Pascal Comelade

Born in Montpellier in 1955, Pascal Comelade has, since the mid-1970s, developed a body of instrumental work situated between experimentation, off-kilter pop, film music and miniature acoustic forms, with a lasting anchoring in Catalonia after several years spent in Barcelona. His early records, including Fluence (1975), belong to an electronic, repetitive vein, before a gradual shift toward a more melodic language in which toy instruments, keyboards, percussion and small ensembles became central. This aesthetic found a lasting expression with the Bel Canto Orquestra, heard notably on Bel Canto Orquestra (1984) and on albums such as El Primitivismo (1987) and Psicotic Music' Hall (2002). Pascal Comelade has also worked in varied contexts — from independent rock to chanson, through improvisation and music for film and images — collaborating with figures such as Robert Wyatt, Richard Pinhas, Jac Berrocal, Pierre Bastien, PJ Harvey, Albert Pla, The Limiñanas and Lee Ranaldo. More recently he released Le non-sens du rythme in 2022, followed by Velvet Serenade and Boom Boom in 2023, confirming a trajectory marked by a taste for the offbeat, brief forms and an immediately recognisable instrumental writing.