Oldman
(Website)
Charles-Eric Charrier was one half of the duo Man. Charles-Eric and his partner Rasim Biyikli have recorded three albums and worked for film soundtracks, painters, choreographers and completed many tours. Charles-Eric also writes and records as a solo artist under the name Oldman. He has as collaborated with many artists and musicians including Mathias Delplanque (LENA), Rob Mazurek, Abraxax, The CLOGS, Orange Blossom, Teamforest, Le COQ…
In the record market, Olman has not got the weight of a million seller, but an impressive weight of creativity. Since there is not one album only that will be released as the result of the research of this untiringly creative musician, but… eight, just about simultaneously.! Six CDs or vinyls, on three different labels (French, American and Greek) and two internet projects, through a Mexican label, that can be downloaded without charge. Stkahanovism? Rather a fundamental need to explore the music that grows inside the way inspiration does and that he lets “emerge from somewhere” , a place over which he claims not to have much control. “The further I get involved, the less I have the desire of control everything” adds Oldman, whose way of creating resembles in more than one way those of the surrealists who had elevated automatic writing to the level of the “Beaux Arts”.
It is not easy to range the musical meditations of this artist, who, in any case, is not at all interested in being catalogued : « I could not care less. I am making music, that’s all. What interests me is that whoever listens to my work can integrate what they hear, the way they hear it. I have no desire to impose anything, in any way”. As a “musical signpost” giving directions, you might still want to retain the qualification of contemplative post-rock, suggested by a web reviewer. This at least describes, to an extent, and without limiting it, the range of musical landscape in which Oldman the bass player and guitarist when needed, but also vocalist and sample alchemist, evolves. An explorer of frontiers who creates either alone or in the company of accomplices, then most often starting from an idea which all of them (as a trio or quatuor) develop together.
Albums
Son, Father and son
Label: Arbouse Recordings
Release date: December 01, 2008
Charles-Eric Charrier was one half of the duo Man. Charles-Eric and his partner Rasim Biyikli have recorded three albums and worked for film soundtracks, painters, choreographers and completed many tours. Charles-Eric also writes and records as a solo artist under the name Oldman. He has as collaborated with many artists and musicians including Mathias Delplanque (LENA), Rob Mazurek, Abraxax, The CLOGS, Orange Blossom, Teamforest, Le COQ… It is not easy to range the musical meditations of this artist, who, in any case, is not at all interested in being catalogued : « I could not care less. I am making music, that’s all. What interests me is that whoever listens to my work can integrate what they hear, the way they hear it. I have no desire to impose anything, in any way”. As a “musical signpost” giving directions, you might still want to retain the qualification of contemplative post-rock, suggested by a web reviewer. This at least describes, to an extent, and without limiting it, the range of musical landscape in which Oldman the bass player and guitarist when needed, but also vocalist and sample alchemist, evolves. An explorer of frontiers who creates either alone or in the company of accomplices, then most often starting from an idea which all of them (as a trio or quatuor) develop together.
Two heads Bis Bis
Label: Low Impedance Recordings
Distribution in France: Internet
Two Heads Bis Bis’ is a twisted bedtime story, a dark poem, an alchemist’s magic diary of secrets. Oldman (aka Charles Eric Charrier) employs the typical trio of ‘rock’ instrumentation (bass, guitars, drums) along with several rather atypical sound generating devices to sculpt a truly intense lo-fi masterpiece, a dreamy album drenched in fuzzy smoke: a dark, melancholic, weird and ultimately therapeutic experience. This is post-’something’ in the true sense of the term, as Oldman transcends most musical genres to create something unique and exciting. Repetitive rock-inspired patterns, tribal percussive jams, improvisation, organic ambience and lots of dark humor. This is what popular music would be like in an ideal world.
