Ose -

Ose was a French electronic project formed by multi-instrumentalist Hervé Picart along with the core of Heldon. The project yielded the album Adonia, released in 1978 on Barclay-subsidiary Egg.

Members: Hervé Picart (Moog, Hammond organ, guitar, bass), Richard Pinhas (Moog, synthesizer, sequencer, guitar), François Auger (drums)

Background

Ose formed in Paris in 1978 when French music journalist and multi-instrumentalist Hervé Picart teamed with synthesist–guitarist Richard Pinhas and drummer François Auger.

Picart was born in 1952 in the Douai area of northern France. He attended the Lycée d’État de garçons de Douai, then studied classics at the École normale supérieure in Paris. He qualified as an agrégé in letters and specialized in French rhetoric and classical languages. At eighteen, Picart began music-journalism work at Best. He later taught Latin and Greek at a lycée in Provins.

Pinhas founded Heldon in 1973 and led the group through its seven-album Seventies run. Auger drummer for the late-period Heldon lineup that coincide with Ose.

Adonia

Ose released their debut album, Adonia, in 1978 on Egg.

The album contains a five-part Hervé Picart suite performed by the three-piece Ose. Hervé Picart plays Hammond organ, slide guitar, bass, Moog bass, and overlaps on Minimoog, Polymoog, and guitars with Richard Pinhas, who adds Moog 55, Moog B, EMS Synthi AKS, and Oberheim. They layer sequencer-dense passages and low-register keyboard motion with high-sustain guitar, paced by François Auger.

“Approche Sur A” drifts through faint electronic haze before a picked guitar figure and a louder programmed beat sharpen the midsection; a late solo rides the sequenced underlay to the finish. “Orgasmachine” pulses through clipped electronic beats and wide synth wash, then drops the slide lead for a sequencer-driven middle.

“29 H 08 MN” starts on isolated Moog lines before a measured electronic beat fixes the pace under a late lead passage. “L’aube Jumelle” lingers over a dark electronic wash, then adds organ sustain and low-register replies before the volume rises near the close. “Retour Sur Adonia” closes over a steady electronic beat while upper-register tones circle a brief recurring motif.

A1. “Approche Sur A” (16:00)
A2. “Orgasmachine” (3:45)

B1. “29 H 08 Mn” (6:55)
B2. “L’Aube Jumelle” [The Twin Dawn] (9:48)
B3. “Retour Sur Adonia” [Return to Adonia] (3:34)

Ose recorded and mixed Adonia in June 1978 at Studio A, Barclay-Hoche in Paris. Pierre Dobler engineered the sessions with assistant engineers Jean-Luc Lemerre and Jean-Pierre Michau.

Hervé Picart conceived the cover package, with front-cover illustration by Billi. The front image sets a neon Ose logo above a blue-framed desert scene, where a turquoise horizon overlooks a low glass-roofed structure. Anne Surgers illustrated the back cover with photography by Danièle Picart.

Egg lifted “Retour Sur Adonia” as a single (b/w “Orgasmachine”). The label issued Adonia with catalog number 90 277, between titles by Michel Magne and ex-Gong synthesist Tim Blake.