MOONDRAGORE

Its about time to shine some well-deserved light onto this remarkable eclectic and therefore original underground artist, having most of his albums and now stamping his craft with well-deserved praise. The city of Dijon is famous for its tangy mustard, among many other delicacies (Crème de Cassis, Boeuf Bourguignon), so it should not come as a surprise that Arnaud Bukwald behaves more like a top chef, cooking up progressive recipes with massive amounts of condiments (funk, electronic, world, jazz, space, vaudeville, psychedelia and prog). His seven-album strong "La Marmite Cosmique" releases are all exhilarating soundtracks, often coming across like a sonic cornucopia banquet that stretches the boundaries of contemporary music, akin perhaps to Swiss electronic gurus Yello. His latest adventure has him teaming up with legend Didier Malherbe of Gong fame, still going strong at 81years young, a compelling union to say the least! 10 tracks, little over 33 minutes long, it suggests a completely different vibe, way less funky electro and nearer to world or traditional folk music!

From the opener "The Crescent Moon", the listener is taken into an altogether oblique realm, a sonic world of comfortable parameters, skillfully massaged with a variety of serene balms, such as a luxuriantly sultry vocal and Didier's wind instruments. Exposed mellotron gusts come along out of the blue, a sudden piano-led excursion into Tibetan flutes takes our ears into the valley of Shangri-La. Sorcery, fantasies and "Bindi blues" follows suite, with an assortment of flutes from the Gongman, tablas and hand percussion courtesy of singer Cherry Pob and acoustic guitars, sitars, keyboards and vocals from Arnaud.

The singular entrance in through the gates of world music is perfected on the escapist "Papangue", a spotlight for the ocarina to flutter without the slightest fear or effort. Meditative to the point of hypnosis, this 6-minute piece flows without ever becoming boring or even cyclical, evolving constantly as if burrowing into a profound sense of relaxed languor. Flung into a polar opposite American universe, "Seeds" has a gospel feel, with strong sense of 'amazing grace', a bluesy bottleneck slide guitar (or dobro) that is more akin with the Band, a crowning rhythm and blues vocal that has Muscle Shoals, Alabama slapped all over it. This rural variation continues on the vivid "Karma", as well as the blue "Looking Across" with tons of jangly acoustic guitars, soulful vocals from both Cherry and Arnaud, a musical tumbleweed that has a very early 60s feel. A couple of more snippets finish off this mostly acoustic set of musical nuggets, and acoustic guitar solo on "Hobgoblin" and a heartfelt "Crimson Skies" that has nothing to do with kings, but heavily reliant on neo-classical orchestrations, the acoustic guitar and Arnaud's rich voice.

Though I must admit I prefer his overtly prolific and highly original Cosmic Pot collection, this release has all the merits of being an ideal source of placid introspection and reflection, something sorely missing these days ?.. 4 Lunar plants