AIR CARAVAN

MINIMUM VITAL is one of the oldest and youngest French prog rock groups, with boundless energy, a bit rock, a bit country, a bit folk, a bit troubadour, a bit world, a bit folkloric, fruity, imaginary, apart from surely; festive, luminous, energetic, vital is their music certainly. MINIMUM VITAL is a pillar with the groups ANGE, NEMO, the young LAZULI or the former MAGMA; MINIMUM VITAL cannot be told, we listen to it and we invade its expressive music based on jazz-rock, alluring YES synths and troubadour and Occitan nursery rhymes. They return with this album on orchestral and often invented words, Latin, English and Spanish mixed and triturated. This is their 8th achievement after "Pavanes" which left with their very significant sound, but read, read good people!

"The Company" starts with the only title sung in English, surprising for me, just fresh enough to recall the MINIMUM VITAL version with this recognizable sound, with just enough instruments from the old troubadour days. "Air Caravan '" follows with the sound that I discovered in 1993 with "La Source", a strange, rhythmic, strong, held, dancing sound, a festive and very catchy sound with typical prog convolutions, especially with this phrasing that SIGUR ROS or LISA GERRARD will also take up in their time by defining the voice as an instrument in its own right! It is enjoyable even if people will tell me that I am not neutral, they will realize the veracity of my words over time! "Praeludium Tarentella" as a preamble, its rhythmic jazzy sound and synths for the troubadour sound (yes I remember the parties on the Cahors bridge in 1178, I was there!). "Tarentelle" therefore tumbles for a major title and an aria to "Ils Ont Les Chapeaux Ronds" for a farandole, a timeless sarabande that only asks to be domesticated under its false air.

"King Gürü" follows on with an even more typical title MINIMUM VITAL, heady, intoxicating synth, setting the rhythm higher, the simple riff becomes almost hard, the guitar is fruity, soft, melting, you can't stay still. "Le Fol" drives the point home with a more nervous title on a voice over, that of an Occitan singer recounting the life of troubadour Pierre Vidal, to note the synth (s), trademark of the group recognizable by the energy deployed ; there is YES rock art, Occitan, Medieval, Medieval, Celtic and Mediterranean tribal rhythms; the organ sometimes looks like a vulgar Bontempi then the tunes are often refined to give way to the mandolin guitar and more "vintage" synths.

"Sliman" on a more basic tune, a priori more innocuous, still gives off festive energy, a bit of prog jazz, a bit of Genesis, a bit of the Middle Ages; the sound twirls, the distant guitar is more tortured, the end voice has a clear eye on Kabyle songs. "Vole (Voyageur Immobile)" on a clear bass part to an Andalusian tune, gypsy limit, well dancing almost a shame in the prog space, entertainment and a plus for me, imagining myself dancing well in the middle of a concert !. "Juggling" and an interlude in the pure MINIMUM VITAL line, a simple tune at first glance but which makes you move your ears, that's it in the ice I also have a rabbit's head I'm infected! A tune that I think could go on forever, although over time I start to hear the donkey's hi-han: anyway I keep my big ears. "El Picador" plunges back into ancient sounds of France at the bottom of a tavern, there we are in front of the troubadour Pierre Vidal, whose album pays homage, that's good and we take the opportunity to taste a dish of the gastronomic region and musical.

"Djin Alzawat" and his oriental zither sets the tone, the tune is always catchy with these flights of schizoid keyboards, then the tune passes again and continues on a festive twirling troubadour joust, the longest piece here that goes too far. quick; the always limited voice in a glossolalic structure makes it even easier to let the imagination go. The harpsichord and the trumpet of "Nimbus" for a second interlude, to an air from an original French series, a little spleen, always rhythmic. "Hugues le Loup" and his second song sung in French here, bass, energetic drums, then the enlightened, clear guitar, then the different analog, mono and polyphonic keyboards, a wolf tune in the distance, paradoxically the one that appeals to me less being more on the alert for what is said, ah mental illness I just heard, that's it I understood this title is incantatory, it makes healthy in our society gone mad. Words taken here from the novel "Hugues Le Loup" of course. Well, MINIMUM VITAL is an extraordinary band, without being an absolute fan; it denotes the French prog sphere a bit like MAGMA for the singular tones. It is unfortunately less known but only asks to be bought, listened to to bring to life the progressive fiber that flows in each of us, through the fruity tones, through the singular, tribal, oriental creations but above all troubadours that emerge from the album. This disc reflects the life and the festive atmospheres of the beggars who lived far from any reflection in the medieval lower world, in safety behind their lord; these beggars who were ultimately blissful, far from the societal stagnation. If you want to escape this oppressive world, more than an alternative, get yourself this energetic album and rest in the moonlight. Be careful, risk of contagion.