Zanov – In Course Of Time

FANTASTIC ALBUM NOW AVAILABLE IN OFFICIAL CD !!

Unbelievable that over five years had ed since Pierre Zalkazanov (Salkazanov)'s last album, Moebius, as this album doesn't sound too drastically different, although a bit mellower and maybe a bit less mechanical. I'm almost willing to believe this was recorded in 1978, but Polydor rejected it, and was first released on a small Canadian label called Les Disques Solaris in 1982 (only one other title from that label came out, as far as I know, and that's Neuronium's Chromium Echoes), and then a French label called Ondes in 1983 (probably to make it easier for French buyers to purchase it without having to pay import price). I can't be certain, but I wouldn't be too surprised, as it sounds too '70s to be from 1982 (really I'm just speculating here, as so little info on Pierre Zalkazanov is to be found). Not to criticize it, '70s electronic junkies will be right at home with In Course of Time. It sounds like much the same analog gear as before, ARP 2600, VCS-3, and others, and nothing that sounds like early '80s polyphonic synths. It's nice to hear an electronic album from the early '80s that don't have any New Wave or New Age elements in it. No Fairlights or '80s drum machines. Zanov had been often referred to as a French Schulze, mainly for lot of extended spacy drones, but he has a sound much his own you won't mistake for Schulze. In conclusion, it's great to know all three of his albums are worth having for electronic music lovers going off the beaten track.

By the way, the album shows Zanov with some of his gear he was using at the time for this album. It clearly shows an ARP 2600 with an ARP sequencer (makes sense) and a Korg PS-3300. What looks like a mixer is actually a RMI Harmonic Synthesizer. I also suspect a VCS-3 was also being used due to some Tim Blake-like sound effects used on this album.

Update: I always suspected this album was recorded earlier than 1982. It seems like a more comprehensive autobiography on Pierre Salkazanov has been appearing on the internet as a new CD is being released called Virtual Future (I have gave it a good listen, and it's another winner for me). Apparently much of In Course of Time was completed in 1979, which sounds about right to my ears, but it wasn't released until 1982 when it was released in Canada on Solaris and 1983 in on Ondes. It's still not clear if Polydor rejected it or not. What is known is his day job and family was what prevented him from continuing further in his music career. Of course, had his albums sold in the millions worldwide like Jean Michel Jarre, then it would be a different story.

Let me start by saying that "In Course Of Time" is an excellent album, it is my personal favorite out of his 3 albums, I'm sure fans will disagree with me but that's fine. It's to bad that Zanov didn't get to put out more albums because I really feel that he is very talented, his mixture & sequence of sounds on this album & his other albums show how imaginative & ambitious he was. Had he continued on putting out albums there is no doubt in my mind that he would have put out even more creative music. To me he had the potential to be one of the best in the electronic field.