As the solo moniker of multi-instrumentalist and electronic composer Asaël Robitaille (who also spends time as a member of Léopard et Moi, Femminielli, Piranha, Jef Barbara, and Panopticon Eyelids), Bataille Solaire offers Robitaille the opportunity combine the academics of composition with the inherent spontaneity of electronic music. And with most of the music under this name being created with synths and other various electronic equipment, it would be easy to dismiss Bataille Solaire as merely an automated exercise in wired musical experimentation. But underneath the yards of colored plugs and lines, there is a strangely emotional aspect to Robitaille’s work that contrasts with the superficial mechanics of this motorized music. There is life within the machine and Bataille Solaire offers up his beating heart to the instruments.
His latest song “Mangrove,” which comes from an upcoming cassette release for Constellation Tatsu, combines arrhythmic synths with haphazardly homemade beats to form a bizarrely infectious series of blips and squeaks that manages to lodge itself somewhere just under your subconscious and refuses to let go. The video for the track, directed by Jasper Baydala, comes across an homage to the VHS graphics glory days of the 80’s. Bringing together the best looking CGI dinosaurs this side of a TurboGrafx-16 game system, Baydala cut and pastes various models of dinosaurs across naturalistic settings and allows the noticeable glitches to work in the videos favor. Wiping the smile off your face as you see a dinosaur standing at the edge of a wooden pier before repeatedly ducking its head like some drinking bird becomes downright impossible as the sheer inanity of it all threatens to overwhelm you.
