François Thollot - Contact. 2002 France

Though a percussionist by trade, Thollot's second solo album Contact features his guitar and keyboard work. Thollot then went about to recruit the rhythm section of One Shot (a band created as an offshoot of the Magma reunion), and released this one incredibly powerful album.

In fact, I'd say Contact is one of the Top 10 albums of the last decade - and that's quite an achievement in a very busy, and very qualified ten years. What Thollot managed to create is an album about as close to Heldon's Stand By as you'll ever find post-1979. Stand By as many of you know, was Richard Pinhas' swansong for the famed Heldon, and he must have left the studio still smoldering from the inferno he had just unleashed. It's also worth noting that Stand By was the one time that Pinhas had incorporated a little bit of the Zeuhl style, and the mix was a stroke of brilliance. In that manner, Contact is basically intense guitar filled electronic rock with a Zeuhl undertone as provided by the One Shot guys. Absolutely stunning album.

Ownership: CD: 2002 Soleil Zeuhl

2003; 3/18/10 (new entry)