MOONDRAGORE

Arnaud teaming up with his hero, GONG founder and master of many of the world's traditional wind instruments, Didouk (Didier) Malherbe.

1. "The Crescent Moon" (5:23) an excellent song with two parts: one in which the sublime voice of Cherry Pob sings the poem of Amy Lowell's while Arnaud accompanies on Richie Havens-like strummed steel-string acoustic guitar, and then when Didouk takes over with some wind instruments (ocarina and flute). I absolutely love hearing Cherry sing in this Susan Osborn "Lay Down Your Burden" (Paul Winter Consort) style. (9.5/10)

2. "Le Sorcier" (3:29) Arnaud's folk strum-and-picked acoustic guitar with Cherry Pob's percussion instruments accompany Didouk's play on the Chinese bawu. (9/10)

3. "Daydream" (2:27) gently picked acoustic guitars, piano, and synth strings support Arno's deep voice (singing in English). Again, Richie Havens comes to mind (only with much better sound recording). The second half of the song is all instrumental. (4.5/5)

4. "Bindi Blues" (1:58) sitar, tabla, acoustic guitar and other percussives launch a very East Indian-sounding song--but with a Ry Cooder-like Western acoustic guitar fitted into the mix. Great tune--one that could've gone longer (for dance purposes). (4.5/5)

5. "Papangue" (6:04) Arno's acoustic guitar with Cherry Pob's kalimba-like tongue drum and Didouk playing a lively ocarina over the top. Great world music blend! The pensive, patient, middle section with its loose improvisational feel to it is my favorite part. (9/10)

6. "Seeds" (3:01) a blues-rocker with slow paced drums, bass, acoustic guitar, and prominent organ used to support Arno's gospel-bluesy vocal and Ry Cooder-like dobro soloing. Then, in the second verse Cherry Pob sings harmony, eventually taking over with her soaring gospel-blues vocalese. Wow! (9/10)

7. "Karma" (3:37) dobro (or is it Arno's weissenborn?) with droning sitar notes opens this one with a one minute introduction before frame drums, synth strings, and guitar jump into a propulsive motif for Arno to sing over. At the two-minute mark Cherry Pob's Shiela Chandra-like East Indian voice dronings enter and take the fore for a bit before Arno returns with the second and final verse. Very cool. (9.25/10)

8. "Looking Across" (3:26) folk-Americana acoustic guitar two-chord strumming supports Cherry singing in English a jazzed-up folk vocal that reminds me of some of the incredible psychedelic folk-blues music that came out of the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-to-late Sixties! What a voice! Everytime Arno let's her shine on one of his compositions she blows me away! Amazing! (10/10)

9. "Hobgoblin" (1:44) a nice folk guitar display. (4.25/5)

10. "Crimson Skies" (2:20) guitar and synth strings combine to support Arno's final Richie Havens-like (4.5/5)

Total Time 33:29

Music that is balm to my soul! The music here is superbly composed, performed and, as usual, impeccably rendered. I am in absolute heaven listening to the album that Arnaud has just sent me: some of them simple ethnic-feeling folk songs, others more sophisticated jazz-rock fusion songs that the other Gong founders would be quite proud of!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of progressive folk or prog world music in the traditions of Richie Havens, Ry Cooder, and the Paul Winter Consort. Awesome stuff! Highly recommended.

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