Over the last decade, we’ve witnessed a remarkable process of historical reappraisal unfold, allowing neglected musical artifacts to return from the shadows of time. Arguably among the most important of these are the products of the spiritually guided movement of ambient music, which blossomed across the globe during the 1970s and 80s. Falling under the banner of New Age, for decades these sounds were maligned, misunderstood as a last gasp of an out of touch dream. With the benefit of hindsight, they can now more accurately be regarded as offshoots of minimalism and the avant-garde, advancing the territories explored by the likes of Terry Riley and La Monte Young. Among these artists, dedicated to a quest for higher meaning and consciousness through sound, one of the most important is Ariel Kalma - a central voice in the French scene. Hot on the heels of his incredible collaborative LP with Sarah Davachi, we’re thrilled to shine the light on yet another wonderful body of his work. Joining Transversales Disques’ astounding catalog of previously unreleased rarities by seminal artists, Nuits Blanches au Studio 116 is comprised of a stunning body of recordings made at Groupe de Recherches Musicales’ legendary Studio 116, by Kalma during the 1970s. About as historically important as releases come, it’s packed with mind-bending revelations, from back to front.

Born in Paris, Ariel Kalma cut his teeth collaborating with the likes of Baden Powell during the late 1960s and early 70s, all the while privately making experimental tape pieces which deployed acoustic instruments, found sounds, and poetry. In 1974, following his passion for meditative music and drone, he traveled to India to study the country’s ancient, classical traditions - laying many of the roots for the singular approach to sound which would emerge as a remarkable series of LPs and cassettes, over the coming decades.

Upon his return from India, Kalma went to work as a recording assistant at Groupe de Recherches Musicales, quietly recording his legendary debut LP, Le Temps Des Moissons, which was then privately issued in 1975. Recorded between 1974 and 1979, the works which make up Nuits Blanches au Studio 116 belong to the same rough body of efforts, and offer yet another crucial link between the explicit avant-garde practices which made up the core of activity at GRM, and New Age.

Spanning the shimmering, droning harmonics of tape looped saxophone, granular textures and ambiences of modular synths, spoken word, rippling piano lines, and moody multi-instrumentalism, the diversity of exploration which unfolds across the two sides of Nuits Blanches au Studio 116 is overwhelming - unveiling the depth and complexity of Kalma’s explorations during this period. Rich and challenging, as much ecstatically engrossing, once heard, it’s hard not to see Kalma as one of the most interesting voices of his generation - tapping something universal in an entirely singular way. One of the truly essential releases of the year so far, Transversales Disques has done it again.