Is he anything like Tod Dockstader? I like him very much...
At times, yes, but usually considerably more sophisticated, IMO. I love the 60s Dockstader, too. But from a time when most people still seem to have been mining electro-acoustic manipulation for raw materials, simply experimenting with sound for experimentations sake (though Dockstader is beyond that, mostly) Parmegiani seems to me to already have been executing highly emotional, highly sophisticated works. He has a mastery of tension, release, mood, pacing, texture, that I find in few others. Plus, while he's clearly building something over the ensuing decades of his oeuvre, and there remains a "Parmegiani sound," his works tend to be more individually recognisable than many of his peers.
If you like Dockstader, I'd say this would be as close to "life altering" as a purchase could be. And considering how much essential material you're getting, the outlay is paltry.
If you can track down any of the French "Henry _.0" box sets of Pierre Henry's work, you should do so. Henry can be perhaps more playful than Parmegiani (ie "Psyche Rock" type stuff--though Parmegiani's collage work shows me he's not afraid of "popular" music), but also equally subtle in his control of his medium.
