RECORD TURNOVER 80s HITS #224
Anne Gillis is a French composer who started releasing music in the early 80s and continues into this day. Much like Japanese artist Phew, Gillis makes music on the border between performance and experimental music, utilising looped sound samples originating mostly from found objects and her voice. Her most recent release came out on La Scie Dorée (The Golden Saw) earlier this year.
The first release came out under the moniker Devil’s Picnic in 1983 and is a collection of minimal synthesizer pieces. This was included on the 2015 reissue box set Archives Box 1983-2005 from Japanese label Art Into Life (might be one of my favourite label names by the way). The original recordings from the Ding Dong Records and Tapes release (plus some unreleased ones) had been remastered by the legendary Colin Potter.
In 1984 two LPs came out under the name Anne Gilles. One of them was Aha, on the Bordeaux label DMA2. This was an exploration of musique concrète using tape recorders. The 11-track LP was reissued back in March, also on La Scie Dorée. A classic of the era if you ask me.
EDIT:
Annes Gillis’ first release was actually a tape given out to friends in 1983 and called Angebiguë. A few of these tracks were reworked for her most recent album Vhoysee on Art Into Life (2023). I recently found this complete rip of the tape, and it truly is great.
