, particularly in West Germany. With Cold War angst at its peak, many people feared a Soviet nuclear attack was imminent.

Blenner doesn't really see the connection, "I wasn't thinking along those lines at all, I wouldn't say I have a depressive streak. Although one filmmaker did ask if he could use Phrase V on a soundtrack for a horror film. And someone has added Phrase V to a YouTube video of underground trains passing through East Berlin ghost stations in the early 1980s. I didn't consciously set out to evoke such a dark mood, but if that's what others hear - then who am I to argue?"

TRACK LISTING

1. Phrase I (6:43)
2. Phrase II (4:34)
3. Phrase III (6:05)
4. Phrase IV (4:00)
5. Phrase V (3:07)
6. Phrase VI (3:53)
7. Phrase VII (8:48)
8. Phrase VIII (3:53)

Reissue (originally released 1981 on SKY records).
Cold, concise analogue synthesizer instrumentals — on his second album Serge Blenner remained true to his style, albeit shifting course slightly towards pop territory. The juxtaposition of dark harmonies and pop structures is what makes this album so appealing. In places, it feels like a blueprint for early Depeche Mode.

Having seen his first album La Vogue snapped up by the Sky label and fast tracked for release in 1980, Blenner delivered his second LP (Magazin Frivole) the following year. Mindful of the success of its predecessor, Blenner added the name of his debut in big letters to the front cover of the new sleeve. Better to be safe than sorry.

Blenner remained faithful to his musical style, albeit adding more of a pop flavour. Magazin Frivole would not look out of place filed alongside Depeche Mode on the record shelf, as a certain resemblance is undeniable. Moreover, Blenner was one of the few proponents of electronic music who preferred to keep his songs concise, in contrast to the meandering odysseys of many of his electronic contemporaries. The far better known French artist Jean-Michel Jarre adhered to similar principles, yet although Blenner was often compared to his compatriot, he claims only to have heard his music long after La Vogue had appeared.

Blenner’s creative approach is quite remarkable. He is at pains to point out that he is a composer, not a musician. Improvisation does not play a part in his music. Minor chords dominate his harmonies, the bass performs octave leaps which mirror the zeitgeist. Unexpected key changes abound, adding a restless, almost disquieting quality. Overall, Magazin Frivole is less dark than the preceding album, but a picture of cheerfulness it is not. Nevertheless, a poppy drum computer introduces a lighter note.

From the very first track, chord changes pop up at unexpected junctures — they seem to come in prematurely, before harmonic sequences have run their course. Blenner doesn’t have any explanation for this curiosity, other than to note that “most of the music was played by hand, so of course it wasn’t all perfect.” Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be too catchy. “I did all I could to avoid being successful — on a subconscious level, at least. Unpredictable metrics and irregular beats were definitely part of the process” Blenner admits with an enigmatic smile.

As a matter of fact, Blenner prefers not to listen to his older recordings, dismissive of their adolescent air. Juxtaposed with Blenner’s more recent works, one can see what he means. His latest album Musique de Chambre (2008) comprises modern classical chamber music, built on digitally sampled real instruments. Besides, Blenner points out, handling all of those analogue devices was a convoluted and complex undertaking. Help was at hand. With an impeccable sense of timing, his friend Wolfgang Palm launched the PPG Wave, the first commercially available digital synthesizer. Blenner sings the praises of the PPG (Palm Products GmbH) today as enthusiastically as when he first got his hands on one. “Suddenly I had all the equipment I needed in one box.” He never used analogue equipment again, leaving his first two albums as the only ones of their kind. Which is a real shame.

TRACK LISTING

1. Magazin Frivole (6:46)
2. Envoutement (4:11)
3. Derivatif (3:57)
4. A L’Ouest (3:45)
5. Métropole Agile (4:50)
6. Phonique (5:03)
7. Frivolité (2:44)
8. Polyphase (4:52)