CAMEMBERT

"Nagative Toe" continues with the science fiction concept but the zeuhl has been pretty much taken out, not the Zappa though. Even more horns on this one with all the guests involved, and even the six musicians play more instruments on here. The only lineup change is a new drummer, but the old one is here as a guest, credited with the drum arrangements on four of the six songs. I like how the album starts with that dark atmosphere and space transmissions. Alien voices(gasp). The second track is over 15 minutes long, while the fifth song is almost 15 minutes long, both taking up the bulk of the 57 minutes. There's a SANTANA vibe with all the percussion sounds on that second tune, but man this one is all over the place.

I'm not big on the third track with all the horns and beats. It's more Zappa-like during the second half. Not big on the next one "The Lament Of Pr. Frankenschnorgl" either but man "Skwitch" the second last track that is almost 15 minutes long, makes up for it. The way it builds so slowly and those powerful sections that come and go. It's dark and experimental late. The closer "El Pulpo" opens with the sounds of sea gulls and waves in an ominous atmosphere before we hear someone whistling. It's like we are at the docks. The last sounds of CAMEMBERT right there.

A very low 4 stars, but get the debut "Schnorgl Attahk" if you can, especially if your a Zappa fan.

1. "Orteil n'gatif--Once Upon A Time In The Galax-cheese" (3:13) opening with a joyful, confident announcement of the band's incredible precision, new maturity, and sci-fi story to come, percussives and staccato syncopation introduce the story before the music fades into a low, ominous foundation for the eerie "radio" communications that follow (the Schn'rgls have been encountered!). Masterful intro! They've got my attention! (4.5/5)

2. "Fecondee par un extra-terrestre" (15:10) opens with 45 seconds of Zeuhl-like insistence before everything turns to a gentle Latin rhythm-based harp-based section. Cool! A minute later, it switches as other band members join in, then turns more jazzy as the horns join in during the third minute. Another shift at 3:30 presents an adorable and pretty "wuah" sound that sounds like a cute alien fart or baby burp (the birth of "El Pulpo"). When the band reunites in full force at the end of the fourth minute, it seems like the outburst is totally jovial, even celebratory. At the end of the sixth minute another shift employs long, deep bass notes, steady drums, electric guitar soloing (which is rare) and all kinds of horns and percussives interspersed. A minute later, things quite down while very delicate play from keys, xylophone, harp, and oboe (and later flutes) very slowly, very gradually build in force and volume. this is gorgeous! By the time 9:45 rolls around and the horns unite in sectional bursts we think it's culminating--but, no! Another lull while cymbals, touch-guitar chords and winds present yet another variation on the theme. This is amazing! The compositional and performance skills on display here are utterly inconceivable! Like an orchestral composition! At 12:30 there is another radical tempo and stylistic shift while woodwinds seem to be "tuning" in the background, the bass and rest of the rhythm section (which is HUGE!) gel into a very Zeuhl-like sound and style. Horns carry the melody forward while harp and vibes fast-weave beneath, just above the rhythm section. Amazing! (10/10)

3. "Gros Bouquin" (11:11) Opens with some full band chord hits before quickly settling into a funky-jazzy rhythmic sound for vibes and flutes to present a fast-paced melody. At 1:15 everything quiets down while flutes and other high winds present an airy space. Then we burst back into the bass-led Caribbean funk so that horns can have their solo time. Trumpet takes the lead for the next minute while bass and harp provide the steady foundation. Drums and multiple hand percussion play along though very much in a simplistic supporting role. The song is supposed to represent a musical rendering of the process of extracting the sexual energy from rabbits in order to empower the Schn'rgls' secret weapon, the Negative Toe. (8.5/10)

4. "The Lament Of Pr. Frankenschn'rgl" (9:11) a slow, methodically-paced song with lots of space and lots of staccato notes produced in small, steadily paced packages from a wide variety of instruments including some from Oriental traditions. This one also has nicely arranged choral arrangements (sung in English!) professing the Schn'rgl military scientist's doubts, regrets, and worries. Such a simple and pleasant song, this in great contrast to the frenzy of multiplicities that was song #2. A great display of control and restraint--both in composition and especially in performance. Mathematically I'm sure this song would be quite interesting to study. The final 90 seconds begin to exude some of the insistence of the Zeuhl world in both vocals and drums and bowed bass--and finishing off with a little crazed cacophony--which is a perfect lead-in to the next song. (9/10)

