LE TEMPS DE L'AUTRE

While the prog scene had significantly declined at this point since the debut of CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES in 1969 France, RIBEIRO and her music maestro partner Patrice Moullet continued the band through a series of nine albums that ended in 1980. While maintaining the same recognizable style that had haunted the fans since the debut when they were still CATHERINE RIBEIRO + 2 BIS, the constant lineup changes brought in new talent and new instrumentation which gave each and every album a completely distinct flavor with each offering a fascinating new recipe of progressive rock, avant-folk, psychedelia and passionate poetry delivered exclusively in the French language. RIBEIRO's Portuguese origins allowed her Fado musical heritage to seep into the duo's own unique universe of experimental rock based musical forms which set the band well apart from its progressive French counterparts.

While many never bother to explore the band's canon beyond the popular "Paix" released in 1972, this group's extreme dedication and passion to craft its unique art form continued almost all the way to the end with only the final release "Le Déboussole" significantly toning things down and jettisoning the prog while focusing on RIBEIRO's solo style of traditional French chansons. LA TEMPS DE L'AUTRE (The Times Of The Other) released in 1977 continued the unique freaky musical expressions which featured yet another lineup change. Once again organist / pianist Daniel Motron stuck around but Jean-Daniel Couturier (bass) and Jean-Louis Do (drums) joined the team for this sole album before yet another lineup change. The album while similar to previous ones was the first not to feature a sprawling 20-minute + epic closer and rather featured five tracks that ranged from about six minutes to nearly ten.

Sounding more psychedelic rock than avant-folk at this point, LA TEMPS DE L'AUTRE featured a stronger presence of beefy bass grooves and percussive drive as well as a much more robust use of psychedelic organ thus adding an entrenched trippy atmosphere that softened RIBEIRO's oft harsh vocal style which admittedly is an acquired taste! The album created quite a stir in France upon its release as the first album cover showcased RIBEIRO as the Mona Lisa with a joint in her mouth. The public reaction was fierce and the album was immediately banned so the Philips label was forced to offer a secondary release with a new album cover that simply found RIBEIRO posing behind a bunch of candles. The modern day musical Joan of Arc she was! Despite the public uproar the album received little attention otherwise and remained obscure and out of print until the complete album box set "Intégrale des albums originaux 1969-1980 - 9 CD" was released in 2015.

Musically the album is a mixture of lots of arpeggiated acoustic folk guitar mixed with thumping groovy bass lines and complex songwriting techniques. While the musical accompaniment often lingers in a droning hypnotic repetitive loop, the chord and key changes offered a unique style of inventive progressive meanderings all topped off with an abundance of psychedelic organ runs and creative use of electronic wizardry. The keys offer a more varied assortment of tones and timbres not experienced on previous albums and the percussive elements had been turned up a few notches however the band had dipped further into rock territory on the previous album "(Libertés?)" RIBEIRO's vocal style as always was the most consistent feature of the band's overall sound from album to album and that's no exception here. While at this point she was engaging in a solo career of French chanson, in ALPES she belted out her usual mix of spoken word poetry, shouted prose along with heavier than usual delicately sung musical styles. Noticeably absent are the climactic vocal frenzies that often ended her albums.

An unfortunate forgotten album from the obscure tail end of one of France's most distinct vocalists of the 1970s along with her band that sounded like no other no matter who was in the ever rotating team of musical backup however this like the previous two which are also woefully neglected is a brilliant slice of progressive / psychedelic rock, folk and electronica. While all these elements existed on the previous albums, LE TEMPS DE L'AUTRE was the one that you could most identify with the progressive psychedelic space rock label as the rock heft is in strong form as are the extra psychedelic touches of the many sounds of keys and organs. The melodic constructs are just as strong as ever if not stronger as the emphasis on each song is to craft a rather addictive catchiness and then fortified with the progressive and psychedelic touches. At this point the music sounds less bombastic and confrontational and more about crafting a smooth album experience rather than unleashing tirades of political rage. One of my favorite bands of the 70s was still in fine form even at this later stage of its existence. Highly recommended.