"Cités Analogues" is the first opus by Lightwave, reformed as a duo by Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman. Recorded between April and May 1988, then edited and produced in July 1988, "Cités Analogues" was distributed as an audio cassette via various alternative circuits.
After the experiments and improvisations of their first cassette, "Modular Experiments", recorded with Serge Leroy, Lightwave chose the form of a concept album, built and thought out from different climates and compositions assembled to form two long cross-fading tracks.
All compositions were recorded live on a Revox B77, using an Allen & Heath 12/2 mixer.
The mixing is therefore live, and the different parts of this album bear witness to Lightwave's live performance, where instrumental interplay takes place in mutual listening.
The instrumentation consists mainly of analog synthesizers, including several modular ones (RSF, ARP, Roland, Oberheim), while the sequences and rhythms are driven by two Roland sequencers.
The first digital effects contribute greatly to the spatialization and depth of the sound.
Recordings of urban atmosphere and tape processing enrich the overall framework with experimental punctuations.
"Cités Analogues" is thus a seminal album for the Harbonnier - Wittman duo, laying the foundations for a musical collaboration that continues thirty-five years on, based on the complementarity of their skills and sonic universes.
Long overdue, this remastered reissue of “Cités Analogues”, produced by Christoph Harbonnier, documents an important stage in Lightwave's trajectory and reflects the kaleidoscope of its influences at the end of the 80s, between the Berlin School, Brian Eno's ambient, and a certain French-style electro-acoustic experimentation.
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