EROS

Dun´s sole album Eros has swept my feet away and totally blown my mind. This is a wonderful album, one of the best Zeuhl albums I have ever heard. Frank Zappa´s Sleep Dirt and Conlon Nancarrow´s polyrythmic experiments are the first things I think about when listening to Eros and then of course Magma. The most sinister flute playing I have ever heard on any album is here. There is generally a very dark atmosphere on Eros. A very strong element in Dun´s sound is the percussion from Alain Termol which reminds me very much of how Zappa uses the xylophone in his more avant garde compositions. The bass from Thierry Tranchant is also very dominant in the mix.

There are only four songs on Eros if you don´t count the alternative versions of the songs which are basically bonus tracks.

L'Epice which starts the album is the most accessible song on Eros. It´s still a very challenging song though and only for people who like to be challenged to the extreme. Dun´s music is very complex yet memorable and even though there are hooks here and there you have to pay attention all the time to get the full amount of listening pleasure out of the album. One of the things I want to note in L'Epice is the piano part in the middle which sounds very much like the polyrythmic mechanical piano pieces composed by Conlon Nancarrow.

Arrakis starts soft but ends with a bang of technical playing and grooves. I´m just blown back in my seat by this wonderful song.

Bitonio actually starts pretty melodic ( well as melodic as Dun gets) but ends with a pretty avant garde part. I´ll say you have to have a strong stomach for avant garde to enjoy the last half of Bitonio.

The title track is the most difficult song to get into. It´s extremely challenging with avant garde parts that can seem very disturbing to the listener. It grows on you though and in time becomes more accessible and memorable.

As you can see from my short description of the songs they are very complex and hard to access but Dun is very different compared to most other bands that play music this complex as they make very memorable music. There are lots of sections in every song and even more highlights which is a great thing if you want to hold the listeners attention. In that respect Eros is one of the best albums I have ever heard that are this complex. It´s a great place to start if you are curious about Zeuhl/ avant garde music. Fans of Zappa´s instrumental pieces like The Black Page and Sinister Footwear should be forced to listen to Eros as I´m sure they will love it.

The musicianship is beyond outstanding. These musicians are masters of dynamics. The complex time signature changes and polyrythmic playing is never forced but rather seems natural. This can only be done with exceptional musicians like Dun. I won´t be lying if I say this is one of the best instrumental performances I have ever heard.

The production is very good and again Zappa comes to mind as this could have been one of this late seventies start eighties productions. The production follows the high standard of the music.

It´s hard to do an album this wonderful justice but I have given it a shot. This is a sure 5 star rating and one of my favorite instrumental albums. Intelligent and challenging while maintaining groove and memorability. Eros is highly recommendable to fans of Zeuhl but also fans of avant garde should be pleased with this album.