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Scherzoo - 01 CD (album) cover

01

Scherzoo

 

Zeuhl

3.71 | 20 ratings

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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
4 stars This is the latest project from Francois Thollot called SCHERZOO. His first two albums were under his own personal name and on the debut he played all the instruments. His second record was much better as he brought in Bussonnet and Jeand'heur on bass and drums respectively and that album still blows me away, in fact it's one of my favourite Zeuhl albums. This one is quite different with the prominant alto-sax and electric piano. Francois is back on the drums and is part of a band here for the first time. I love this music. I swear the sound of electric piano in this style of music sends me. Although listed under Zeuhl this has far more in common with Jazz / Fusion with an Avant flavour. Three tracks on here are from Thollot's debut "Ceux D'en Face" including the title track along with "Enilek" and "Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit" as he has re-worked them and they do sound much different especially with the sax on here. Udi Koomran did an amazing job mastering this recording.

They come out swinging on "Enilek" with dissonant sax along with the drums and piano standing out. It does settle back just before a minute but not for long. Nice chunky bass around 2 minutes.This is incredible ! A calm a minute later with bass,sax and piano then it kicks back in just before 5 minutes. It builds to a climax before we get another calm then a big finish. "Douz" has sax and a lazy beat but it becomes intense quickly. It then settles back before 2 1/2 minutes as the contrasts continue. Dissonant sax 5 1/2 minutes in. "L'an 01" is led by sax, drums and piano early and the tempo keeps changing. I really enjoy this song. Lots of sax and chunky bass. "Beba" has such a great sound after 2 minutes when it kicks in. It does settle back quickly and to be honest this sounds just as good. Nice prominant piano before 4 minutes. A calm a minute later then it picks up again with some deep bass grooves and more. Nice.

The last two tracks were originally on Thollot's debut but I think these versions are much better, especially the final song. "Ceux D'en Face" sounds like something off of KING CRIMSON's "Discipline" album as intricate sounds weave in and around each other. It does settles in before 1 1/2 minutes and we get some huge bass lines around 2 minutes. "Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit" is uptempo with the sax playing over top then it settles with piano only after a minute. Sax and drums join in then it kicks back in before 3 minutes. It settles again with bass then builds. What a ride this is. Check it out before 6 minutes. I'm thinking ONE SHOT here. Hell yeah I am ! Haha. This goes on until around 10 minutes in. It settles 11 1/2 minutes in before kicking in a minute later. Another calm follows. Great sound after 16 1/2 minutes to the end.

A must for fans of that Jazz / Fusion style with a strong avant flavour.

Mellotron Storm | 4/5 |

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