IM089 - @galtier - Pulchra Es Elementis
Label: Infinite Machine
Release Date: September 24th,2021
Format: 12" / Digital

With 10 years in the ‘biz’ firmly under his belt, Jiah Wells is poised to release the first full-length LP of his Galtier project, Pulchra Es Elementis. Whilst Galtier is arguably one of the originators of the percussive style that would eventually fall under the Hard Drum label, the heightened theatrics of his recent output have seen him channel Blade Runner-styled sonics and move further away from absolute club functionality. Whilst Galtier’s output often seems to soundtrack hypothetical, off-planet words, Pulchra Es Elementis turns the focus inwards: towards Wells’ own emotional constellation, his evolving spirituality and his attempts to tap into planes of existence beyond the tangible. The album’s Latin title translates to ‘Elements are Beautiful’ and encapsulates the artist’s belief that there is grace in all of life’s aspects; pushing past what we deem as good or bad, minuscule or massive.

Pulchra Es Elementis begins with Crystalised Larva, a brooding opener of breathy pad synths and expansive kick drums which reverberate through the mix as if the hits originate from the bottom of a valley. There’s an indistinct sense of tension on this track, in part due to a central melody, which never resolves but only descends lower in pitch. This tension turns to explorative wonder on Wilfull Saviour, where a mirage of musical ideas come in and out of focus. Although the sonic worlds Galtier explores are internal to him, Wilfull Saviour still possesses that sense of a cosmic journey we’ve come to expect from Wells; an ardent fan of dystopian films and literature.

Continuing this emotional odyssey, Bruised, But Not Broken sees the artist push deeper into the psychological undergrowth; its murky tonality juxtaposes crisp, Reggaeton-inspired drum patterns with a heavily compressed one-note synth line that modulates wildly - cutting through the mix like a nagging thought that won’t leave your mind. Next up is U Were, U Are & What U Will Be, one of the more club-ready tracks of the LP, which gets us moving with a snarling bassline and layers upon layers of percussive hits and inflections.

At Pulchra Es Elementis’ mid-point is the LP’s title track, a drumless interlude where blissful, shimmering synths create a patchwork of intensities. Galtier’s approach to songwriting shines through here; ignoring musical pragmatics, he opts to feel his way through his compositions without knowing where they might end up. Following on from that weightless breather, Phantasiai turns up the freneticism with its head-spinning mix of drum programming and a glitched-out synth line that yo-yos up and down octaves. Things get even more furious on the Superficie-featuring Cavernam, a hollow Hard Drum banger inspired by Eskibeat sensibilities and designed to create a sense of self-implosion.

The album’s penultimate track, (U Are) Beautiful, is a tale of two halves: beginning with a moment of serenity as synthesizers swell like an ocean tide before evolving into a marching crescendo of raw energy. Rounding off the album, Shine Forth hurtles through pacey drum work and all manner of strange zaps and klaxons before giving way to a final dose of nebulous ambience.

A musical journey unlike any other ‘club music’ albums, Pulchra Es Elementis is an LP that demands to be consumed in one sitting. Reflecting on his place within the universe and the musical landscape, the album could be viewed as a musical exorcism which sees Galtier working through and shedding huge chunks of his ego that stuck to him out of fear of the unknown. Pulchra Es Elementis begins on an insecure, overwhelming or, even, existential note before rounding off with a related sense of vastness seen with new, more positive eyes. It’s a voyage we hope you will join him on.

Galtier - Pulchra Es Elementis

French DJ & Producer 

Trance, Hardgroove and Techno

vr artist 

https://bsky.app/profile/jerk.concretevr.live
https://twitter.com/some_big_jerk

Record Label based in Mexico City.
Founded in Montréal, Est. 2011 by @xwolfcultx.

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Oxytronix music is a mixture of warm and screaming synthesizer sounds with deep shattering drum beats accompanied by emotional and melancholic melodies. He was born 1974 near Zurich. He started his music career with a violin. He was forced by his mother until she realized that he has no talent for the violin. Because of his struggles in school and the problems in his family he discovered electronic music as an escape from his difficult childhood reality. His parents refused to pay him piano lessons or to buy him a synthesizer after the violin experience.

Influenced by Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis, he startet to experiment with his Amiga 500, a little monophonic Casio toy keyboard and some feedback effects from his boombox and the microphone. A friend inspired him to start guitarplaying, but he lost himself in experimenting around with the weird sounds of his new zoom digital effect processor, that was also used by Nine Inch Nails at this time. But his experimental music never succeeded in front of bigger audiences then, so he decided disappointed to quit making music.

After long absence from music he discovered the albums of Mercan Dede as a cure for his emotional struggles while his divorce. The mystical music of Dede brought him back to music making. He started to play the traditional reed flute of the sufis called Ney and mastered his craft by taking lessons from Suleyman Erguner, the brother of Kudsi Erguner who played the oriental Flute part in the original piece Revolutions from Jarre. A deep crisis in his life, after loosing his son, lead him to making some spiritual ambient music and he published some meditation music singles.

After his recovery he produced two instrumental Trap and Downtempo albums. Inspired from his record collection and the older albums of the Boards of Canada, he found back to his electronic music roots and published in 2017 the four Albums Oxipop, Micronox, Darkness and Night Shift on his own independent label Kanakland Records. His music is influenced by the electronic music pioneers from Jarre over Enya up to newer musicians like Leftfield and Lorn. His music is also inspired from classic composers like Beethoven, Bach and the classical Ottoman music.

His deep yearning for spirituality and his melancholy had always a big influence to the music of Oxytronix.