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 Kranky is an American independent record label in Chicago, Illinois. It was started in 1993 by Bruce Adams and Joel Leoschke. It houses predominantly experimental music artists, often branching into or inspired by ambient, rock, electronic or ...

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 and

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

releases of his experimental,

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

-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 Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

-based

Moodgadget Moodgadget is an independent electronic music label with the mission of exposing the diversity in electronically made music. Founded in 2004 in Ann Arbor, Michigan by Jakub Alexander and Adam E. Hunt, the label began as an effort to popularize ...

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 ma ...

'' (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 with minimalist composer

Rafael Anton Irisarri Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American 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 music, e ...

. The duo's self-titled debut was released in April 2012 on Germany's Morr Music imprint, and its follow-up ''Yearling'' was released in early 2014. Meluch lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Discography

Solo

*''Blurred'' CD-R (self-released, 2001) *''Clear'' CD-R (self-released, 2001) *''Skymost'' CD-R (self-released, 2003) *'' Enge'' 7" EP (

, 2005) *''Dakota / Housecoat'' CD-R (self-released, 2006) *''

'' CD ( Kranky, 2006) *''Fir'' 7" EP (Type, 2007) *'' Temper'' LP (Kranky, 2008) *''Lee'' 7" ( Hall Of Owls, 2008) *''Flocks'' 7" (Blue Flea, 2009) *'' Lasted'' LP (Kranky, 2010) *''

Plays Thelma Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

'' 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'' (

, 2004) *''Idol Tryouts 2'' (Ghostly International, 2006) *''The Rorschach Suite'' (

, 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 American singer-songwriters Living people 1984 births American experimental musicians 21st-century American singers