Trisomie 21 - Le Repos Des Enfants Heureux

Trisomie 21 are a post punk band formed in 1981 by two brothers from the North of France. Their music consists of lush soundscapes that do not easily fit into any one category. Musically their mood is melancholic and one can hear traces of Joy Division, Durutti Column and The Cure. In early 1982, they set out to record their first album. They then sent out a demo tape and Stechak offered them a deal - resulting in the mini-LP Le Repos des Enfants Heureux, which was released in January 1983. This is not the reissue with additional tracks, so don’t be alarmed.

Trisomie 21 - Joh' Burg 12”

It’s been a slow day today here along the North Essex Riviera. To brighten everything up I remembered that there was an amazing rip of the first Trisomie 21 (pronounced tree-zho-mee vahnt-ay-un, don’t cha know) single Joh’Burg lurking on one of my back-up hard-drives. After a moment of searching …Taaah-Daah! We have to have a good listen to this single fellow travellers; there is so much to gain from it. To start the ball rolling its release on Belgian label PIAS sets the scene, you already know that it’s going to be Coldwave, Electronic, Synth and a little bit of Industrial Goth sprinkled in for effect. Dating from 1986 Joh’Burg is a stand along single that fore shadows the bands second and most striking album Chapter IV. With shocking, violent and beautiful graphics on the front cover, “Chapter IV, le je ne sais quoi et le presque rien”, is captivating, sometimes even a little disturbing, original and without concession…but that is still to come.

Side By Side

Although Trisomie 21 (whose line-up includes a full member credited with "advice and assistance") has an extensive back catalogue of records at home in France, the rest of the world has only recently begun enjoying the quartet's unsettling mutation of lush techno-pop with industrial dance ingredients. The group who have endured since the early '80s, spanning styles such as brooding, experimental post-punk as well as a more danceable synth pop sound influenced by post-punk acts like Joy Division and the Cure, as well as the experimentation of the Residents and Yello. Alternating discrete songs with Philippe Lomprez's bilingual semi-tuneless vocals and Hervé Lomprez's intriguing instrumentals that down plays the group's adventurous side to showcase inept crooning and a laughable approximation of Maurice Chevalier imitating Bryan Ferry. Formed in 1981, taking their name from trisomy 21, the medical term for the extra chromosome that causes Down Syndrome.