HARMONIUM

Harmonium's 1974 debut reveals the band's strong folk roots and, although it lacks the expansive style of their next two albums, it still retains the beautifully-constructed melodies that have become their trademark. Fans of Harmonium bemoan the fact that their career contains just four releases but, in truth, music lovers couldn't possibly ask for anything more. Each album displays a marked progression from the previous one and 'Harmonium', with it's softly-peddled acoustic guitars, soulful vocals and lovingly-crafted rhythms shows just how adept the band were at combining various disparate genres without ever sounding quite like anybody else. Progressive rock fans may find 'Si On Avait...' and 'L'Heptade' more to their tastes, with both of those albums building upon the original folk-orientated sound with layers of keyboards, synths and some electric guitars, but once you have explored those albums fully the next logical step is to uncover the band's simpler origins which, after several listens, prove just as exhilarating. Imagine Nick Drake was French and trapped in a lift with 'Songs From The Wood'-era Jethro Tull and a classical folk trio in love with early Genesis and Fairport Convention and you get the idea. Progressive rock in the classic sense it may not may fully be, but the scope and style of the music is highly impressive, showing exactly why Harmonium harbour legendary status amongst both the citizens of French-speaking Canada and in the progressive rock community in general.