70's French

       Le château d'Hérouville : a mythical place


    


      

Edited by oliverstoned - March 19 2007 at 08:35

great thread. Like always learning great new things - Thanks all for the info, learned about several new bands.

Edited by avestin - March 18 2007 at 17:14

Various records...

Melmoth/La devanture des ivresses
(Grand prix de l'académie Charles Cros 1969)

Dashiell Hedayat




Wapassou (1974)


Crium delirium Live 1972/1975 "Power to the carottes"


Alain Markusfeld Le désert noir(1977)





Edited by oliverstoned - March 18 2007 at 09:49

I'm a big fan of Ange (which has given some people ammunition in serving my head back to me on a platter when I've commented on this national scene), so I was surprised to see a solo album by Francis Decamps.
Can you tell me how it compares to Ange's work from that time ?
One thing I find unfortunate, but not in a bad way, is that with such a varied scene, one cannot go around from one group to another in comparisons such as is possible with the 70s Italian Symph Prog Scene.
But then, in a country where one band invented a genre & its' own language, it should be expected that many different strands or subgenres would surface instead of a monolithic scene ( again example -  Italian Symph Prog, but that's not to say that Italian groups did not put out music of other prog genres)

Komintern is alittle more late 60's Zappa-ish, psychedelic gypsies but both are in the same ballpark. if you like Red Noise, which has more angular hornplay you will like Komintern. two good examples of early french psychedelic avant garde jazz. both contain influences of zappa, and some soft machine and gong school also hinting at krautrock bizarreness, but overall stand on their own for original composition.

Edited by DallasBryan - March 18 2007 at 07:26

Also Bise de Buse should be mentionned here - their album "Joue sa Musique" is excellent example of chamber prog.

Rocktopus wrote: Coeur magique - Never heard of these. Clivage's two first are exceptional! Their third is also good. Very good overview text.

Another band missing on PA...

Coeur magique - Never heard of these.

Clivage's two first are exceptional! Their third is also good. Very good overview text. 

We also have a lot of underground bands such as "Ame son", Cheval fou, Coeur magique, Most of you know "Ma banlieue flasque", Le grand nébuleux, Crium delirium, Chêne noir, not to name them all.



I'm also very interested in Clivage:




"Gnosis:

Mike McLatchey      24-April-2001      overview

Andre Fertier's Clivage is one of the most impressive, unheralded, French ensembles. Finding themselves in no-man's land betwixt Indian music, jazz, drone and progressive rock styles, the ensemble created three fascinating albums well worth the attention of those who seek music that falls in the cracks between genres.

The group's debut album is probably their signature statement. Featuring four long tracks, Regina Astris sets the stage for this ensemble's mesmerizing music. Instrumentally, the rhythm section is based on Armand Lemal's perucssion and Patricio Villaruel's tablas, upon which Fertier (guitar and keys), Jean Pierre de Barba (sax), Claude Duhaut (bass), and Mahmoud Tabrizizadeh (violin) weave a spellbinding tapestry, a sound that is reminiscent of Shakti, Archimedes Badkar, Oriental Wind, Aktuala and other similar groups where jazz meets the east. The drone stylings of the raga-esque music give the overall feel a trancy atmosphere where a drone is set up, and over the course of each piece, a build up slowly emerges where the instrumentalists improvise over the rhythms, continuing to advance the intensity of each piece. It ends up being over all too quickly, a virtual delight transcending several genres that should appeal to fans of east-meets-west music.

The group's second album, Mixtus Orbis, continues from the first while expanding the line-up to incorporate a much wider instrumental palate. Jean Querlier joins on oboe, sax and flute, as well as two string bass players, two celloists, second tabla player Michel Delaporte, drummer Claude Salmieri and soprano Brigitte Toulson. The large ensemble infused a more classical symphonic feel to the music which, strangely enough, reminds me of Gil Evans work with (and without) Miles Davis merged with Visions of the Emerald Beyond/Apocalypse-era Mahavishnu Orchestra. The move away from the trance/drone states of Regina Astris is, perhaps, less transcendant and absorbing than the prior effort, but, at the same time, it is good to see Fertier move the music into completely new directions. But, for Side 2, and the three-part suite "Fatoum Astris," familiar territories are once again visited with a return to the tabla-impelled trance structures. The finale, "Youssoufia," combines chanting, vocals and virtuoso oboe to point at the ensemble's final release.

Clivage's third album was recorded about five years after the group's second album and by this time, they had moved to shorter pieces and a smaller ensemble of Fertier, Quelier, Tabrizizadeh, Villaroel and bassist Christian Gentet. They still show the penchant for bringing in multi-ethnic influences, although there is a strong move towards concise and jazzy structure, and while the tablas are still involved, they seem less of a driving impetus. There are some vocals, singing and chanting, and quite often the band reaches the peaks of Regina Astris, although not as consistently. The greater presence of fretless bass adds a different timbral presence, especially close to the middle of the album's nine tracks. It is perhaps the album's instrumental diversity that is its strength, as the long, trancy compostions of the early years have been totally refined here. While Regina Astris remains the band's finest moment, all three albums are worth checking out. The different variations of the east meets west mosaic on these is a pleasure to behold. "

Read carefully this one:

"Discography
Regina Astris (77)
Mixtus Orbis (79)
Kassiopee (85)

Reviews
The band Clivage released three albums in the late seventies. Some of the most fascinating progressive music defies description, and Regina Astris is certainly one of those. Clivage's music fits into the same mold as artists such as Third Ear Band, Between, Alain Markusfeld and Aktuala. The music is very Eastern influenced and holds much in common with those bands due to the raga like atmosphere. The instrumentation is quite diverse with violin, tablas (and related percussion), acoustic guitar, sax, and string synthesizer (not often common in similar musics.) Symphonic fans may not care too much about this, and it could easily be written off as being "new age," but this is far more innovative and unusual. The bands mentioned before are a pretty good pointer, chances are if you like them you'll like this. Excellent."                    





Edited by oliverstoned - March 17 2007 at 14:13

Beautiful list. Got ca. 50 of these. Love pretty much all of them. (Malicorne and Atoll is not up my alley).

I'll add some favorites of mine:


Kha-Ym: 10″ G.M.T. [MIO 013] A super rarity, Kha-Ym was a duo that released their only album in 1979, a fantastic, accessible avant-prog record that never reached the audience it deserved. After the death of drummer Jacky Michaud, the multi-instrumentalist Alain Gerber put down his instruments and abandoned his musical career. The music shares similarities with Ange, Houppin/Torgue, Dan ar Bras, Carpe Deim, Grime, and Gwendal but is VERY unique and very original. Highly recommended! Avant Music News


Eider Stellaire


Rahmann


Jean Cohen-Solal


Laurent Thibault


Brigitte Fontaine


George Jinda


Artcane


Roland Bocquet



Edited by Rocktopus - March 17 2007 at 13:49