Benoit Pioulard

Benoit Pioulard is the alias of Thomas Meluch, a maker of intimate, lo-fi ambient music and indie pop. Born and raised in Michigan, he was a recording artist before he became a musician -- that is, he started out making field recordings on cassettes and Dictaphones, and these hissing, crackling sound sources became the raw material for four-track compositions and droning collage works. He launched the Pioulard project in 2001 with a series of self-released CD-Rs, eventually moving to Chicago's Kranky label for his official debut, 2006's Precis. Across further albums, also with Kranky, Meluch has remained consistent with his original aesthetic, sticking to electro-acoustic timbres and quiet, natural acoustics, but he has increasingly fleshed out his musical approach with guitars, folk-song structures and his own hushed vocals.