We’re extremely happy to welcome S8FJOU (a.k.a. “suis-je fou ?”, in French, to translate as “am I mad?” in English) for today’s Mailtape episode! Born in the 90’s in France and living somewhere between the city, an hidden off-the-grid cabin in the Pyrénées mountains, and a small handmade boat, S8JFOU, or Billy, has centered is life around exploring music.

What is striking with S8JFOU is how much his approach to music is that of a craftsman. Always on the edge of experimental Ambient and IDM, he composes with his own custom-made synths. He now also deep dives into numerical music, creating his own Ableton and MaxMSP softwares.

Take your seat, we’re about to embark in a both atmospheric and futuristic journey!

S8JFOU’s selection

Soup - Memorycore

S8JFOU: ” An impossible mix between deep emotions, softness, and extreme digital bug. I am really touched by this track and the freedom it carries with it, which made me discover other ways of electronic music.

User18081971 - Qu1

S8JFOU: ” One of the most beautiful ambient tracks I’ve listened to so far, given by an illustrious musician of our time (Aphex Twin, editor’s note) under another pseudonym, in memory of his father who died that year. “

Rob Clouth - A Shiver Sequence

S8JFOU: ” Huge research of distorted and reverberated electro-acoustic textures in a beautiful melancholic atmosphere. A very nice way to make electronic music with audio recordings. This track and the album on which it is present takes me very far into other worlds. “

MailTape’s selection

S8JFOU - Influences

Guillaume: ” S8JFOU’s latest album, Op.Echo, does not take its name from nothing. Composed with only two Ableton plugins, Operator and Echo, it paradoxically embarks us for an extraordinary rich and textured adventure. Peaceful and floating tracks alternate with more dark and broken stories. How is S8JFOU able to do that with just two Ableton plugins? Real magic, we may say.

The wonderful piece “Influences”, track 2 of the album, shows how tortured S8JFOU’s music can feel. Just the right balance between the soaring atmosphere of the Ambient pads and the texture of the strong IDM/breakbeat vibe on top. “

Squarepusher - Tundra 4

Guillaume: ” Speaking of IDM, here is a track from Squarepusher, one of the fathers of the genre. With “Tundra 4”, we’re not too far from what a perfect opera piece should look like when composed with electronic music in mind. The 13 minutes of this striking mix of IDM, Breakbeat and Ambient will certainly move you to somewhere else. “

Emperors New Clothes - Darklight

Guillaume: ” Let’s take a step back to breath a little after those crushing emotions. With Emperors New Clothes, a mega-band of 10 people, we’re up to a rare mix of Jazz, Folk music and Ambient with “Darkligh” from their Wisdom And Lies album from 1995. The track leaves us with is this peaceful feeling sprinkled with just enough of mysterious vibes. “

Saycet - Mother (S8JFOU Remix)

Guillaume: ” Last but not least, a remix of “Mother” from Saycet by our guest today. If you read the few articles you can find about S8JFOU over the internets, you will discover that Saycet is part of the reasons Billy chose the music path in his life. It was Saycet’s album One Day At Home After that made him discovered this very niche kind of music: this mix of melancholia and texture that we now find in everywhere in S8JFOU’s productions “

That’s it for this Sunday morning! We hoped you travelled far with today’s selection, up to some distant planets or spaceships around. Many thanks to S8FJOU for his selection and Meriam Kharbat for today’s beautiful illustration.