Thomas Meluch (born August 4, 1984) is an American multi-instrumentalist, writer, and photographer, best known by his pseudonym Benoît Pioulard. His music signed to Kranky Records.

Biography

Meluch began documenting field recordings and his own lo-fi compositions on dictaphones, discarded stereos and four-track machines in the mid 1990s, later focusing on highly limited

CD-R CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital media, digital optical disc data storage device, storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can only be Write once read many, written once and read arbitrarily many times. CD-R discs (CD-Rs) ...

and cassette releases of his experimental,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

-influenced songs for friends and family. His first recordings as Benoît Pioulard appeared on the ''Random Number...Colors Start'' compilation released by the

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

-based Moodgadget label in 2004. After 2005's '' Enge'' EP Meluch was signed to Chicago's Kranky imprint, for whom he recorded the albums ''

Précis Précis () or precis may refer to: *an abridgement or summary ** Critical précis, a type of written text ** IRAC case brief, in law * ''Précis'' (album), a 2006 music album * ''Precis'' (butterfly), a genus of butterflies * Mitsubishi Precis, a ...

'' (2006),''Temper'' (2008), ''Lasted'' (2010), ''Hymnal'' (2013), ''Sonnet'' (2015), and ''The Benoit Pioulard Listening Matter'' (2016), as well as ''Lignin Poise'' (2017) for Beacon Sound, and ''Sylva'' (2019) for Morr Music. In 2010, Meluch formed

Orcas The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopoli ...

with minimalist composer

Rafael Anton Irisarri Rafael Anton Irisarri is a United States composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and mastering engineer based in New York City, New York. He is predominantly associated with Minimalist music, post-minimalist, drone music, drone and ambient musi ...

. The duo's self-titled debut was released in April 2012 on Germany's

Morr Music Morr Music is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany, founded in 1999 by Thomas Morr. Most artists on the label fall into the categories of intelligent dance music, electronica and dreampop, but all reflect Thomas Morr's personal ta ...

imprint, and its follow-up ''Yearling'' was released in early 2014. Meluch lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York.

Discography

Solo

*''Blurred'' CD-R (self-released, 2001) *''Clear'' CD-R (self-released, 2001) *''Skymost'' CD-R (self-released, 2003) *'' Enge'' 7-inch EP ( Moodgadget, 2005) *''Dakota / Housecoat'' CD-R (self-released, 2006) *''

'' CD ( Kranky, 2006) *''Fir'' 7-inch EP (Type, 2007) *'' Temper'' LP (Kranky, 2008) *''Lee'' 7-inch (Hall Of Owls, 2008) *''Flocks'' 7-inch (Blue Flea, 2009) *'' Lasted'' LP (Kranky, 2010) *''Plays Thelma'' EP (Desire Path Recordings, 2011) *''Hymnal'' LP (Kranky, 2013) *''Sonnet'' LP (Kranky, 2015) *''Noyaux '' EP (Morr Music, 2015) *''Seize/Marre '' EP (self-released, 2016) *''The Benoit Pioulard Listening Matter'' (Kranky, 2016) *''Radial'' CD-R (self-released, June 27, 2016) *''Slow spark, soft spoke'' (Dauw, 2017) *''Lignin Poise'' (Beacon Sound, 2017) *''Persona'' (Mellotron, 2019) *''Sylva'' (Morr Music, 2019)

Collaborations

*''PERILS – PERILS'' (with Kyle Bobby Dunn), LP (Desire Path Recordings, 2015) *''Deck Amber (with Ant'lrd)'' LP (Sounds et al, 2018) *''Communiqué'' (with Jogging House) (self-released, 2022)

Appeared on

*''Random Number...Colors Start'' ( Moodgadget, 2004) *''Idol Tryouts 2'' (Ghostly International, 2006) *''The Rorschach Suite'' ( Moodgadget, 2006) *'' Four-beat Rhythm: The Writings of Wilhelm Reich'' (Workshop, 2013) *''Sensorimotor'' (track 6: "Witness") – Lusine (Ghostly International, 2017)

References

External links

Official website

Bandcamp site

Myspace page

Kranky website

Moodgadget website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pioulard, Benoit 1984 births Living people American male singer-songwriters American experimental musicians 21st-century American singer-songwriters Kranky (record label) artists