EIDER STELLAIRE-S/T, LP 1981 + S/T (2nd), LP, 1986, FRANCE

Considered by many "in the life" to be one of the cornerstone zeuhl bands, Eider Stellaire's reputation for the most part rests largely on the back of their more readily available 2nd and 3rd albums. Their second album (self titled, as was the first) as you'll see is quite a brilliant record (in it's own way as incredible as their debut), but it's zeuhl connection is a bit less specific, with a sound that often seems more akin to Art Zoyd or AZ leader Thierry Zaboitzeff's solo album "Promethee", with it's unsettling electronic climates and odd angularity (the less said about their third album, the better). It's on their ridiculously rare debut album however that all the hallmark zeuhl signifiers are most in play. Devastatingly heavy on so many levels, Eider Stellaire's sound here has as much akin to the Eskaton of "Ardeur" and "Fiction" as it does to the Magma mothership. Powered by a bassist who brings a distinctly Paganotti-like edge to the proceedings, what really tends to distinguish their work a bit from their peers is the degree of guitar firepower that Jean-Claude Delachat brings to the recording. A real blissed peak of the zeuhl cannon, I believe only a few hundred of these were made. Of those, only 50 came with this original cover, the rest finally being issued after the release of their second album using a press over-run of additional sleeves from the second LP to house their first album. Distressingly, Le Bars apparently refuses to ever see Eider Stellaire's music reissued.

NOTE: BOTH OF THE ORIGINAL MEDIAFIRE LINKS FOR THESE LP'S HAVE DIED, AND AS I NO LONGER HAVE EITHER OF THEM ON MY HARD DRIVE, THE LINKS BELOW WILL NOW RE-DIRECT YOU TO OTHER BLOGS WHO'VE
POSTED THESE LP'S. THE LINK FOR THEIR 2ND LP ALSO HAS A DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE FOR THEIR FIRST LP, BUT THE PROG NOT FROG BLOG'S POST OF IT IN THE FIRST LINK IS AT A HIGHER BITRATE. BE AWARE THAT ALL LINKS ON PROG NOT FROG ARE TO BE FOUND IN THE COMMENT BOARDS OF THE POSTS...

Their first has now been reissued by Soleil Zeuhl and shares of it are no longer available here.

Their second can be found Here