François Bayle

French electronic composer François Bayle is one of the most distinguished artists in his field. At long last, his nine-part 1982 composition, Les Couleurs de la Nuit, has been given a beautifully packaged CD and clear vinyl release. Couleurs starts with intensity: "Lively" is a rush of vaporous sibilance, swampy croaks and a choir of crickets, while "Crushed Colours" features a stuttering clarinet motif over insistent electronic wavelets. Contrary to the expectation its title might conjure up, "Black Night" is fast-paced and relentless, with sounds appearing, disappearing, alternating, and reiterating at a torrential pace (though Bayle's use of a chromatically modulating two-note motif does wear out its welcome). The defining characteristic of Couleurs is its tireless creative action, with its rampant activity of new sounds, rhythms and contrasts never letting up.