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French collective
Aquaserge have been crafting their singular brand of avant-rock since 2005. Their work draws from chanson, free jazz, soundtrack music, and prog (particularly the Canterbury scene and the Rock in Opposition movement), among other influences. Their releases are likely to contain anything from knotty, ambitious ten-minute suites to more relaxed
Beach Boys-influenced pop songs. The group began as an offshoot of French pop band
Hyperclean, as members
Benjamin Glibert, Julien Barbagallo, and
Julien Gasc began to pursue more experimental territory. Over time, the group included members such as Manon Glibert and frequent
Acid Mothers Temple collaborator
Audrey Ginestet. Several members of the
Aquaserge/
Hyperclean family also participated in Ueh, who released two albums on
Acid Mothers Temple's eponymous label, including a collaboration with
AMT founder
Makoto Kawabata. In addition,
Aquaserge's founding members have joined
Stereolab (
Gasc),
Tame Impala (Barbagallo), and
Melody's Echo Chamber (
Glibert). The band collaborated with
April March on a self-titled 2013 effort, and paid tribute to several 20th century composers on 2021's The Possibility of a New Work for Aquaserge.
Aquaserge formed in Toulouse in early 2005 and recorded their debut release,
Un. The
Tahiti Coco EP was recorded later in the year, and released in 2008 by Manimal Vinyl. Un & Deux, the band's first CD, was released in 2009. Manimal Vinyl issued
Aquaserge's full-length
Ce Très Cher Serge in 2010. The album included guitar playing by
Kawabata, trumpet by experimental artist
Sébastien Cirotteau, and violin by
DAAU co-founder
Buni Lenski.
Aquaserge then collaborated with American indie pop star/Francophile
April March for a self-titled album, released by Freaksville in early 2013. The following year, Chambre404 released
Aquaserge's full-length A l'Amitié and 12" EP Tout Arrive (which appeared as bonus tracks on the CD issue of the full-length).
In 2016,
Aquaserge signed to long-running Belgian experimental label Crammed Discs, releasing the
Guerre EP and appearing on 16 Visions of Ex-Futur, an album of reworked versions of songs from
Véronique Vincent and
Aksak Maboul's Ex-Futur Album.
Aquaserge's first full-length on Crammed Discs was
Laisse ça être, released in 2017. The group's first live album,
Déjà-Vous?, followed in 2018. In 2021, the band released The Possibility of a New Work for Aquaserge, which included interpretations of compositions by
Edgard Varèse and
Morton Feldman, as well as homages to
Györgi Ligeti and
Giacinto Scelsi. ~ Paul Simpson