Agoria

First encounters of the (very) electronic kind

Sébastien Devaud, aka Agoria, entered the world of electronic dance music at a peculiar moment in time. Unlike the first generation of techno producers, he’s too young to have been actively listening to early 80’s electronic pop by groups such as Depeche Mode or New Order. But unlike younger DJs and musicians, he’s been exposed to house and techno more or less since the start of these genres.

Living in rural France, Agoria first got hooked to electronic music through listening to Kevin Saunderson’s classic “Good Life” on the local radio as a twelve-year-old kid in 1988. He was so impressed by the Inner City hit that he spent the following afternoons washing his neighbours’ cars to earn enough money to buy his first 12´. His next revelation came a few years later when one of the first DJ sets he experienced happened to be from Jeff Mills in nearby Lyon. « It was the first time that I saw a DJ using three turntables and a drum machine. He really created something completely new rather than just playing records. And the way he moved, his precision and speed, impressed me. »

First promising steps

Agoria started out as a DJ himself, quickly followed by organizing his own parties together with a group of friends (who also gave Séb Devaud his artist moniker loosely named after Agora – the title of their party series, meaning “meeting place” in ancient Greek). He started producing and releasing his own tracks in 1999, and first gained international recognition in 2001 with “La Onzième Marche”. In 2002, he released a series of 12´s on Pias Recordings, followed by the much-lauded Blossom LP one year later. This debut album already crystallised a musical sensibility reaching far beyond traditional techno channels. His sometimes-muscular productions also leaned towards electro-house on “Stereolove” and “Spinach Girl”, several years before 2.0 French Touch burst onto the scene. Even Tricky, impressed by the studio experimentations of this young producer, whom he saw a kind of French Neptune, was to eventually adorn the haunted trip-hop of “2Thousand3” with his verses.

Three years later and The Green Armchair came into being, also showcasing a rich musical panorama. While the uninhibited techno of “Code 1026” set the world’s dancefloors ablaze, Agoria also stirred up the voices of Peter Murphy – Bauhaus’ charismatic leader – and Neneh Cherry. Providing his productions with a new sense of intimacy and a tactful and singular take on classical textures, Agoria’s “Les Violons Ivres” formed one of the first modernhouse gems.

In 2008, Luc Besson and Olivier Van Hoofstadt entrusted him with making the soundtrack for the film Go Fast. He took this opportunity to explore a new kind of sensuality, imbued with ambient, experimental music and organic sounds. He summoned Scalde on “Dust” and “Solarized”, two tracks literally fusing pop and modern classic house.

While working on his own productions and over the course of three feats, Agoria established himself as the new mix-CD expert. In preparation for his mixes, this seasoned explorer goes through a phase of extensive research, combined with a full immersion into his own record collection and consultations with all kinds of genre specialists in his circle. Who else would have dared to mix the Mulholland Drive theme with Carl Craig’s “Experimento”, a piece by Raymond Scott and a track by Onur Ozer, or even Aphrodite’s Child’s “Loud Loud Loud” with samples from French Kiss and LCD Soundsystem? Such unfailing openness and insatiable curiosity have become trademarks of Agoria’s every project.

Strong stances

Apart from his own work as a DJ and producer, Sébastien Devaud has also helped to establish Nuits Sonores, an ambitious electronic and indie event that takes place all over the city of Lyon every Spring and has, over the last ten years, become one of the best European festivals.

Another important contribution has been the launch of InFiné in 2006, a label that Devaud founded together with his friends Alexandre Cazac and Yannick Matray. InFiné is a label that follows no rules, shies away from trends and features young, new talents, from various parts of the world. Its releases – from Francesco Tristano’s piano treatments to Danton Eeprom’s sensual productions or Bachar Mar-Khalifé’s dramatic arrangements  - continue to surprise and have made InFiné a platform for new music that always challenges and excites its listeners. Agoria has also championed much of Lyon’s growing music scene, overseeing projects by the Spitzer brothers, Scalde and Manvoy de St Sadrill.

Agoria’s own debut on the label only came in 2009 with his 12” “Magnolia / Libellules”. However, with his third album Impermanence, one can clearly hear that InFiné has also had an influence on Agoria’s own music. « For the first time, I have complete freedom in creating my music, » says Séb Devaud. « I don’t have the feeling any longer of having to work within certain boundaries and the result sounds more like me. »

Focus on Impermanence

Like most releases on InFiné, Impermanence is the product of extensive collaboration and doesn’t share the solipsistic tendencies of so many electronic musicians. As its title implies the music exists in a constant state of flux and flows easily from contemplative sound pieces to intimate acoustic songs and forward moving club tracks.

The album opens with the repetition of three notes played on a piano, with only the addition of violin, bell and the voice of the album’s biggest discovery, 20 year old female singer, Kid A, from Virginia, USA. The beatless “Kiss My Soul” establishes the intimate tone of the album, which continues with the dubby house of “Souless Dreamer”, on which Berlin-based DJ Seth Troxler guests with his trademark whisper, inviting the listener to « allow yourself to drift.»

Strings and piano resurface on a number of the album tracks, sometimes used in surprising guises, such as the Stradivarius that serves as a rave signal on the infectious “Panta Rei”. “Under The River”, on the other hand, is a lush ambient piece dominated by the late-night sounds of a horn.

Carl Craig makes an appearance as a vocalist on the sleazy “Speechless”. « I asked for something romantic, something sounding like the spoken words of “Angel” », laughs Agoria about Craig’s aural sex fantasy. Another standout track on Impermanence is “Heart Beating”, again featuring Kid A’s strong and engaging voice. The song is Agoria’s most direct pop-piece yet and an unexpected proof of his strength as both a songwriter and arranger. Once again instrumentation is kept sparse with Kid A’s singing added to only by changing percussion and soaring strings. It’s a special piece of music that surely will get a life of its own.

Agoria has created an album that is at the same time constantly changing while also having a unique flow and mood of its own. While the range and sensibility of his productions still cover a wide and varied musical spectrum, his command of contrasts proves to be even more refined than ever; it comes within reach of a near-perfect balance between cold and warm atmospheres, light and dark, mind and guts. « Before, my music often felt dark and maybe a bit forced. This time I just let things happen and everything just fell in its right place », he says. And despite using more guests and exploring more styles than on his previous recordings, Agoria has managed to create his most intimate and alluring music yet on Impermanence.

Heiko Hoffmann.

NEWS

iF1013LP // IMPERMANENCE

A1. Kiss My Soul
A2. Speechless (album mix)

B1. Little Shaman (vinyl edit) 
B2. Under the River

C1. Souless Dreamer (vinyl edit)
C2. SImon
C3. Panta Rei

D1. Heart Beating
D2. Grande Torino (album mix) 

iF1013 // IMPERMANENCE

  1. Kiss My Soul 
  2. Souless Dreamer
  3. Panta Rei
  4. Simon 
  5. Speechless
  6. Grande Torino 
  7. Heart Beating
  8. Little Shaman 
  9. Under The River
10. Libellules