5. "Skwitch" (14:47) opens with multiple instruments contributing to a low end dominated, ominous opening. At the two-minute mark things quiet down--as if the protagonists are trying to hide or be unnoticed--while retaining the creepy tension from the opening. At 4:10 we again switch tempo while the same delicate instrumental weave re- establishes itself--this time with hand percussion, harp and vibes providing the filler. At the end of the sixth minute the music drops out leaving some very sparsely populated guitar, harp, bass, and creepy trumpet hits while a creepy monster-like human voice vocalizes noises not unlike those of the trumpet. Well into the eighth minute, the horn solo becomes far more "normal"--jazz-like--but then it is suddenly submitted to some very odd under-water- like muting effects (elephantine) while the rest of the band, formerly quiet and reserved, begin to rise up and "swallow" the trumpet within their methodic tapestry. At 9:57 everything stops. Silence. Then very syncopatedly- spaced staccato hits from a variety of instruments gives the sound and melody a stark, almost "disappearing" feel. Horns and harp allow for some feeling of return to occur. Boisterous bass-end bursts seem to be on the verge of disrupting all flow of the base-line tapestry--until they all merge at the beginning of the thirteenth minute. The final two minutes seem to be telling the story of the monster's demise and death. Overall, this is a great mid-tempo song with frequent time changes and polyrhythmic weaving of the multiplicity of instruments. Something about the mood, melodies, and intricacies of this song make it my favorite--despite the fact that it's supposed to tell the story of the future destruction of one of my favorite places on Earth, la cath'drale de Strasbourg, by a cybernetic laboratory elephant. (9.5/10)

6. "El Pulpo" (3:19) oboe, guitar play out a sad melody over harp and bowed double bass before vibes and horns come in to present their antiphon of support. Then at 1:25, all music fades away. Empty space is then gradually invaded by low foghorn-like horn bursts while seaside sounds and human whistling and other pseudo animal sounds are disbursed throughout the soundscape. I guess it's supposed to be the cries of El Pulpo as he and his mother escape to South America by sea-going vessel. (4.5/5)

Five stars; definitely a masterpiece of modern progressive rock--though this album feels as if it belongs more on the Avant Garde/RIO spectrum than the Zeuhl they were associated with in their previous album. Great to have Pierre and company back! And mega-kudos to the engineering/production team! AMAZING sound reproduction!

They are on the Altrock label and some Italians from that label help out as we get Zago from YUGEN adding guitar on one track along with two guys from SKE helping out. This was three years in the making and the reason I've been spinning this all week is because they have just recently released a brand new album called "Negative Toe" which is getting some rave reviews already. Man what a wacky science fiction concept this is even though this is an instrumental album. I can see how GONG inspired such a story(haha). A pretty cool story at that and other reviewers have touched on the concept.

"Infinicheese" is haunting and dark and headphones are a must in this experimental soundscape. Love this stuff as sounds start to pulse loudly as different sounds come and go. It blends into "Clacos Zero" where the same sound continues. Horns blast in a powerful way to end it.

It's almost funny the way it goes from this serious soundscape to all these vibes, xylophones and percussions with horns taking over on "Untung Untungan 2.0". Very Zappa like even the horns. Powerful and punchy sounds befoe it settles with bass before 2 minutes and builds. So good! Great sound 3 1/2 minutes in as it turns somewhat jazzy with electric piano, a beat and bass. Soon the horns come in blasting over top. A calm just before 6 minutes with picked guitar and harp as the bass and drums join in. It's building. Love those horns just before 7 minutes. A change to a strong Zappa vibe just before 9 minutes. It turns powerful just as it ends.

"Clacos 1: Notre Mere A Tous" features sounds that echo and this fits in well with those two short intro tracks as we get lots of atmosphere. Some picked guitar and horns late in this interesting soundscape. "El Ruotuav Ed Sram" is mellow with guitar and cymbals before we get a full sound rather quickly with horns, vibes and more. This really sounds like Zappa around 4 1/2 minutes. A calm before 6 minutes. It's building after 7 minutes. I'm so impressed with all of this. "Clacos 2: Die Experimente Von Dr. Frankenschnrgl" has these dramatic sounds and mad laughter like out of a movie, lots of horns too.

"Le Meurtrior Volant" starts off dramatically with a nod to Zeuhl. Dark with powerful outbursts and electric piano. Nice. The Zappa vibe takes over before 1 1/2 minutes but then it settles into a haunting mood with sounds coming and going. There's that Zappa sound again as contrasts continue. A lazy guitar solo arrives before 4 minutes surprisingly. It ends around 5 minutes. I like when it settles right down with sparse sounds as it drifts along with harp, drums and more. Horns arrive after 7 1/2 minutes blasting then an almost silent calm takes over around 8 minutes. More harp too then it kicks back in with a heavy rhythm. Nice.

