Bain Total

Label run by Philippe Fichot of Die Form. France has traditionally been a haven for the avant-garde and beat arts. Sartre, the Left Banke, the Sarbonne were the seedbed for new ideas. Today this tradition is carried on by various “artistes souterrain” who prefer to operate outside the commercial mainstream. Bain Total is one such operation. Started in 1977 they were quickly pigeonholed as too avant-garde and non-salable, thus they were on their own. The focus of the concept is the group Die Form, composed of Eva Johanna Reichstag and Phillipe Fichot (alias Franz K.). Die Form’s music is very—moderne electronique. Rock-based, it takes off on too many tangents to be pinned down to any one style however. The production is imaginative, but simple; it utilizes altered voice/speeds and tapes as well as conventional synthe/instruments. The result is a quite different effect. In addition to Die Form, Bain Total has done recordings by Krylon Hertz, Etant Donnes, Lucas Trouble, Tango Luger and Metabolist. Their works do not only lie in recording however. They have done also various graphic documents: “Raison X/Abject Object Anomaly/ Panoply Shaved Girls/Editorial I.” All done in very limited editions with capital import placed on presentation and visual impact. This graphic approach is similarly applied to their records with packaging that is suitably strange, complementing the music. The third area they have recently gone into is live performance. In May 1980 in Provins they created quite a stir. The groups C. Pickford, Fine Automatic, Krylon Hertz and Die Form caused a riot with extreme music and unbearable films. The audience was not in tune so the group left the stage and the resulting press was scandalous. With activities escalating now on all fronts, BAIN TOTAL’s unique, creative approach promises a future of interesting works. Proof that life does indeed exist outside the confines of “business as usual.”