B i o g r a p h y       

The Fathom years


 "Tycho Brahé" was first released by Crystal Lake, a French
organization devoted to the promotion of electronic and new musics. A new
team was in charge of this organization that Serge Leroy and Christian
Wittman had founded in the early eighties.

This limited edition release was sold out in a few weeks, and got a very
positive critical reaction.

Thanks to Paul Haslinger, the master tapes were proposed to Leyla and
Stephen Hill (Hearts of Space), who were currently creating a new section
of their record company called Fathom, devoted to "serious electronic
music," with composers such as Robert Rich, Michael Stearns and Steve Roach.
 Unexpectedly, "Tycho" was released by Fathom, and thanks to an important
promotion campaign in the US, we had our first wide international exposure.

"Tycho Brahe" and "Mundus Subterraneus" were the logical follow-up
of "Nachtmusik", but at the same time they were radical departures.
They developed ideas and components already present in "Nachtmusik": 
a balance between harmony and abstraction, minimalism and symphony,
abstraction and concreteness. But at the same time, these ideas became more
focused and effective, the tracks were shorter and more diversified. The
freedom of improvisation was organized by concept, and the creative
intuition was enhanced by a complex production and postproduction process,
using all the possibilities of multitrack digital recording and electronic
treatments.

The main achievement of these two albums was to put in practice the
concept of a chamber electronic music ensemble, either a trio or a quartet,
with the same sonic sophistication and the same live interaction as a real
string quartet. Between classical and concrete music, between experimentation
and melody, between harmony and subtle dissonance, Lightwave music was 
a challenge for any musical classification.

Interestingly enough, "Mundus Subterraneus" disorientated a part of the
American new age audience, while it seduced radio DJs and more adventurous
listeners interested in the ambient and techno trends. "Mundus" is now a
cult "dark ambient" album. Hearts of Space / Fathom, failing to reach this
new audience, put an end to their license and distribution of Lightwave's
albums at the end of 1996. "Tycho" and "Mundus" are unavailable since then,
but a new release is planned.