Megabasse

𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙯𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙋𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙚 𝘽𝙪𝙟𝙚𝙖𝙪’𝙨 𝙈𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚 𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙁𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚'𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚.

In one satisfyingly extended piece and a pair of shorter parts Megabasse’s ‘Flamenca’ plucks out a slow motion petal-fall cascade of notes that linger on the senses like perfume and slot beautifully well into the meridian of sounds found on Efficient Space’s prized folk and zoner country compilations ‘Sky Girl’ and ‘Ghost Riders’. The side-long ‘L’Último Sacrifacio’ yields a mesmerising 23’ ribbon of lissom rhythmelody enchanted by its own beauty and lodged somewhere in the outer realms of kosmiche and country folk music with Rafael Toral, Jules Reidy and Jim O’Rourke, for example, whilst ‘Marcia, Baila, Suogna’ comes down to earth gently with 9’ of chamber-posed minimalism elegant in its waltzing figure that sashays to a gorgeous, hushed vignette ’Suogna Piazzata’.

Jack Rollo is clearly really feeling it, as he expounds: “Pierre Bujeau is an expert at creating temporary escape zones - musical structures to evade the everyday. Sometimes he works collectively as part of the mysterious French groups Omertà and Tanz Mein Herz. But it’s when he’s on his own, performing as Megabasse, that he offers the most complete break from reality.

His kit is simple: a few bottles of cheap lager, twin Fender amps, and his double-necked guitar. An instrument like this normally signals maximum rockist excess - think Jimmy Page, Geddy Lee, or that dude from the Eagles. In Pierre’s hands, it becomes more like a zither or a dulcimer, producing soft chiming patterns that build against themselves until the sound of the room, passed back and forth between his two amps, starts to blur everything, and we are away in another world. Wait, though - let down your yoga bun and don’t light the palo santo yet. The new space he creates has nothing to do with smug wellness. It’s a rough, do-it-yourself psychedelia, scuffed but hopeful. Not a perfect blank space to be your best self in, but instead a communal dreaming, an uncanny place where all are welcome.