Drummerless French contemporary music ensemble Art Zoyd pursued a unique and evolving artistic vision during the '70s and '80s, and the uncompromising classic 1982 opus Phase IV is justifiably considered one of the group's peak accomplishments. On this sprawling fourth album -- a two-LP set produced by Henry Cow/Art Bears' Chris Cutler, engineered by the great Etienne Conod, and released on Recommended Records -- the Rock in Opposition co-founders marry dark, unsettling atmospherics à la Univers Zero to precise minimalist constructs with hints of Philip Glass or Steve Reich. One hears antecedents to Phase IV in the lengthy tracks penned by Gérard Hourbette or Thierry Zaboitzeff on the group's preceding albums between 1976 and 1980, with their layered motifs, bold and crisply defined rhythmic attack despite the lack of drums, and fits of urgency amidst the general disquiet, but the band could occasionally seem surprisingly lighthearted on those discs, veering into expressive chamber music, uptempo jazziness, and Samlas or Gong-style oddball vocals rather than the more typical ritualistic Magma-esque chanting. Phase IV found Art Zoyd pursuing a more unified aesthetic. Reduced from the sextet configuration heard on 1980's Génération Sans Futur to a quintet with violinist/violist Hourbette, electric bassist/cellist Zaboitzeff, and trumpeter/flügelhornist Jean-Pierre Soarez the only holdovers, Art Zoyd were now solidly a vehicle for the compositions of Zaboitzeff and Hourbette, the latter of whom also played piano and synthesizer for the first time, joining incoming pianist/keyboardist Thierry Willems (saxophonist Didier Pietton was the other newcomer, replacing Gilles Renard).

1		État d'Urgence
2		Naufrage
3		Dernière Danse
4		Et Avec Votre Esprit
5		Ballade
6		Deux Préludes
7		La Musique d'Erich Faes
8		Chemins de Luminère
9		Du Sang sur la Neige
10		Vue d'un Manège
11		La Nuit
12		Les Larmes de Christina
13		Manège