Die Form - Biography

Biography

Die Form is the primary project of the French electronic musician and multimedia artist Philippe Fichot. He began by recording a number of experimental cassette releases in the late 1970s, with the first Die Form vinyl release ('Die Puppe') appearing in 1982. Whilst the project was still in its infancy, the underlying concepts were still evident - a combination of esoteric electronic experiments with an underlying theme of erotism, death and other 'taboo' subjects, apparent in both the music and the album artwork, which Philippe also produces. Other early projects of Philippe Fichot included Krylon Hertz, Mental Code, Camera Obscura, Eva-Johanna Reichstag, Hurt and Fine Automatic.

'Some Experiences With Shock' followed in 1984, with the project taking a direction towards a more commercial sound on 1986's 'Poupée Mécanique'. The project then consolidated its experimental and melodic sides on 'Photogrammes', before introducing vocalist (and model) Eliane P. on the 1991 album 'Corpus Delicti', who remains with the project to this day. The next release, 1992's 'Confessions' saw a club hit in 'Silent Order', with sister album 'Ad Infinitum' (which originated from the same recording sessions) released a year later.

The next 'Die Form' releases saw the poetic, emotional side of their sound richen via 'The Trilogy of Passions', starting with 'Suspiria De Profundis' in 1994, followed by 'L'âme électrique' the following year. 1997's 'Duality' does not complete the trilogy, Phillipe Fichot choosing to leave the project open-ended. The 'Histories' compilation discs appeared in 1998, with the next album 'Extremum/XX' appearing in 2000. Then followed the 'diptych' of 'InHuman' (2004) and 'ExHuman' (2006), continuing their release of interrelated concept albums.

"The Bach project" was released in January 2008, an album obviously devoted to Bach. Die Form first presented this work live during the annual Bach Days in the German city of Leipzig, where they got invited. Die Form has created a new show for this project with the German dancer Sabine Seume.

Die Form left Trisol to join Out of Line in late 2008. A new single, "Herz Frequenz", was released in October 2008, followed by the "Best of XXX" in November 2008 (a compilation with reworked and remastered songs from the past 30 years).

Out on May 29, 2009, "Noir Magnétique" will see Die Form going back to a club-oriented sound. The album will be made available on CD only, with a special edition limited to 999 copies in a box with a 7" single and extra artwork. Die Form has created a new show with performances of Laina Fischbeck on stage.

In March 2010, a vinyl boxset compilation of early K-Cassette material was released on Vinyl-On-Demand.

In 2011, a double-CD digipak limited edition of Sombre Printemps ("Ambient & Film Music 1+2") has been released on Out Of Line.