Mathias Delplanque
Mathias Delplanque (born in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 1973) is a composer, a performer, a music critic, an author of sound installation and the founding member of several musical ensembles. He lives and works in Nantes (France).
His work as a composer started in 1998 as he graduated from the Fine Arts School and decided to put an end to his sculpture activity to turn towards sound creation. He since released several records on various international labels (Quatermass, Optical Sound, Cronica Electronica, Mystery Sea, Angle Rec, Low Impedance, Sounds Around…) and collaborated with musicians from various points of the musical spectrum (Rob Mazurek, Steve Argüelles, Myra Melford, Shahzad Ismaïly, Ghislain Poirier, Julien Jacob, Daniel Givens, Black Sifichi…). His installation works are frequently shown in galleries and art centers, and he regularly performs on stage, solo or accompanied by other musicians.
Mathias's sound work takes on several main lines and develops through different identities: Lena, Stensil, Bidlo, The Floating Roots Orchestra… or Mathias Delplanque — his own name being just another heteronym. All these projects form a complex ensemble in which every new element is a response to other previous propositions (a track inside an album becoming the point of departure for another album, the same track being approached differently on separate projects etc…).
As Lena, he produces electronic music strongly influenced by jamaïcan dub music. As Bidlo he signs subtle and melodic electronic songs and sound collages. Stensil is a more electro oriented project, regularly dedicated to covers and remixes.
The works done under his own name (developed on records, performances or sound installations, and being either based on field recordings or containing instrumental parts) all directly deal with the question of the relation between space and music.
Initially a pure sequenced studio production, Mathias’s music transformed with the years into a more improvised and flexible creation.
Photo © Sifichi
Discography
On Bruit Clair
- Mathias Delplanque : Parcelles 1-10 (Bruit Clair, 2010)
- Mathias Delplanque : Passeports (Bruit Clair / Cronica Electronica, 2010)
On other labels
Solo albums
- Mathias Delplanque : Ma chambre quand je n’y suis pas (Paris) (Taâlem, FR, 2009)
- Mathias Delplanque : La Plinthe (Optical Sound, FR, 2008)
- Mathias Delplanque : L’Inondation (Mystery Sea, BE, 2008)
- Mathias Delplanque : Pages (Oceanik Creations, FR, 2008)
- Mathias Delplanque : Le Pavillon Témoin (Low Impedance Records, GR, 2007)
- Mathias Delplanque : SOL (Insubordinations, CH, 2007)
- Mathias Delplanque : Ma chambre quand je n’y suis pas (Montreal) (Mondes Elliptiques, CA, 2006)
- Bidlo : Bilder (Harmsonic, GB, 2000)
- Bidlo : Journées Portes Ouvertes (Harmsonic, GB, 2000)
Collective works & collaborations
- Delplanque / Oldman : Chapelle de l’Oratoire (Public Eysore, USA, 2009)
- The Missing Ensemble : Zeropolis (in collaboration with John Sellekaers and Daniel De Los Santos) (Low Impedance Recordings, GR, 2007)
- The Missing Ensemble : Hidden Doors (Mondes Elliptiques, CA, 2006)
- Mathias Delplanque & Charlélie Couture : Je meurs d’en vie and Gangsters, released on Charlélie Couture’s album Double Vue (Wagram, FR, 2004)
Remixes & Covers
- Laurent de Wilde / Otisto 23 : Shoot the tourists first (Eternal Tourist Stensil Remix), released on PC Pieces remixed by friends (DTC Records, 2008)
- Stensil : Basso Pomade (Dogs Licking My Heart), released on Next to nothing, a compilation of Tuxedomoon covers (Optical Sounds, 2006)
- dDamage : Insects R Human (Bidlo Remix), released on Bucoliques 2 (Arbouse Recordings, 2004)
- Hopen : I saw your ghost (Mathias Delplanque remix), released on We are singing for hurrays (Arbouse Recordings, 2004)