Illegitimate child of Jean-Michel Jarre and Jean-Jacques Perrey, Mondial Toboggan was born at the dawn of the 2010s around a passion for obsolete synthesizers, cassette recorders and the mountains. Gauthier (clarinet, saxophone, keyboards), Quentin (keyboards, vocoder) and Vivien (percussions) meet up during informal sessions in a Bigourdan chalet, the back room of a Bordeaux wine bar and a Picardy farmhouse. They then develop an aesthetic, the music of tomorrow composed yesterday, a kind of instrumental synth-pop mixed with disco with accents of soundtrack from TV films that could have appeared in Antenna 2 programs. The project becomes more serious thanks to the collaboration of Corentin Kerdraon alias (nit) who, with his velvet paw, takes in hand the production of their first EP, Olympique (2019), on which he also provides parts for strings and keyboards.
mondial toboggan.
« The flame carried by the members of Mondial Toboggan glows faintly on the path to the stadium. Inside the vast building, their arrival is accompanied by a huge constellation of flashes sparkling in the night, making the rows of spectators crackle like popcorn. A huge crowd grows impatient: an elegant Fender Rhodes discreetly slips into the heart of the building and the anonymous clamor melts into the darkness. By the light of a simple torch swaying in Mondovision among these few chords, a saxophone solo woos the audience, drawing them toward the light. The entire planet holds its breath for fear of extinguishing the Olympic bonfire...
Then comes the inevitable breath of fresh air: the chronology of the rendezvous is carefully timed. Amidst the television screens, the cauldron bursts into flames and nations embrace each other. To the rhythm of the national anthems playing one after the other under the fireworks, the distant flags blend together in euphoria. From all sides, hundreds of dancers in colorful synthetic outfits synchronize to warm, colorful synthetic compositions; the groove takes hold in this solemn moment and the gymnastics spread cheerfully to the stands. Overlooking the stands, the beautiful values of sport burst forth in turn in the sponsored messages that finance this brand-new stadium, which is destined to disappear soon, once the games are over.
For about twenty minutes, however, everyone believed in this gathering without borders, in this unifying future, in these wonderful performances to come that we would like to highlight with encouraging comments in Esperanto.
Unfortunately, we must face the facts. Like the decoration just awarded to the medalist standing proudly at the top of the plaster podium, Mondial Toboggan's new laser disc remains the only real souvenir of this beautiful utopia: it shines with many reflections that are always worth celebrating.»
Text : Germain Fraïssé
Video by Anaïs Mak

