Joakim
EDM
Upcoming Events
Mar 28
No matching events at this time. Please update your filters or check back soon.
Details
Description
Joakim is a major figure in the French electronic music scene. Multi talented and well cultivated, he has released two audacious albums on Versatile Records (Tigersushi in 1999 and Fantômes in 2003), and is the founder of the Label Tigersushi.
Joakim Bouaziz has always been involved in music. He starts learning piano at the age of six, from master concertist Abdel Rahman El Bacha. During his teenage years he discovers indie rock and labels such as Warp and Mo Wax. He discovers a passion for electronic sounds after a school buddy forgets a synthesizer in his room. Those sounds bring him new creative possibilities, and after a few months of prolific work and sending demos to Versatile, Gilb’R, the label manager, decides to release his album Tigersushi on Future Talk, a more experimental division of Versatile. This brilliant and amusing album is released in 1999, with many references to 60s modal jazz, through which Joakim displays his ability to manipulate electronic compositions in an original way.
Tigersushi is soon spotted and Joakim, who at the time names himself ‘Joakim lone Octet’, stands as an intriguing loner in the electronic music landscape. One year later, Tigersushi Remixed is released, an album on which musicians such as 4Hero, Next Evidence and DJ Medhi revisit Joakim’s first album. In 2001 he starts his own label under the name of Tigersushi and releases projects by K.I.M., Panico, Principles of Geometry, Volga Select, as well as the famous compilations More God Dam Music (MGDM) & Kill the DJ (which was launched by Ivan Smagghe). 2003 is an important year for Joakim: his second album, Fantômes, is released and receives praise from both the press and the dancefloor, especially with tracks such as Come Into My Kitchen and Are You Vegetarian? In the rest of the album, Joakim unveils a more intimate part of his musical background using sound textures reminiscent of 80s underground punk, electro pop, funk, and even mystical ambient. This musical UFO surprises many critics by its radically different colour of French electronic music.
Creative and cutting edge, Joakim is also the first to inaugurate the ciné- mix concept as a live performance. In this project he was brought in to take care of the musical illustration of Jean Epstein’s ‘La chute de la maison Usher’, memorable performances which took place at Paris’ MK2, Tokyo, Montreal (MEG) and at the Mostra in Sao Paolo.
Today, three years after Fantômes, and after three years of remixing some of the top international artists (Tiga, Ivan Smagghe, Detroit Grand Pubahs, Tiefschwarz, Chateau Flight, Fisherspooner, Max Berlin, Air, Annie to name a few), Joakim is back with his new album Monsters & Silly Songs which is going to be releases in February 2007. The album is thought out from a live performance perspective, which brings out the songwriter in Joakim more than the producer. This is an album in which he takes on not only his musical idea, but also takes care of the cover artwork.