LIGHTWAVE – Cités Analogues

Description

“Cités Analogues” was the first album released by Lightwave’s core duo Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman. Recorded between April and May 1988, edited and produced in July 1988, “Cités Analogues” was then distributed through the alternative scene as a cassette.
After the experiments and improvisations of their first tape, “Modular Experiments”, recorded with Serge Leroy, Lightwave opted for a concept album, comprising of a series of discrete compositions and atmospheres assembled into two continuous tracks.
The album was both recorded and mixed live, using a Revox B77 and an Allen & Heath 12/2 mixer. As such the different passages of this album captured the experience of Lightwave’s performances, in which Harbonnier and Wittman played off each other with sympathetic improvisations.
The instrumentation consists mainly of analog synthesizers, including several modular systems (RSF, ARP, Roland, Oberheim), while the sequences and rhythms are driven by two Roland sequencers. Digital effects help to create an expansive stereo field, in which recordings of urban environments and tape processing form rich experimental punctuations.
“Cités Analogues” is thus a seminal album for the Harbonnier – Wittman duo, laying the foundations for a musical collaboration that continues thirty-five years on, thanks to their complementary skills and sonic universes.
Long overdue, this remastered reissue of “Cités Analogues”, produced by Christoph Harbonnier, documents an important stage in Lightwave’s trajectory and reflects the kaleidoscope of their influences at the end of the 80s, encompassing the Berlin School, Brian Eno’s ambient work, and a particularly French-style of electro-acoustic experimentation.