The Belgian-born, Barcelona-based artist MICHEL HUYGEN has been pursuing his brand of electronic music since 1976. Born of a more innocent, optimistic era of space exploration, new discoveries in music and a dawning cosmic consciousness fueled by science, exotic religions and ethnobotany, he called his music "psycho-tronic."
Starting as a three piece band called NEURONIUM in 1977, they enjoyed great success with QUASAR 2C361, the first album of cosmic music ever recorded in Spain. After signing with a major label, they collaborated with singer NICO and played big concerts in bullrings and stadiums.
By 1980 NEURONIUM is a keyboard duo, collaborating with Spanish guitarist SANTI PICO. The next year, VANGELIS invites them to London to appear together on the television show "Musical Express." But even small bands are hard to keep together, and by 1982 and its fifth album CHROMIUM ECHOES, NEURONIUM has become the solo project of Michel Huygen.
The years that follow are a blur of albums, labels, collaborations, concerts in museums, planetariums and electronic music festivals in Europe, and in 1987, a ten-year retrospective album called ALMA: Spanish for "soul."
The second decade of NEURONIUM is focused on Spain, as Michel Huygen continues to evolve his sound with dozens of collaborations, soundtrack projects, concerts and album releases, including the double album ONIRIA — his 20th recording. In 1995, there's a joint project with cosmic visuals by artist TOMÁS GILSANZ called ASTRALIA, and in 1997 a second collaboration with VANGELIS called A SEPARATE AFFAIR.
NEURONIUM's third decade features more cosmic electronics, including ULTRACOSMOS, and an album of imaginary music from extraterrestrial civilizations called ALIENIKON. In 2002, marking 25 years, Michel creates his own record label — NEURONIUM RECORDS —releasing a landmark album called MYSTYKATEA in 2005, followed by a string of exotic albums based on the sounds and spaces of CAMBODIA and THAILAND. In 2011, he's still going strong! a testimony to following your muse — plus commitment and a lot of hard work.
On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a MICHEL HUYGEN retrospective called NEURONIUM. We've compiled from across his 35-year long career from the albums IN LONDON, SYNAPSIA, MYSTYKATEA, ETYKAGNOSTYKA, ASTRALIA, NIHILOPHOBIA, ONIRIA, HYDRO, and IRAWADI.
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