Le Commandant sails the high seas, in search of an island
which legends say is inhabited by giants…
L’île Mystérieuse
An island floats on the horizon,
hosting silhouettes of gigantic stone sculptures. What could they be?
Captured by the Rapa Nui, the island’s people, Le Commandant is about to be put to death by the island’s priestess in a celebration coinciding with the full moon.
S.O.S feat. General Elektriks
Exhausted and tied down,
Le Commandant still manages to send a distress signal…
Reassured by the true intentions of Le Commandant, the priestess of the island finally gives herself to him in a Moai field…
Le Chant des Sirènes feat. Youka Manuka
A chant that no mortal can seem to resist surrounds Le Commandant and forces him to leave the island and return to sea.
Chapter I
The first chapter is a 17min odyssey oscillating between a laid back Lalo Schifrinesque opening, mysterious late 60’s film noir soundtracks and enchanting grooves.
The visual and piano sketches accumulated through the years helped him build a storyline for this warm and sophisticated 6-tracker: each track skillfully illustrates a chapter of Le Commandant Couche-Tôt’s discovery of a mysterious island and risky encounter with its inhabitants.
On this record, Anthony Malka had the pleasure to collaborate with a few of Berlin’s finest groovers such as Hervé Salters from General Elektriks who offered a memorable Whammy-powered clavinet solo on S.O.S. , as well as jazz guitarist Paul Audoynaud who brought a very cinematic and richly-arranged touch to the tracks. A lot of attention was given to details during the recording process, creating this intimate “Berlin DIY” sound.
A nostalgic soundtrack to a vanished France from the late 60s.
Somewhere between Francois de Roubaix, Serge Gainsbourg and Air.
People Say
« Le Commandant Couche-tôt nous embarque à bord d’un vaisseau fantasmé, navigant dans le sillage de Serge Gainsbourg le temps de quelques envolées instrumentales. »
— Radio Nova
« …something of Vulfpeck and a reminiscent of 70s cinematic music plus a hint of Brazil »
— London Jazz News
«Le Commandant Couche-Tôt gelingt ein ganz großer Wurf in Sachen instrumentaler Black Music-Coolness und ein kleines Meistwerk in Sachen Soundtrack-Reminiszenz an die glorreichen und unerreichten Siebziger Jahre »
— Soultrain Online