Flint Glass (f)

Flint Glass is a Paris-based dark electronica project that has been described by critics as representing some of the most innovative sounds-styling towards electronica, rhythmic noise and dark ambient genres. Flint Glass is a one man project of Gwenn Trémorin, formed in 1999. Not only a musician and producer, Gwenn also manages the outstanding experimental electronica label Brume records in France. Flint Glass' music tends to crawl under your skin, shapes the most fantastic images, and keeps challenging by means of an intelligent use of samples, rhythms and beats. With Flint Glass you find influences from the ambient of the ‘90’s as well as various forms of IDM, tribal and industrial rhythmic noise. Flint Glass has played numerous live gigs all around Europe, festivals and at some famous clubs like Batofar/Paris, Dom/Moscow, Slime light/London, Kab Usine/Geneva and his project already appears in the foreground of finest experimental dark electronica.

Gwenn Trémorin played bass guitar in a certain number of new-wave bands before he joined Stadium. Stadium was a noisy pop musical experiment, whose sound was influenced by such acts as Sonic Youth, Sebadoh and My Bloody Valentine. Trémorin describes himself as a person who has always been into very different kinds of music. As an adolescent, he was fond of new-wave bands like The Cure, Joy Division or Modern English. Indeed, melancholy of their music still has a strong influence on his own work.

More recently he took a real interest in various types of experimental electronic music, with groups like Arovane, Beefcake, Black Lung, Aphex Twin, Ammo, Panacea, Somatic Responses, Pan Sonic, Vromb… among many others. Inspired by their "peculiar" aural experiments and also by his friend Matthieu Maire from Celluloid Mata (who had just created his label with Steph Alt, "Vaccum"), Trémorin decided to start his own label. Thus in December 2000, Brume Records was born. Under the pseudonym of Flint Glass, he made his debut with the full-length album 'Hierakonpolis'.

And indeed, he could not introduce himself in a more convincing way. This debut is described by critics as representing some of the most innovative stylings towards rhythmic noise and dark ambient genres. Production-wise this is quite a dark recording, staying clear of the crisp, punchy approach of artists such as Mlada Fronta, for example. Coldness and warmth are constantly fighting for predominance here and the quasi-total absence of vocals makes it an extremely visionary record which would be a perfect match for a number of movie soundtracks portraying scenarios varying from post apocalyptic to foggy northern woods, from lunar landscapes to horror aberrations. Deeply disturbing and yet unequivocally enjoyable and morbidly relaxing. Overall, this album serves as a perfect demonstration of the great potential of this new talent.