Next is the closing four piece suite called "La Danse Du Chameau" and the first part is called "Batifolade". Uptempo guitar melodies to start but they are blown away by this Zeuhl army marching into battle. Horns just before a minute as the march continues. It will end at 1 1/2 minutes as the tempo picks up with horns over top. Check out the guitar before 3 minutes that will continue to the end as it goes on and on.

"Soif!" has these dramatic outbursts that come and go. Horns start to blast as discordant piano joins in this avant soundscape. "La Tempete De Sable" opens with punchy sounds as it builds. I like that guitar. Horns eventually join in as well as those punchy sounds continue. It's more powerful around 2 1/2 minutes and the guitar sounds even better. The song starts to wind down before 3 1/2 minutes. Nice ending.

"Reveries Lubriques Sous Une Dune" has sparse guitar, a bass line and harp before that Zeuhl army arrives. It all stops late but for the bass line and guitar. Soon it's powerful to end it. "The Final Run" has guitar just like the previous section with powerful and dark atmospheres. Outbursts of power follow with percussion. Soon it picks up with a great sounding rhythm. Love the drums, percussion and bass with harp over top. It settles right down with percussion before 2 1/2 minutes. Soon horns and more join in. It turns more upbeat around 3 minutes. Some brief Zeuhl vocals before 4 1/2 minutes signals a change as it calms right down with a horn and a light beat to end it.

A must for those into adventerous music, I can only imagine how good the new one must be. Hopefully I will be able to let you know soon.

At times aggressive, this record is very surprising. The electric and acoustic guitar create a luxurious sonic palette which allow the other instruments to thrive. An extremely creative set, let's hope there's more coming out in the near future from these guys.

Camembert's statement of intent is to blow down the barriers between the genres. Perhaps that is so. But Clacosmique is a blend of trad jazz and Canterbury scene jazz like for example Pierre Moerlen's Gong. That and a great deal of funk. In this respect, they are pretty similar to their fellow countrymen Abus Dangereux. The use of untraditional instruments like vibraphone and xylophone gives me Abus Dangereux vibes aplenty. The use of harp as a solo instrument is also something I have never heard before. An experiement they pulls off. The music is also driven by a bass too which churn out most of the comp. Woodwinds, harp, guitars and other instruments floats on the top of the bass and the percussion. But the bass is the basis here from where all life is created.

The quality of the stuff is really good throughout. The music is a bit one dimensional though with not much breathing spaces inbetween the chunks of funky jazz thrown at us. But it is a very good debut from a band I hope will get a good long career. Bands like Camembert is very much needed in today's scene.

3.5 stars

The sound of the music is jazzy and spacey and slightly Zeuhlish. In addition to the vibes there is also a lot of harp used on this album. The parts that sound the least like Zappa/Magma/Gong incorporate some acoustic guitar. The mastering of the album is sort of on the loud side but I doubt that is the fault of the members themselves who do a great job performing this music (but don't expect any drumming as good as Moerlen). There does not appear to be any keyboards here, just guitar / drums / bass / horns / vibes / harp. This is the groups first album, having released an EP previously. There are shorter interludes between the longer tracks on the album. Some of these interludes are the spaciest and most Zeuhl sounding parts of the album.

The album opens with "Infinicheese" (ha!), a spacey intro which has some creepy Zeuhl like vocals. "Untung Untungan" is the first major song which sounds like a mix of Zappa and post-Allen Gong. Goes into a Zappa style reggae vamp near the end. "El Ruotuav Ed Sram" is more Zappa and Gong inspired jazz-rock. Some slap-bass in this track. Gets dissonant before getting louder at the end. "Le Meurtrier Volant" starts out on a darker Magma note. Gets more Zappa in serious instrumental mode. A slow-paced blues-rock groove in the middle. Nice chorused guitar during the second half, before it gets louder and more intense.

The 5-part "La Danse du Chameau" closes the album. Part one "Batifolade" features some chanting. Musically it is a mix of jazzier Magma, fusion Gong and Zappa's horns. Some Santana style percussion later on. Part three "La Tempete De Sable" starts off sounding unique: some kind of avant-jazz-rock. Then it gets more Zappa sounding. Towards the end is slightly Magma sounding before it switches to a laid-back groove. Part five "The Final Run" starts off like a cross between Magma and Santana then switches to more of a Zeuhl groove with a harp solo. During the secong half it gets more festive and Latin American sounding.

