- Cult producer Jean-Pierre Massiera has one of the most eccentric discographies in dance music, having spent his lengthy and largely underground career as an itinerant visionary, prone to continent- and genre-hopping, with consistent disregard for good taste and audience expectations. Consider him something like the disco equivalent of Russ Meyer—a freewheeling auteur whose outrageous forays in trashy pop culture mix low-brow sensuality with oddball experimentation.
The companion comp to Psychoses Freakoid, which chronicles Massiera's more well-known '60s psychedelic creations like Les Maledictus Sound, Psychoses Discoïd concentrates on the horde of disco-related projects and experiments that Massiera helmed in the '70s. Gathered here are a number of very obscure and very weird tracks, recorded with a revolving-door lineup under a barrage of pseudonyms like Venus Gang and Sex Convention. Put all these together and you get a vivid, unhinged disco freakshow, staffed by pitch-shifted aliens swathed in body-paint and lasers where pretty much every track has some sonic element that leaves you thinking "well, I wouldn't have seen that coming..." Delirious, multi-tracked group chants are interspersed with oddly hypnotic sugary melodies, while grooves get invaded by prog riffs and doused in extraterrestrial sound effects. Then there's the really bugged-out numbers like "Onomatopaeia," a swirling thicket of a cappella mouth noise that recalls more recent forays into experimental beatboxing by artists like Björk and Mike Patton.
That's not to say that this collection belongs in the novelty bin—Massiera's inspired lunacy is matched each time by his arranging skills and studio wizardry—check out the glistening, spacey disco of "Love Like This" by Human Egg and the sex-drenched improv funk of Venus Gang's "Love to Fly." There's also a number of brazen rip-offs if you're keeping score—for example, "Daddy and Mama" by J. Joyce and Co is a clear lift of "Ma Baker" by Boney M. A number of the nuggets dug up here have a strong cosmic-tribal vibe at work, showcasing bursts of psychedelic percussion often with exotic ethnic overtones, like the wardance stomp of "Indian Planete" and the truly demented screwball groove of "Mao Mao" by Starlight.
Mucho Gusto have done a commendable job in unearthing and compiling artifacts from Massiera's baffling output. His back catalog seems like an easy place to get lost, among all the rough jewels and avant-savant wonk. By turns compelling and harassing, brilliant and ridiculous, Psychoses Discoïd is a fitting playlist for a bizarro-world discotheque, or maybe the Tatooine bar scene from Star Wars.
Tracklist 01. Sex Convention - Toi Qui Rêve De Baisers
02. Herman's Rocket - Indian Planet
03. Micky & Joyce - Ma'Jackson
04. Herman's Rocket - Hanged in the Universe
05. Human Egg - Onomatopaeia
06. Brasa Brazil & Helena - I Got to Bahia
07. J.P.M. & Co - C'est Showbizz
08. The Starlights - Mao Mao
09. J. Joyce & Co - Daddy and Mama
10. Human Egg - Love Like This
11. J.P.M. & Co - Baby Topless
12. Barbara Potts - Sad My Love
13. Venus Gang - Love To Fly
14. Micky & Joyce - Hold Up
15. Visitors - V-I-S-I-T-O-R-S