Record Reviews

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ HUR! – HOMMAGE A LA MUSIQUE DE CHRISTIAN VANDER SOLEIL ZEUHL 19-20 (Barcode: 3700173928220) ~ FRANCE ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2008 Released: 2009 This album celebrates 40 years of activity by French composer / musician / bandleader Christian VanderFind albums by this artist and his legendary band MagmaFind albums by this artist, one of the most influential, innovative and groundbreaking phenomenon of contemporary European music. Vander spearheaded the creation of the Zeuhl subgenre of Progressive Rock, mixing elements of Jazz, Free Improvisation, Rock and contemporary Classical Music, creating a unique musical platform for creativity. His group Magma served as a vehicle for his explorations, creating a mini-universe / subculture, which created a completely new language, both verbally and musically. Over the years, dozens of musicians passed through the ranks of Magma, creating their own ensembles later on, after absorbing the leader´s influence, with the Magma family tree growing up to enormous degree. Countless other bands all over the world, heavily inspired by the music of Vander, expanded the Zeuhl universe to encompass the entire globe. This album is an ambitious project, which brings together 25 ensembles from many countries, each performing a different piece of music written by Vander, all together almost 3 hours of Zeuhl music at its best. The ensembles range from intimate ones to big bands and their interpretation of the music varies in approach and proximity to the source, but altogether this is a musical feast of rare proportions. In many respects this album is "better" than the original, in the sense that the variety and dynamics here is much wider than on the Magma albums, which sometimes tend to be overbearing and tedious with lengthy repetition, none of which can be found here. Released on the tiny, but exquisite French Soleil ZeuhlFind albums on this label label, which since many years serves as a faithful home base for many Zeuhl bands, this project is a great example of dedication, hard work and ingenuity, especially in these difficult times for music, which deserves all the respect and admiration. Essential listening!

CD 2 Essential Recommend To A Friend

BENOIT WIDEMANN ~ STRESS! SVART / MONDO 391 (Barcode: 6430065589259) ~ FRANCE ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1977 Released: 2020 By the late 1970s the synthesizer was undoubtedly the King of Pop / Rock. There was hardly any music making unit at the time that did not feature the synthesizer in its arsenal, and the electronically generated sounds were rapidly and consistently dominating the popular music scene, achieving total dominance a decade later. It all started really promising with the introduction of the Hammond Organ in the mid-1930s, which was warmly embraced by the Jazz community and expanded the instrumental range by another warm and funky sounding instrument. By the mid-1960s the Hammond Organ became also a much beloved member of the young Rock family, especially by the more ambitious early Progressive Rock pioneers, soon to be joined by the new kid on the block, the Moog synthesizer. The 1970s brought an avalanche of rapidly developing new synthesizers, which were able to produce a growing range of unearthly soundscapes and capable of imitating every existing musical instrument on earth, including the drums, and beyond. By the 1980s popular music became one gigantic synthesized buzz of undistinguishable source, as if the earth was invaded by an alien race that was terrorizing the humans and dissolving their brains using synthesizers. It often seems that this situation did not improve much since, and the only desert islands of relative sanity survived thanks to Classical Music and Jazz. Therefore one could speculate that it was the synthesizer, which brought upon us the downfall of Popular Music and destroyed the magnificent achievements of the Golden Era of Rock (1965-1975) down to a pulp. Of course other might think differently, especially those who still play guitars, basses, drums or (God forbid) a flute ;) "Stress!Find albums with this title" is a classic example of a synthesizer dominated music, although it makes some use of non-synthesized sounds, like the acoustic piano or drums. The composer and chief performer, Benoit WidemannFind albums by this artist, plays an array of synthesizers, as appropriate for the occasion and is accompanied, although only occasionally, by other musicians, all representatives of the French Progressive Rock camaraderie around the legendary group MagmaFind albums by this artist, firmly led by drummer / composer Christian VanderFind albums by this artist with an ever changing lineup, which more or less included the entire French Prog / Zeuhl scene over time. The music is all over the place, with touches of early Techno, Funk, Prog of course and traces of Jazz, hardly a consistent flow of musical ideas, but an excellent demonstration of Widemann´s abilities as a composer and player. Well recorded and offering a god example of the diversity of sounds that the synthesizers were able to produce at the time, with a touch of the obvious nostalgic tinge, this album is still a very enjoyable listening experience today and certainly has more to offer than most music produced at present. The French Progressive Rock, similarly to French Classical Music, has a distinctive ambience, which this album reflects very well. Less focused on melody and rhythmic complexity, this music is more about the atmospheric statement, the moods and the colors of the music and its influence on the listener´s psyche. Although previously reissued, soon do disappear again, this music certainly deserves to be available to listeners looking for non-trivial music that the past has to offer. Enjoy! Side Note The above are my liner notes included on this album's artwork. I am honored when asked by the Artists to write liner notes for their albums, always hoping that my words reflect the true spirit of the music. This is also a symbol of our mutual respect and friendship developed over the years. The same is also true when Record Labels ask me to write liner notes for their releases, mostly in the case of reissues of archival albums, which is a symbol of their appreciation of my knowledge and historical perspective and my recognition of their dedication to the preservation of the history of recorded music and the effort to keep human Culture and Aesthetics alive.

Updated: 23/05/2020Posted: 23/05/2020

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Remastered Recommend To A Friend