The Jean Pierre Massiera Thread : French Producer Extrardoinaire

I've been investigating the work of JP Massiera the last couple years and the man is a genius that definitely deserves his own thread. A prolific and mercurial producer who was involved in so many projects it's hard to know where to start. There is the obvious masterpiece of "Les Maledictus Sound" a soundtrack that runs from psych- pop, fucked up lounge music chalk full of sound effects, bizarre Les Baxter-isms, and is heavily steeped in all of the 60's production excesses.

I've also been listening to the "Chico Magnetic Band" a group who he produced; an album of dark, facemelting psych which sounds like a French black man channeling Hendrix on mescaline. Don't let the "Hendrix" tag deter you, when the man sings he sounds more like Damo Suzuki than Jimi, and it is full of wild percussive freakouts that would sound right in place on Santana's Lotus album.

The one work that he worked on that really has been blowing my mind though is the soundtrack/project entitled "Horrific Child". It really does sound like the name ; a horror soundtrack that has everything from voodoo chants, prog freakouts, tribal drumming, long stretches of ambient noise that then will then switch into kraut- psych and back into spooky sound effects. This album really has to be heard to be believed.

In the late 70's he started producing alot of disco that many on people here on the space disco/beardo tip would love. The only couple things I have heard so far is his work with Bernard Torelli, an album of wild galactic disco in the italo vein and the band he produced "Venus Gang" the track "Dies Irae" which many on here have probably heard on some space disco mixes.

Any more recommendations on this wild guy ? I haven't even begun to investigate all the other French Prog bands he worked with and the tons of other disco stuff he was involved in.

Let's talk about some Massiera.

ove While I personally can't stand Les Maledictus Sound, since I hate easy listening kitsch in every form, I do absolutely love Horrific Child, and Chico is pretty good too.

Any disco recommendations/rereleases out there? I think one was called THe Visitors, but I never heard it...

here's the link to what discogs has which i know is incomplete but is a good place to start.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Jean-Pierre+Massiera?anv=J.P.+Massiera

the vistors from what i read was described as prog, but yeah i am more curious about his disco productions and his more outalndissh psych stuff.

well i mostly know him from the beardy stuff he or his cohorts did.

venus gang, fuego's "misa criolla", "space woman" (credited to charlie, venus gang and Herman's Rocket?),

his buddy Claude Lemoine was in Les Rockets and produced Jordy!

Massiera's Space Woman is the CHARLIE single?! Wow! I really dig that track, but never made the connection! Thanks, Jaxon!

The Visitors album is great sci-fi French prog - more song-oriented than the Horrific Child lp, but still sounding like a b-movie version of Magma.
The guy did also a couple of weird easy listening/europop albums in the mid-70's ("JPM & Co.", "Turn radio on"): not everything works, but there is a lot of strange things going on (like "A Dieu l'ami", that starts with a spooky theremin/ massive ghostly choir section quoting before evolving in a glossy ballad).
Check also Les Chats Hermaphrodites (a Zappa-meets-goofy-French-rock n roll experiment from the early 70's with the usual outer space obsessions) and at least a great 60's Morricone-like psych track called "Un bateau s'en va".
Finally, if you like his disco stuff, there's the "Soraya" lp: the song "If" is good space funk.
With all his outer space obsessions, Massiera was a sort of French Joe Meek, and he actually did a discofied cover of "Telstar" in the Venus Gang album.

The new Finders Keepers Massiera comp just landed in the mailbox yesterday. It's great but going to take some time to digest--judging from the above it seems like a lot of these phases are covered- space disco, psych,various prog flavors. I'm equally tempted and terrified to dig deeper both for expense and sanity's sake. Weird cover of novelty song "They're coming to take me away" included, can't say was expecting that

anyone got either of the mucho gusto compilations? i'm about to pick up the second one:

1963-78:
http://www.muchogustorecords.com/en/records06.php

1976-81:
http://www.muchogustorecords.com/en/records07.php

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE1-7P1reTFjoEh4WfakzrEGo153ogYu4

that's the Youtube playlist that i made. 173 tracks of J-P M productions or his engineering work or somehow someway connected to him. because there should be a 10-disc box set but there isn't. there are some good comps from the 2000s. but i like to go overboard.

thank you so much!