INTÉGRALE DES ALBUMS ORIGINAUX 1969-1980 - 9 CD

One of the strangest and most original acts to haunt the psychedelic French underground of the 1970s was CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES that existed from 1969 (starting as CATHERINE RIBEIRO + 2 BIS) and ending in 1980. Despite delivering a total of nine albums and touring the entire nation of the band's native France, the band has remained mysterious, elusive and still relatively unknown outside of small circles of hardcore prog and psych lovers. The band featured the incomparable CATHERINE RIBEIRO at the helm delivering her politically charged poetic prose and unique vocal bravado along with Patrice Moullet, the acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and inventor of strange musical devices as well as the only member other than RIBEIRO to play on every album of the band's 11 year run.

The band was not only unique in its idiosyncratic approach of mixing progressive rock, avant-folk and a compositional style more akin to Indian ragas that appealed to lovers of complex music and hippies alike. Sounding something like a more avant-garde Nico, RIBEIRO is probably better known for her lengthy career as a solo artists where she belted out traditional French chanson with her brash baritone vocal style that sounded like no other. While the albums "Paix" and "Âme Debout" have captured the attention of some who have developed a taste for all things strange and weird from the 1970s, the rest of the band's canon has been a little more difficult to track down as the albums remained out of print and the rare reissues were of limited quantities.

In 2015 the Mercury label compiled all nine of the albums released titled INTÉGRALE DES ALBUMS ORIGINAUX 1969-1980 - 9 CD which featured every album in its entirety including the band's final two albums which have been virtually impossible to track down. While it's unclear if these 9 albums received any remastering, each album exhibits an excellent sound quality and at long last offers a one stop shopping experience for anyone who has been seeking some of the more obscure releases and a true bonanza for anyone discovering the band for the first time. Each album is essentially a mini-version of the original vinyl LP with identical album sleeves as well as a booklet that offers a historical narrative of one of France's most unique underground sensations that seems to have remained more obscure than deserved for the last few decades.

The 9 albums are contained in a sturdy cardboard box with a pleasing display of the band's entire canon. The downside is that there are no bells and whistles, no bonus tracks, no live albums or nothing other than the band's 9 original albums in their entirety however for the price of the band's entire discography in one shot you simply cannot go wrong with this one as it's virtually the only way to get some of the later albums including the final two "Passions" and "Le Débousille" which despite not being the band's strongest efforts are well worth owning as each RIBEIRO + ALPES album offered a totally unique display of the band's stylistic approach. There has never been any artist sounding even close to what CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES delivered with these albums making this excellent box set a mandatory addition to any collection of fans of outsider weirdo music.