The French post-punk band Ulan Bator is getting set to reissue their 1997 LP Végétale on vinyl. Long out of print and never before appearing on vinyl, the LP was originally put out on CD by the French label Les Disques du Soleil et de l’Acier, followed up by a release on the Italian label Consorzio Produttori Indipendenti. The reissue of Végétale, available for pre-order from the group’s Bandcamp page and not available in stores, will be limited to only 300 on swamp green vinyl. Physical copies of the record will ship on January 9th, 2018–with downloads of the album available beginning December 9th.
Ulan Bator began in Paris in 1993 as a duo composed of Amaury Cambuzat (Vox, Guitar and keyboards) and Olivier Manchion (Bass), but the pair was soon joined by drummer Franck Lantignac. The group practiced in an abandoned salt mine in a suburb of Paris, and they would go on to transform the space into a studio for the recording of their first three LPs: 1995’s Ulan Bator, 1996’s 2°, and 1997’s Végétale–all originally released on Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L’Acier. The band’s explosive and caustic sound had its roots in the punk and industrial music of the ’70’s and 80’s, and the trio included bands like Faust, Neu!, and Can as influential to their sonic development.
On “Lumière Blanche,” the stunning first track off Végétale, Ulan Bator’s growingly nuanced songcraft was on full display, and this remastered version shows just what an intriguing study in dynamics it really is. Ardently toned guitar crisscrosses around a burning core of bass and drums while Cambuzat’s voice aches with a disquieting beauty as this track opens, but it’s not long before “Lumière Blanche” shifts into a higher gear becoming increasingly strident as its’ pace quickens. Eventually, though, as the track reaches a fevered pitch, it implodes back down to a hum of bass and drums, before going silent. Just at the point that you think this cut might be done, though, it emerges with an echoing drone from somewhere deep in space only to eventually arrive back at full speed with a crushing instrumental to close.