Being a big fan of Zappa, Magma and Gong I would rather listen to those three than this. For those of you interested in what a combination of the three would sound like, this would be right up your alley. It's an enjoyable and fairly consistent album but it wears it's influences on it's sleeve. The use of harp and acoustic guitar stands out and is a nice touch. Not one of the best releases of the year but nowhere near the worst. I give this a 3.5 but will round it down to 3 stars.

The transitional songs ("Clacos Zéro," Clacos 1" et "Clacos 2") are excellent (and often quite funny!) but the big monsters [e.g. "Untung Untungen" (10/10), "El ruotuav ed sraM" (10/10), et "Le meurtrier volant" (9/10)] are incroyable! I listen to "Untung" and "ruotuav" (Vulture from Mars) over and over and find my body and spirit reacting quite the same way I did upon first hearing MAGMA's MDK a few years ago: avec une danse joyeuse, sauvage et frénétique! It is wonderful! The pause at the halfway mark in "Untung" is so startling and such a letdown, yet it's so exciting when the music returns and builds and builds, jelling and spiraling its way in perfect collaboration up and then down to a stop--it's just like a rollercoaster ride! And one can just feel the morose Poe-like tension of "Le meurtrier."

Unfortunately, the 5-part suite which ends the album, entitled "La danse du Chameau" (7/10) doesn't succeed in conveying or evoking this same response. (Plodding like the camel for which it is named, the perfect harmony of "The Vulture of Mars" and "Le meurtrier volant" seems long past.) In the vein of its inspirateur, GONG, the band puts forth some jazzy jams, but, also like GONG, IMHO, the jamming seems a bit pointless--or ecstatic and masturbatory--depending on one's psycho-neuro-chemical state. For some reason, the band seems to have mostly abandoned the wonderful collective weaves of the amazing first 30 minutes of the album. Too bad. That was quite a ride!

4.5 stars rated up for its sheer freshness, enjoyability, and perfect sound production of its compositions.

An all instrumental affair,''Clacosmique'' balances dangerously between Brass Rock,Jazz-Rock and KING CRIMSON-esque Progressive Rock with strong elements from World Music.The EP is highlighted by the two extended instrumental compositions ''Untung Untungan'' and ''Le vautour de Mars'' clocking at over 10 minutes,where the big time brass section is blended harmonically with complicated electric passages and mellower moments with a folkier edge.The use of xylophones,harps and vibraphones is heavy but always carefully executed,while the guitar work of Sexauer is trully interesting.There are also a couple of very short introductions to the longer pieces of the album,along with the two closing compositions,which can be regarded as one. ''Bernard l'ermite'' parts 1 & 2 do not differ much than the two long instrumentals,highly-executed Jazz-Rock with strong brass instrumentation,maybe a bit more melodic at the softer parts,but still musically challenging and rich.

For fans of Jazz-Rock,Avant-Prog and Zeuhl this album will end up among their premier preferences.Nice musicianship with the tracks though sounding a bit similar but certainly the quality is high.Recommended.

Clacos O, a short spacy intro....leads into Untung Untungan, maybe the highlight of the EP, with eleven minutes of polyrhythmic galore featuring xylophone work à la Ruth Underwood and a twisted brass section in the tradition of the Grand Wazoo, plus elaborated solos for guitar, harp and a special mention for the big fat bass-trombone lines, my absolute favourite instrument on this record! ...an echo bass line starts the interlude Glacos 1 Notre mère a tous, a short quiet piece with influences from Gentle Giant and Gong, again with excellent tuned percussion arrangements and some acoustic guitar and didgeridoo. The second main dish (10:23) is Le vautour de mars, the mars vulture, a funky bird that would not have been out of place on Billy Cobham's Crosscurrents, an excellent funky groove composition with monster brass on top, featuring great solos for guitar, harp, trombone and trumpet and a nice triologue between the guitar, muted trumpet and muted trombone in Wazoo territory. The last two-part composition, Bernard l'ermite, starts as a relaxed groove with drums and brass and builds up tention while the vibraphone plays a short repetitive motive against the brass section followed by an UncleMeatish percussion theme and a Zappaish guitar solo. The second part builds up into a polyrhythmic frenzy, alternating with a nice slower theme for bass-trombone and whistling, a theme which could have occured in a Sergio Leone western.

An absolutely stunning debut for Camembert : the musicianship and quality of the compositions are high and mature. My only concern : some passages (mainly in the Mars Vulture) are a little too predictable and I'd wish that the band gets a little crazier  in the future and leaves the (exellent) influences behind.