Parallel to a career as a music journalist which he began at the end of the 90’s, Olivier Lamm was a musician working in the realm of electronic music, and a digger with very eclectic tastes. This selection of five gems, from abstract jungle music to acoustic Brazil, tend to exhibit the kind of sounds he’s most sensible to.

Saeko Suzuki
Hello, Shoo Shoo

«I bought this record in the Motoko market, a crazily crammed alley between two stations (and under a freeway) in Kobe. Saeko Suzuki mostly composes soundtracks for films and anime these days. But in the early 80’s, she took a shot as a pop music singer, mostly with the help of her (then) husband, Keiichi Suzuki (also leader of the great band Moonriders) and Andy Partridge, of XTC fame. She makes a heavy use of the Fairlight CMI, the famous sampler / workstation that was Art of Noise’s main instrument. Her albums of the time are amazing hybrids of fake coy naive pop and technical wonders in the arrangements – imagine Clock DVA meets synth pop. This album from 1985 is uneven in quality but mostly fun. Oh, and my version is translucent green, which is always a good surprise when I take it out of its sleeve.»
 

Morton Subotnick
the Wild Bull part 2

«I bought this album at the flea market in Dumbo, Brooklyn, New York. I knew Silver Apples of the Moon of course, But I’d always found it a bit steep and hard to get into. The Wild Bull – especially the second part, on the B side – is nothing like it. It’s just as intense but also syncopated, humorous, and way more enticing. The synthesized sounds are out of this world, the percussions are almost groovy, and the whole thing sounds like (my favorite band) Autechre, only 40 years ahead of their time. A lot of so-called “modular music” sounds amazingly dull in comparison and I always wonder why.»
 

Salon Music
Hunting on Paris

«I bought this in the great Disk Union shop in Ochanomizu, in Tokyo, where I always end up after I take a stroll by the river coming from Jimbocho. Salon Music is an underrated duet which was active from the early 80’s to the early 2000’s, and was a massive influence on many musicians (most notably Keigo Oyamada, AKA Cornelius). They began as a quirky synth pop act and ended up being a jangle pop/proto shoegaze unit. Their first album is a complex and lovely affair than contains marvels of poppy punk songs à la Buzzcocks, weird jazzy new-wave, hippie tinged 12 string guitar instrumentals and great, great melodies. It became a Sunday morning classic in my modest household.»
 

Egberto Gismonti
Ciranda de Estrelas

«I bought this record at Crocodisc, the best place for affordable Brazilian collectibles in Paris. I collect both Brazilian milestones and random synth oddities. So obviously, Gismonti’s electronic ventures were a prerequisite. “Cidade Coração” is by far my favorite, in spite of the super creepy artwork. There’s a young boy singing approximately, Villalobos-ian harmonic follies, an 808 playing complex samba riddims… And the foliated melodies are simply heartbreaking. If you were born in the late 70’s with François de Roubaix and Michel Colombier synthetic music playing on TV from early morning to late evening, that is. I quite enjoy Gismonti’s other records, most notably his early MPB leaning albums, much less his ECM 10 string guitar extravaganzas.»
 

Photek
The Seven Samurai

«I bough this in Berlin, at the outdoor flea marker around Boxhagener Platz. I cherish Photek’s work until his second album Solaris more than I do any other “auteur” of the jungle/drum’n’bass realm. I was heavily into Metalheadz style jungle when I was 18, and together with Warp style electronica and Mouse on Mars’ music, those were really the musical genres that made me a “melomaniac”. It’s the perfect blend of “future rush”, to quote Simon Reynolds, soul and funkiness. It’s cold and futuristic, but also warm and smoky – the best combination you can think of, really. As they say, the music of your early 20’s is the one you will comeback to fondly all the rest of your life and I must say, in that case, this is quite true. I love that  transition moment when breakbeat rave music and hardcore became jungle, but my favorite period is really that insane technical take-off that happened around 95, 96, under the impulsion of maestro like Rupert Parkes, Krust or Lemon D.»