STRAVE

Serge Bringolf is certainly a very talented drummer but his talents go far beyond the kit. He's a great composer and also plays sax and guitar. He was influenced early on by KING CRIMSON, JETHRO TULL, SOFT MACHINE and LED ZEPPELLIN, but his biggest influence was Tony Williams, the legendary Jazz drummer of course. So yes he was sort of drawn into that Jazz style but certainly on this album we get a strong Zeuhl flavour as well. He used to frequent a concert venue that drew many French bands annually like VORTEX, ART ZOYD, GONG, ZAO, POTEMKINE etc but also a lot of English bands like NATIONAL HEALTH, Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean etc. It was at this venue that this double album was recorded in 1980 and it was Serge's first. Some call this Big Band Zeuhl because of the brass section and that it's a 10 piece band.

"Delire" is Jazzy to start with bass then the horns blast followed by vibes and vocal expressions.This continues until we get a change after 5 1/2 minutes.Vocals and a MAGMA flavour come in but this is lighter and more orchestral. It's still really good though.Vocals stop before 11 minutes as it settles some with bass and cymbals supporting as different sounds come and go over the next five plus minutes to end it. "Strave" opens with drums as deep bass lines join in. Horns and vibes follow.Violin comes and goes. Horns lead again then the vibes before 6 minutes. A calm 8 minutes in as drums only offer up some random patterns. Bass before 11 minutes as other sounds join in including vocal expressions. A Zeuhl flavour to the vocals 16 minutes in that go on until after 18 minutes. Nice.

"Utopie" opens with a beat as horns join in followed by vibes and violin. I like the repetitive horns here. Vocal expressions after 6 minutes. A change after 9 1/2 minutes.Violin joins in then the bass leads before 12 minutes.The violin is back then horns. Flute late. "Jodwernssen" opens with the horns blasting and then it settles in before a minute.Vocals join in briefly but they will come and go. A change 4 minutes in as a Zeuhl rhythm takes over. Another change before 9 minutes and this reminds me of the bass on EIDER STELLAIRE's debut as the horns play over top.Violin late along with flute and vibes.

I would have liked this more if it was a single album but it's hard to complain about so much great music even if it is kind of samey throughout. A solid 4 stars.