LIGHTWAVE

Lightwave emerged from Paris in 1985 when electronic musicians Christian Wittman, Serge Leroy and Laurent Bozeck began working together. Their sound fuses vast ambient expanses, kosmische patterns in the Berlin School tradition and electro-acoustic exploration, built on modular synthesizers and digital processing to shape semi-improvised pieces that remain playful and gestural. Video elements often accompany these works in live concerts and installation settings. The earliest recordings were issued on cassette, beginning with Modular Experiment in 1987, which featured Wittman alongside Leroy and Christoph Harbonnier.

After Leroy’s departure the stable duo of Wittman and Harbonnier took shape, releasing further cassettes such as the 1988 titles Cités Analogues and Ici & Maintenant, the latter including guest Bruno Heuzé. Their first proper studio album, Nachtmusik, arrived on Erdenklang in 1990 as two long-form ambient works. Former Tangerine Dream member Paul Haslinger joined for most subsequent projects, starting with the 1993 album Tycho Brahé, which also incorporated co-writing contributions from Hector Zazou. The band appeared on several of Zazou’s own releases during the early 1990s, among them Sahara Blue and Chansons des mers froides. American distribution came via the Fathom imprint of Hearts of Space, which issued both Tycho Brahé and the 1995 follow-up Mundus Subterraneus.

In 1996 the twenty-minute In Der Unterwelt, created for an exhibition inside the Gasometer of Oberhausen, was released alongside the live set Uranography. Cantus Umbrarum, documented for a sound installation in the Choranche Caves of Vercors, France, appeared on Horizon Music in 2000. Signing with Signature, the group delivered Caryotype in 2001 and Bleue Comme une Orange in 2004, the latter distinguished by an increased role for classical instrumentation. Live performances have remained occasional since then, yet the catalogue has been digitally restored and supplemented with concert documents such as the 2005 recording Climatic Changes and the 2020 composition “Les baladins du vide.” In 2025 Bureau B brought the 1988 cassette Cités Analogues back into circulation on vinyl, compact disc and digital formats.