andrew claristidge: danser ou mourir

Andrew Claristidge's journey started with the story of the Dancing Plague of 1518, in which hundreds of people were seized by an irresistible urge to dance in the streets until exhaustion and death. Claristidge's favorite song, 1981's "Etre Assis Ou Danser" by Berlin-based band Liaisons Dangereuses, had an even stronger creative meaning after he read about this case. For his first solo album, Claristidge (member of the Parisian duo Acid Washed (Record Makers)) decided to fly to Ubu Noir's studio in Lyon, France, where he knew he could find one EMS synthesizer to start recording a few sounds he wanted to include. The experience was highly stimulating, and, back at his studio in Berlin, he had assembled almost all the ideas for his album, with a conceptual basis in the idea that one can dance to every kind of music. At the same time Claristidge developed a production method involving less thinking and more acting. He called it "Pragmatic Composing." During this composing period he was also touring, and stopped in Nantes, France, to record a track with another friend and music connoisseur, Leendder. Claristidge then exchanged files with his Mexican friend Theus Mago to create "Dancing Plague." A dancefloor monster was born. Back to Berlin, where a meeting with The Claydermans at Rodion's insane studio brought to life "And Now You Dance!" Claristidge then locked himself in the studio for two weeks to finish the album... but something was still missing. This album is also about friendship, so he met Henning Specht, member of the French band Hypnolove, to record the song "Modulated Choir," an intense dancefloor piece. Yellow LP with insert. Limited edition of 150 copies. Support from Laurent Garnier, Pedro Winter, Horse Meat Disco, Ewan Pearson, Khan, Rodion, etc.