Black Devil

• Genre: Disco
• Hometown: Paris

About

Record buyers in 1978 who thought the names "Joachim Sherylee" and "Junior Claristidge" were too good to be true turned out to be right. Over a quarter of a century later, when Rephlex reissued Black Devil's impossibly rare Disco Club -- so rare that some wondered if the whole thing was one of Aphex Twin's hoaxes -- the mythical electro-disco project turned out to be the work of Bernard Fevre, a French musician who had then disappeared into obscurity. Emboldened by the feverish response to the 2004 re-release of Disco Club, Fevre returned in 2006 with 28 After. The title referenced the delay before his sophomore effort, but its pitch-perfect Italo-disco pastiche sounded like his drum machines had barely cooled since the 1978 sessions. With flayed hi-hats, gurgling electronic bass and ghostly, dubbed-out vocals, 28 After established Fevre's privileged place in the disco continuum. Fans who had marked their calendars for a third album in 2034 were delighted when the disco Rumpelstiltskin resurfaced in 2008 with Eight Oh Eight, a tribute to the legendary Roland drum machine.

- Philip Sherburne