CUERPOS TOCADOS - MUSIC FOR THE BODY

It pains me to say this, but this album is horrible.

This album was recorded in Chile as a project for a photograph. It is an entirely vocal album with little use of instruments. But female vocals is the mainstay here. That makes this album an oddity in Flairck's discography. So much that I spent some time trying to ascertain if this album really is a Flairck album. Sadly, it is. If you like anything Flairck has ever done before, stay well away from this album.

The music here.......... well, it is best described by the very cheesy song titles. Song titles like " Under Water Song, Bathing Pigmy Girls" and "Song for One Voice and Two Mountains" is inviting ridicule. They also pretty much describe the music here. Music which basically consists of breathing exercises in various shapes and forms. Very little of the vocals is spoken. Almost none of this music is melodic or even make sense. The term avant-garde may apply. But even being an avant-garde/RIO album, this is a pretty poor serving.

I love most of the music from Flairck. But this album is a turkey. Well, not even a turkey. Maybe a turkey being run over by a bus. I never touch alcohol. But I make an exception for this album. Give me a large whisky, please.

1 star

A creative, heartfelt and almost exhaustive exploration of the vocal range. From breathing to whistling, from murmuring to wailing. It all begins with a game that moves on to an invocation. The voice soars into the mountains and dives into the waters. In the same way that in his string quartet Penderescki makes exclusive percussive use of the wooden bodies of the instruments, Flairck also appealed solely to his own bodies to achieve this corporeal and sounding disc (which, to top it off, has an exquisite cover). In the end, the album is a valuable addition to the discography of Flairck, one of the most well-versed and refined groups in the history of avant-garde progressive rock.

Please, open your ears and welcome this excellent addition to any prog rock music collection.

Track list:

Inuit Game, Vocal Chords, Vocal Waltz (E. Visser) *****

Amazonians, Dance for Giants and Witches (J. Goossens) ****

Tracheus (J. Goossens) ***

The Woman and the Knife (J. Sijp) *****

Under Water Song, Bathing Pigmy Girls (B. v.d. Berg)

White Man Coming (B. v.d. Berg) ****

Song for One Voice and Two Mountains (B. v.d. Berg, E. Visser) ****

Piece for Six Bodies (E. Visser) ****

Whistlers Quartet (B. v.d. Berg) ***

Figures (J. Sijp) ****

Song for Two Voices and a Mountain (B. v.d. Berg, N. Rogalski) ****

Lament for Lola (E. Visser, N. Rogalski) ****