A brief skeletal history

Charmant Rouge started in 1996 in Burgenland's capital city Eisenstadt (Austria), even then as an instrumental rock-band plus anlog electronic elements, in search for advanced auditive forms. Voices were used to generate sounds, serving as material for further manipulation.

From 1996 to 1998 the music was interweaved with video, transforming the Charmant Rouge to a kind of music/video/cutup-band. The music from that first period can be described as "loud and melancholic". The band only played Austria at this time.

A full-length album was recorded in that period, still waiting to get mixed and released. Along with their existence as music-workers, the group also did performances in the wide field of the visual and applied arts (installations, video-performances, readings etc.). The most important performance in this second period of "Charmant Rouge I" was the project "Synart3".

The group laid down for rest until 2001. Meanwhile living in Vienna, the three members of Charmant Rouge worked as cultural organizers or did their studies (electroacoustics and computer-music, digital arts/visual media at the Vienna University of applied Arts). Other music projects have seen the light of day in that time: Mimi Secue, Contour, Glim, The Beautiful Kantine Band, Songs Of Suspects.

In 2001, the reanimation of Charmant Rouge was discussed. The comission of a radio play for the ORF (Austrian Television Broadcasting Company) involving Charmant Rouge members gave the impetus for a new start. To avoid a mere reproduction of its past, "Charmant Rouge II" wanted to approach the song-form instead of their earlier long and conceptual tracks. The result of their efforts was the album "Winzer", released in December 2002 under the name "Le Charmant Rouge".

"Winzer" was straight and surfy, Krautrock-based music that immediately became an insider's tip. Recorded as a trio the band was extended to 5 musicians for live gigs. After several changes of the band-constellation, the group found itself reduced to a trio again to record their second full length album "Post No Bill", showing the band breaking new ground. Mostly (but not entirely) instrumental pieces, oscillating between song and soundtrack with a subtle electronic flavour and cheerful melancholy. Still to be filed under Post- or Krautrock but outshining other current works in this genre (according to vienna-based city magazine "Falter"). The bacchanal feeling of their debut "Winzer" is gone. Underneath a melodic surface, unrest and tension is growing, sometimes erupting in wild dissonances and walls of sound. There's great inventiveness and plenty of details in every track.

Le Charmant Rouge's next move was the addition of Radian's (Thrill Jockey) John Norman for the live sets of "Post No Bill".

After nearly 2 years of trying putting things together for a new LCR-album the band decided to delete the project and re-activate the original line-up.

Charmant Rouge (no-"Le") started the re-recordings of their first collaborate work in August 2007. "Dark Water" is finished in 2010.