MANEIGE

MANEIGE play Chamber music that is mostly flute and piano led with some dissonance and darkness.This band from Quebec is pretty amazing actually. When I say flute and piano led, don't think this is lightweight music because it isn't. The musicianship is top notch by the way.

"Le Rafiot" is the side long opening track at over 21 minutes. It's quite experimental and dissonant to start until we get a piano melody after 4 minutes with percussion. Flute and bass follow. This is very classical sounding at times with flute and piano usually leading the way. It turns dark after 13 minutes, then intense after 16 minutes as horns come in and drums go crazy. Dark again before 19 minutes before piano takes over again.

"Une Annee Sans Fin" features some harsh sounding piano early and flute. A good melody before a minute. Vibes and bass join in around 2 1/2 minutes but it's brief. Piano and flute take over. Great sound before 5 minutes. "Jean-Jauques" is my favourite track on here. Piano intro is joined by flute and drums. The bass that follows is impressive. Cool ending. "Galerie III" reminds me of Zappa early on. It then settles as flute and vocals come in. A heavy sound follows, but these guys are all over the place at this point. Some dissonant horns followed by vibes then a pleasant melody. It turns dark and spooky before 5 minutes to the end.

This is a very entertaining listen that will appeal to fans of Chamber music and Avant-garde music.