Plasma D’arc is a Swiss experimental duo of reed player Nikola Jan Gross and electronics player, producer, and DJ Gaspard Gigon, who also runs the Sbire label. Ellipse is the duo’s debut EP, and it was recorded at La Maison Matrice in Crémines in March 2024. The EP is released as a cassette, each one featuring unique hand-painted artwork by Tenko, and as a digital download option.
The six pieces offer imaginative ways in which Gigon’s improvised electronics mutate, distort, intertwine, loop, and sculpt Gross’ guttural breath and the percussive touches of the saxophone and bass clarinet keys, enhanced by multiple effects pedals. The duo describes these pieces as «sonic magma… which unfolds as a slow mutation, where states succeed and blur into each other in a distortion of time and matter».
Plasma D’arc layers and blends fragmented melodies, distorted, noisy drones, and mechanical percussive patterns into an engaging sonic entity, where improvisation and imperfection play a central role. These pieces flirt with club music, experimental and abstract soundscapes, and even cinematic-like stories, as on «Phase Solide» and «Onyx».
Eyal Hareuveni
Nikola Jan Gross (saxophone, bass clarinet), Gaspard Gigon (electronics)
