Smarts
Who Needs Smarts, Anyway?

Pierre Bujeau is an expert at creating temporary escape zones - musical structures to evade the everyday. Sometimes he works collectively as part of the mysterious French groups Omertà and Tanz Mein Herz. But it’s when he’s on his own, performing as Megabasse, that he offers the most complete break from reality.His kit is simple: a few bottles of cheap lager, twin Fender amps, and his double-necked guitar. An instrument like this normally signals maximum rockist excess - think Jimmy Page, Geddy Lee, or that dude from the Eagles. In Pierre’s hands, it becomes more like a zither or a dulcimer, producing soft chiming patterns that build against themselves until the sound of the room, passed back and forth between his two amps, starts to blur everything, and we are away in another world. Wait, though - let down your yoga bun and don’t light the palo santo yet. The new space he creates has nothing to do with smug wellness. It’s a rough, do-it-yourself psychedelia, scuffed but hopeful. Not a perfect blank space to be your best self in, but instead a communal dreaming, an uncanny place where all are welcome.Until now, without catching him live, the Megabasse experience has been difficult to find: CD-Rs, short-run tapes, and one blink-and-you-missed-it LP. Thankfully, this record on Efficient Space, a... morecreditsreleased March 28, 2025Recorded in November 2023 with D'Incise at the Pacheco' Chapel,BrusselsTracks originally released on cassette via MascarponeDiscos, 2024Mixed by Guilhem LacrouxMastered by Mikey YoungOriginal woodcut by Valentin CaponyDesign by Steele Bonus

EM Records: ...These recordings pull back a curtain to reveal the mysterious world of Syntoma and early-80s underground Mexico. Founded by Alex Eisenring in 1980, making use of synths and drum machines and driven by a freedom-seeking DIY ethos but informed by a "rock-jazz-prog-experimental" background. These 70s-born influences throw crazed funhouse mirror reflections onto later Kraftwerk, UK synth-pop, post-punk and pure pop forms. The first five tracks are instrumental, evidencing some intelligent melodic and harmonic conceptions; the same can be said for the remaining female/male vocal tracks, but the sense of otherness is boosted as the vocal stylings combine a definite UK 80s feel with an unplaceable geo-temporal essence, spanning decades and continents. Primarily a trio during the period of these recordings, 1981-84, Syntoma transcends the era and stands apart from their peers with a surprising melodic sense, harmonic adventurousness, interesting arrangements and, above all, an atmosphere of freshness and enthusiasm. Available on CD and 12" vinyl with liner notes and lyrics.

P-Vine: ...“Phew” is a Japanese female vocalist, well known as a member of the legendary punk band “Aunt Sally”. Undoubtedly, this album is one of the important records of Japanese new wave and German krautrock history. This album was originally released in 1981 as her solo debut album.

The Psychedelic Freaks is a new alias of Horatio Luna's. The aptly titled debut LP 'Passing Through The Doorways Of Your Mind' is an introspective 70s fusion space odyssey.An Afrobeat, Psychedelic jazz, funk fusion experience inspired by the Miles Davis's electric era. Influenced by the genius of Fela Kuti, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Dave Holland, Paul Jackson, Carol Kaye, Jimmy Hendrix, James Brown, and Alice Coltrane.Special thanks to Mandarin Dreams for putting a guitar in my hands and On-Ly for putting a wah pedal in front of it.