Antoine Aureche (born 4 December 1981), also known as Valfeu, is a French musician, producer and video maker. He is mainly known for his duet with the French

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

artist

Desireless Claudie Fritsch-Mentrop (born 25 December 1952), known by her stage name Desireless (), is a French singer. She gained international recognition between 1986 and 1988 with her hit single, "Voyage, voyage", which topped music charts in multiple ...

. Aureche’s music takes inspiration from several genres, including

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

Biography

Aureche studied music at the conservatory in

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

. He was influenced by progressive rock, including music by

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

Gentle Giant Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. They were known for the complexity and sophistication of their music and for the varied musical skills of the members. All of the band members were multi-instrument ...

, and

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English retired musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

. In 2000, Aureche released his first album, ''Urdoxa'', with his band Thork. In 2006, Aureche created TAT, an experimental musical project that led to him signing with the Swiss record label Urgence Disk Records. He recorded three albums with Urgence Disk: ''Quinta Essentia'' (2006), ''Le Sperme De Tous Les Métaux (''2007) and Testament (2010). Through TAT, Aureche collaborated with several underground artists, such as Le Chiffre, VX 69 of Punish Yourself, and Adobe of Chaos artists Laurie Lipton and Laurent Courau. In 2008, Aureche began recording

electro music Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

under the name Operation of the Sun. Under this name he released a debut album, ''Solar Squirrels Exodus'', in 2009, and another album, ''Désir Parabolique'', in 2011. As Operation Of The Sun, Aureche collaborated with artists including Greta Gratos and The Eternal Afflict. In 2011, Aureche met

. Together, they decided to create a duet called ''Desireless & Operation of the Sun''. The project was supported by collaborators including Solar Fake, The Eternal Afflict, Oil 10, BAK XIII and

Psyche Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" ( ψυχή). Psyche or La Psyché may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unc ...

. Following the project, Aureche continued to perform with Desireless at concerts and festivals. In 2016, Aureche and Desireless created a musical theatre show in tribute to the French poet

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

for the Apollinaire Museum in Belgium. The project was titled ''Guillaume'', and later became an album titled ''Desireless chante Apollinaire featuring Valfeu''. In 2018, Aureche started using the pseudonym Valfeu. As Valfeu, he released an electronic symphony, ''Faust'', based on Goethe's eponymous play. Collaborators on the project included Sue Denim of

Robots in Disguise Robots in Disguise are an English electropunk band composed of Dee Plume (vocals and guitar), Sue Denim (vocals and bass) and a changing line-up of backing musicians. The group released four studio albums between 2000 and 2011. History ...

, Desireless, Cheerleader 69, Titend and Music for the Space. In February 2019, TAT was renamed Tat Resurrectio. With Tat Resurrectio, Antoine performs a

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrume ...

show (featuring Le Chiffre, Nevah and Diabolus in Viola) as supporting act for

Brendan Perry Brendan Michael Perry (born 30 June 1959) is a British singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as half of the duo Dead Can Dance with Lisa Gerrard. Early life Perry was born in Whitechapel, London, England, UK, in 1959 to a mot ...

Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance are a British-Australian band founded in Melbourne in 1981 by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, before relocating to London the following year. The Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as "const ...

. The city of

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France, recognizes him as an official artist of the program "40 ans de Musiques Actuelles à Lyon". Aureche teaches at the Academy of Music and Dance in Miribel, Ain.

References

External links

* {{authority control French rock guitarists French male guitarists Living people 1981 births People from Annecy 21st-century French guitarists 21st-century French male singers