It would be impossible to traverse Tom’s entire discography – I’ve personally lost count, and Discogs says that there are already over 35 full-length albums and just as many EPs, not to mention collaborations, and, most notably, his work with Rafael Anton Irisarri as Orcas. This, and some hand-picked selections of albums highlighting his career, we’ll get to explore along the way, and yes, there will be generous giveaways for some of his albums, so now would be a great time for you to upgrade to a higher tier to grab those Bandcamp codes!
As with most artists featured on the platform, I first encountered Benoît Pioulard’s sound back in that amazing era when everyone seemed to be just starting out. It was some twenty years ago when I heard his Précis come out on Kranky. At the time, I was still carving out my space with Headphone Commute, focusing mostly on electronic and instrumental music, with Kranky helping me navigate the waters with excellent music from loscil, Brian McBride, Windy & Carl, and Stars of the Lid. Ambient, post-rock, and “folktronica” were all soothing my ears, and here was something new (and with vocals!) that I wasn’t sure would fit the bill, but after a few plays I was hooked.
I ended up being obsessed with Tom’s sound, consuming every single one of his releases on Kranky, and in 2011 finally met him in person in Seattle at Decibel festival, and then again, a year later, when Rafael Anton Irisarri (who still lived in Seattle back then) put on his amazing Substrata festival. Sigh. Those were the days! In 2012, Tom and Raf surprised the community by releasing an amazing record under the new alias Orcas on Morr Music. I interviewed the duo here, and you can read all about how they met, formed the project, and cultivated the music. I can’t wait to revisit their music again!
As “the Kranky era” wound down, Tom pivoted towards many self-released works, with his sound shifting even further towards hushed ambience, long-form drone, and lo-fi folk, while still gifting us with his breathy, dreamy vocals (sometimes buried deeper in the mix). His aesthetic moved even more towards analogue processing, with tape being central to the production techniques – we’re talking about all that tasty cassette saturation, hiss, and wonderful degradation of sound as part of the piece. Besides using vocals as another instrument, Tom incorporated field recordings of places and times, capturing themes of impermanence, memory, and nostalgia for the distant future and the ever-fading past. You can learn more about Tom’s process from my 2015 profile of his studio here. It’s a wonderful read!
As hinted at a few times already, Tom is also a prolific photographer, using Polaroid and other analogue formats to continue weaving his sonic aesthetic into the visual world. His albums are often accompanied by his own artwork, but he’s also behind many of your favourite album covers, on labels such as Felte, Dauw, Morr Music, Past Inside The Present, and even my own benefit compilation! We’ll surely explore some of this throughout the month, marvelling at the fusion of the two artistic branches and how they feed into each other, genuinely becoming one. These days, Tom lives in Brooklyn, New York, and this new geographical location has surely imparted yet another imprint on his sound.
