NI VENT... NI NOUVELLE

Maneige's first 2 albums had too many cooks in the kitchen and their sound was a mixture of Henry Cow- light, Gilgamesh, Gentle Giant influences and post-Daevid Allen Gong. Their first 2 albums were somewhat directionless best served as backround music while not quite being muzak. No question Maneige are talented bunch, but the first 2 albums were meandering jazz doodling, really(IMHO). However, _Ni Vent, Ni Nouvelle shows Maneige maturing with cohesive composition and some playful childlike melodies combined with a lightjazz ethereal flow(if that makes any sense to you, dear reader). Electric guitar appears more frequently. This is a percussion heavy album, not unlike Pierre Moerlin's Gong. Other points of reference would be Pekka Pohjola and the Spanish band GOTIC. Recommended.