1:46:43 – The Ventoux Trilogy” is the new electronic ambient album by Stubbleman, aka Pascal Gabriel, the renowned composer and producer who shaped key moments in late-‘80s UK electronic music (Theme from S’Express, Beat Dis by Bomb The Bass) before going on to produce & write for artists ranging from Can, Wire, and Goldfrapp to Dido and Kylie… until he decided to go back to doing his own music and create beautiful, immersive modular/ambient pieces.

1:46:43 - The Ventoux Trilogy, is inspired by the legendary cycling ascent of Mont Ventoux, the most mythical summit of the Tour de France. 

Built around an original concept, the composition is based on four modular synthesizer sequences, programmed using real-time data recorded by Stubbleman’s bike computer during his Ventoux ascent: heart rate, speed, pedaling power, and slope gradient. 

These four sequences intertwine to create a repetitive yet ever-evolving sonic base, as the parameters constantly shift in relation to one another. Combined with field recordings captured on-site, new instrumental textures, melodies, and rhythms emerged, giving rise to evolving themes and variations throughout the album. 

The complete work comprises eighteen pieces arranged into three movements, a sonic reflection of the environment and the unique character of each of the three distinct stages of the climb, culminating in the bleached-out lunar landscape of the upper slopes, dominated by the iconic red and white weather tower at its summit, a dizzying drop to the hazy Provençal plain below, and topping for a moment at the memorial to Tom Simpson (the great British cyclist who tragically died there in 1967), a granite slab set into the tumbling scree of the pitiless mountainside, one can easily imagines the cyclist's shadow rising up to accompany each and every rider on the final kilometre he never completed.  

Part of this album was premiered in London at the Purcell Room and Union Chapel, where the emotional intensity of the minimalist rhythms and poignant melodies left a strong impression on an enthusiastic audience. 

But this is not (just) an album about cycling...
It is a meditation on human endeavour, on an individual's place in the vastness of the natural world, on the savage beauty of the mountains, on the loneliness of the road, on despair and on hope, on life itself.  

We hope you enjoy this sonic journey