PAUVRE SENS ET PAUVRE MÉMOIRE...

Skimmed to their core trio for their sophomore release, this Bourges outfit also dramatically secularized their vocal approach, which is unfortunate because so much of the added value on their debut was based upon their exquisite choral quality. The flutes, acoustic guitars and percussions still predominate but imbued with a bit less of that innocent joie de vivre which had been the magical offset to that solemnity.

Wistfulness aside, I still find "Pauvre sens et pauvre mémoire..." to be an enjoyable albeit less engrossing experience. "Et jaloux bien Marris!" channels its own more folksy harmonies through the sweet skirl of a metallophone, and wraps up with a jig. "incendie de Foret" seems to have inspired the works of Michael Tyack's CIRCULUS decades later, while "Songe" and "Qui veut ouir chanson" come closest to what was achieved the year before, down to the harmonies and keyboard mists. "Miseres de la France" is more ambitious in its arrangements, particularly the percussion, and hints at upcoming directions.

I still find it miraculous that these young men remained so committed to revitalizing the aural images conjured by their ancestors at a time when interest in those traditions was on the wane. Perhaps their perseverance was spurred by a hope that they could remedy the "poor sense and poor memory" of those they knew before it was too late. Well, we are still listening to, discussing, and, I'll admit, dancing with them 40 years on.