Affaires Étrangères

by Pacha

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$9 USD or more
Subscription

Subscribe now to receive all the new music Constellation Records releases, including 13 back-catalog items, delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. You’ll also get access to subscriber-only exclusives. Learn more.

Subscribe Now $65 USD/year or more

1.	L'Aeroport De Charlo 04:50	buy track
2.	Macedonian Mind 04:12	buy track
3.	Modern Malaise 04:17	buy track
4.	La Gare De Podgorica 05:37	buy track
5.	Tunel 05:21	buy track
6.	Ankara 05:38	buy track
7.	Starcevo 04:18	buy track
8.	Le Soviet 03:50	buy track

about

Pacha is the solo work of percussionist Pierre-Guy Blanchard, who recorded this album at home with engineer Radwan Moumneh in 2009 and subsequently self-released it in a tiny run of CD-Rs. Affaires Étrangères features intensely satisfying rhythm-heavy instrumentals often propelled by fried, amped-up Middle-Eastern synth lines and sprinkled with guitar, bass and oud along with the odd looped field recording. Think early Trans Am if they had come out of Cairo or Beirut, or Oneida in their motorik mode and with an Arabic pop fixation.

Blanchard received a BA in music in 2003, majoring in percussion performance, and then escaped the 'new music' trajectory by traveling extensively and immersing himself in Middle Eastern and Balkan traditions, studying under various masters and playing with a wide range of regional groups. During his periods back in Canada he performed in countless ensembles and first came to Constellation's attention when he was recruited as guest percussionist for Black Ox Orkestar and ultimately appeared on that group's Nisht Azoy album, about which Tiny Mix Tapes wrote "Blanchard's freeform jazz-indebted playing opens the album up to even more adventurous terrain…the second leg plays like a Balkan Henry Cow". Pierre-Guy has also performed regularly with Sam Shalabi's jazz/psych/arabic orchestra Land Of Kush.

Constellation re-sequenced and remastered the Affaires Étrangères CD-R for vinyl and is proud to be giving this album a more substantial life. It marks Blanchard' first attempt at a definitive musical statement of his own and we think it succeeds wildly.

credits

released June 26, 2012

Music by Pierre Guy Blanchard

Recorded in February 2009 at home in Charlo NB and mixed at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal.
Recorded and mixed by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh.
Mastered by Harris Newman at Greymarket.
Produced by Pierre Guy Blanchard and Radwan Moumneh

Jérémie Roy plays bass, guitar and tape loops on tracks 1, 3, 4, 6.
Omar Dewachi plays saz and oud on track 6

license

about

Pacha Charlo, New Brunswick

contact / help

Contact Pacha

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Pacha, you may also like:

Axis Of Time
by Angelo Outlaw

featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 19, 2024
go to album
Ritme Jaavdanegi
by Mohammad Reza Mortazavi

featured on Bandcamp Radio Jul 7, 2020
go to album
TOTALLY RECALLED
by NAH

The prolific drummer and producer, a veteran of the Philadelphia and Antwerp club scenes, proves his rhythmic mastery once again. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 21, 2024
go to album
Free My Mind
by Angelo Outlaw

featured on Bandcamp Radio Feb 6, 2024
go to album
Holiday
by schntzl

The self-described “SpongeBobs of Belgian jazz” balance lush beds of synth with knotty instrumentation. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 17, 2023
go to album
Superclusters
by Bree van Reyk

Percussionist and composer van Reyk explores the intersection between contemporary classical and post-rock with members of Dirty Three. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 8, 2022
go to album
Mux
by Julian Sartorius

Julian Sartorius tries to capture the sounds of synthesizers and drum machines using analog instrumentation on this playful, innovative LP. Bandcamp New & Notable May 3, 2022
go to album