Country : France Label : Lotophagus Genres and styles : Dark Ambient / Experimental / Contemporary / Krautrock / Noise / Post-Rock / Space Rock Year : 2021

Dans le monde des variants – |

· by Luc Marchessault

According to the brief biographical note on the Bandcamp page of Dans le monde des variants, this is the musical project of a certain Raymond “Ray” Hollis. Does this enigmatic creator really exist or is it a pseudonym camouflaging a musician who wants to remain anonymous? According to the notice, Mr. Hollis worked for almost 25 years in the construction industry before leaving to join the Institute of Parapsychology in Zurich (upon verification, there is an Alberto Mattle Institute for Parapsychology and Metaphysics in this Swiss city). Was it as a student? Or as a guinea pig? In any case, Ray Hollis would have brought to fruition the talents he knew he was gifted with. This research on himself would have led him to explore his artistic sensibility. Once his thesis on acoustic rock was finished, he tackled experimental music.

This is the first album of Dans le monde des variants. According to the press release of the brand new label Lotophagus, this name does not allude to the micro-organisms that poison our lives these days: it is rather a tribute to the short story of the same name published in 1939 by the prolific and influential author J. H. Rosny Aîné, in which we find equivalents of ourselves (the “variants”) living in a parallel dimension, but distinct from ours.

The album, called I, contains five pieces, four of which break the eight-minute mark. The first is entitled “Unidentified Prints on the Cockpit.” It’s hard to tell from listening what these unidentified prints mean. However, one can notice that the superposition of trills, drones, and crackles creates a post-rock atmosphere which gives way, at the end of the piece, to the characteristic noise of an aircraft losing altitude. ”Resonant Rocks” begins with a high-pitched synth chord with an echoing effect, which sounds repeatedly. There are also low notes in the background, followed by Jedi lightsaber-like sounds and devilishly hypnotic modulations. Next comes “Church,” the shortest piece at three minutes and thirty-nine seconds. The same background drone ambience, over which Raymond Hollis intersperses the sounds of ATM pitches, furtive “zooms” and heart monitor beeps, among other noises. During “1974,” the penultimate track, space vibrates with the sound of high frequencies that gradually turn into church organ notes, anxiety reigns more than ever; Ray Hollis does not intend to laugh. The album ends with “Space,” a piece that could hardly be better named, since it opens, for the well-disposed musicophile, a door on the infinity of the universe.

Latest 360 Content

Vitta Morales, Our Versatile Colleague

Vitta Morales, Our Versatile Colleague

Late-Night Warehouse Ambiance for Juan Atkins All-Nighter at the SAT

Late-Night Warehouse Ambiance for Juan Atkins All-Nighter at the SAT

Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn

Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn

Brainwasher – At Least It Beats an Actor

Brainwasher – At Least It Beats an Actor

Nicholas Daniel – Complete Works for Oboe by Madeleine Dring

Nicholas Daniel – Complete Works for Oboe by Madeleine Dring

Christine Tassan; Marie-Véronique Bourque – Bruissement boréal

Christine Tassan; Marie-Véronique Bourque – Bruissement boréal

Lanaudière Festival | Metropolitan Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin/Marc-André Hamelin: When Nature Drives the Concert

Lanaudière Festival | Metropolitan Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin/Marc-André Hamelin: When Nature Drives the Concert

Festival de Lanaudière | Sol Gabetta : Queen of the cello meets les Violons du Roy

Festival de Lanaudière | Sol Gabetta : Queen of the cello meets les Violons du Roy

The “rodas de samba” That Never End

The “rodas de samba” That Never End

Friday night at the Dômesicle – All night long with Jump Source

Friday night at the Dômesicle – All night long with Jump Source

Éli Doyon et la Tempête – Attraper le ciel avant qu’il tombe

Éli Doyon et la Tempête – Attraper le ciel avant qu’il tombe

Barbara Hannigan; Katia et Marielle Labèque – Electric Fields

Barbara Hannigan; Katia et Marielle Labèque – Electric Fields

Fire, Fungi, and Family Fun: The ShazamFest XX Experience

Fire, Fungi, and Family Fun: The ShazamFest XX Experience

Festival de Lanaudière | Kent Nagano: The eternal, and always welcome, return

Festival de Lanaudière | Kent Nagano: The eternal, and always welcome, return

Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Off Piknic with Gorgon City, Dennis Ferrer, Riordan, and Linska

Off Piknic with Gorgon City, Dennis Ferrer, Riordan, and Linska

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Subscribe to our newsletter