5 March 2022 — After a long wait, the new LP rerelease is now available! It is remastered, features an insert with lot of unreleased photos plus an extended version of “Episcope”!
Released May 1996 | Produced by Ulan Bator | Recorded by Ulan Bator at La Guillotine (Ulan Bator studio) with few rerecordings at CCAM Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy | Mixed by François Dietz at CCAM | Cover-photo by Claire Alesse | Artwork: Francis Meslet | Originally produced by Ulan Bator & Gérard Nguyen of Les Disques du Soleil et de l’Acier | Mastered for CD (1996) by Tom Meyer at Master & Servant, Hamburg GER | Remastered for vynil (2021) by Amaury Cambuzat.
Performed by Amaury Cambuzat, Olivier Manchion, Franck Lantignac
All music by Ulan Bator (SACEM, Fr)
℗+© 1996 Amaury Cambuzat & Olivier Manchion
Releases
- 1996 CD — Les Disques du Soleil et de l’Acier C-DSA 54043 Ltd ed. “silver” Digipak + jewel box
- 2010 LP — Killedbyanaxe records – Killed n° 4
- 2022 LP — Improved Sequence IMP045 – Ltd edition CLEAR / BLACK – ORDER!
Reviews: ALTERNATIVE PRESS (1996)
To say that this is the best rock music France has ever produced is to damn it with faint praise. This trio may be the only band from that oversauced nation to be worth a damn in a long time—maybe since Metal Urbain or Magma. 2 Degrees testify to Slint’s international outreach. Yeah, many bands emulate those Louisville legends, but Ulan Bator take Slint‘s approach and give it their own Francofied spin. “Polaire” emerges from the gossamer web of Spiderland with gentle, detuned guitar plumes, brushed drums and artfully scientific use of space. Inevitably, the mood dramatically shifts to sinister stealth and Olympian grandeur. “Sea-ROOM” achieves the rare feat of loping with menace, repetition somehow fruitfully coexists with radical time changes. “Silence” is a Faustian exercise in drone and echoplex, resulting in a compelling monotony, a stunning stasis. “D-Press T.V.” recalls Ui‘s “Sexy Photograph” if they revered Chrome and Sonic Youth instead of brainy ’80s funk. “Episcope” erects a sheet of electrostatic interference and Oval-like glitches accomplished through guitars instead of CD vandalism. Call it musique concrete paved with irreverence. 2 Degrees ranks among the best EPs of 1996.
Dave Segal, ALTERNATIVE PRESS (1996)
Olivier Manchion 