Albert Marcoeur

[NogbadTheBad]

^ ^ ^ ^

all booze is good booze if you like booze.

Rules to live by (except Pernod)

[flytomars]

Ha - did you like it?

Like a wise man once said-

"Girly drink or not, it was good."

[chalkpie]

Like a wise man once said-

"Girly drink or not, it was good."

Nice. They are a tad too sweet for me, but pretty darn good on a hot-ass day.

BTW, my new fav Albert song of the day is "Son Sac".

[Mascodagama]

Rules to live by (except Pernod)

Even Pernod can be okay in moderation, just never ever mix it with crème de cassis.

Yes, I was young and stupid.

[Udi Koomran]

I started collecting the vinyl
I have the first 2
These look and sound better then the twofer

[zombywoof]

They sell all their CD's directly from their website: www.marcoeur.com. All but Sports and Percussions is available.

Oh sweet!!

[Conti]

I bought all things Marcoeur directly from the man.

[chalkpie]

I had to go back and throw on Albert's first LP....it's typical AM (meaning to do the unconventional), so he "buries" one of his most beautiful and poignant melodies as the coda in "Simone". Here is this brilliant and exquisite arrangement of this gorgeous melody and set of harmonic changes - and it's at the end of another tune completely different from what came before it. You "Albertheads" know exactly what I'm talking about too. Love this guy so much.

[aith01]

This is one cat I've been meaning to check out, but never really made the time to. Frank, could you give me one or two songs of his that are good for a newbie like me please? I want to get better acquainted with his music, since he's held in very high regard.

[chalkpie]

This is one cat I've been meaning to check out, but never really made the time to. Frank, could you give me one or two songs of his that are good for a newbie like me please? I want to get better acquainted with his music, since he's held in very high regard.

Hey Tyler - Sure man - would love to. Bear in mind that Albert is not a "greatest hits" guy by any stretch, and he is generally all over the map even within his own albums. But I think after hearing a few tunes, you are either going to be interested to check out more -or- run for the hills. Knowing your eclectic tastes I think you'll dig him. So here are just a few random tunes I love - hopefully others can chime in because I'm sure you may get completely different choices (I would actually expect that). Good luck man!

PS - If you were going to pull the trigger on some CD's (LP's?)...the first four are where you want be...and all four are remarkable.

[Zappathustra]

Albert is the bear...four straight masterpieces in the face of non-prog infidels (this guy will pass - eventually - and no one except here will know what a fucking genius he was)

[GuitarGeek]

I've got, I think, his first album, but haven't listened to it in ages.

[mkeneally]

Yes, aith01 please get those first four albums and listen to them repeatedly, you seriously won’t regret it - then progress from there.

There was a very handy 2-CD compilation released by Baillemont in 1989 containing all four albums in total, don’t know if it’s easy to find now but definitely worth trying to hunt down - I don’t know if it’s highly regarded by audiophiles but it’s how I got to know and love these albums.

[Conti]

Not that I disagree with the recommendations above, but there are a whole wealth of goodness past the first four albums. Actually they are the ones I come back more often, especially "Ma Vie Avec Elles" and "...Comme um coeur", which are outstanding. The latest albums I consider more difficult because they are more focused on text than on music, but still I consider then at least entertaining.

[chalkpie]

Not that I disagree with the recommendations above, but there are a whole wealth of goodness past the first four albums. Actually they are the ones I come back more often, especially "Ma Vie Avec Elles" and "...Comme um coeur", which are outstanding. The latest albums I consider more difficult because they are more focused on text than on music, but still I consider then at least entertaining.

Hi Alberto - Yes absolutely - those are extremely lovely albums as well, and I also really dig L'Apostrophe from his more recent output. I personally still love the first four maybe just a wee bit more than those latter albums, but anything and everything this genius made is absolutely worth investigating. The actual production on those albums is just stunning - I listened to the first two yesterday and Album a Colorier, besides being an amazing album, just *sounds* fantastic. There are some lone percussion hits that just filled up my entire living room like the musicians are there. I have been eyeing vinyl copies from Discogs and they certainly ain't cheap. I would flip out if Sean did one of his SOAL interviews with Albert - although he may need a translator for that to happen, yeah?

[AdventAlan]

Yes, aith01 please get those first four albums and listen to them repeatedly, you seriously won’t regret it - then progress from there.

There was a very handy 2-CD compilation released by Baillemont in 1989 containing all four albums in total, don’t know if it’s easy to find now but definitely worth trying to hunt down - I don’t know if it’s highly regarded by audiophiles but it’s how I got to know and love these albums.

This compilation was great, Mike, and I wish I still had it. Gave my copy up to a good friend, after buying the individual remastered versions later--but these newer versions are overly loud/compressed (though listenable) and would probably opt to switch back to the Baillemont compilation if I could. (The remasters have very little documentation as well, unlike the Baillemont release.)

Cheers,


Alan

[Scrotum Scissor]

could you give me one or two songs of his that are good for a newbie like me please? I want to get better acquainted with his music, since he's held in very high regard.

Seriously, I'd start with his second release, Album Á Colorier. It opens with "Monsieur Lepousse", in which a rhythm is expressed through five parallell hits on separate carhorns - and it was done by actually peforming and recording the damn horns set with the automobiles in a half-circle, just for the prelude of mere 10 seconds or so. To me, this sums up not so much Marcoeur's perfectionism or dedication but his overt artistic eccentricity. Once you've hard the first three or four songs here, you'll want to hear most of what he's done/achieved/accomplished.

His old homepage used to have a picture of that recording session with the vehicles, btw. What a great experience to be a Marcoeur newbie!

[Scrotum Scissor]

Just read on Wiki that Marcoeur passes for the genre of "chanson", as it is. I'd like to see the faces of Joe Dassin-fans getting into something like "La D'dans".

[chalkpie]

Seriously, I'd start with his second release, Album Á Colorier. It opens with "Monsieur Lepousse", in which a rhythm is expressed through five parallell hits on separate carhorns - and it was done by actually peforming and recording the damn horns set with the automobiles in a half-circle, just for the prelude of mere 10 seconds or so. To me, this sums up not so much Marcoeur's perfectionism or dedication but his overt artistic eccentricity. Once you've hard the first three or four songs here, you'll want to hear most of what he's done/achieved/accomplished.

His old homepage used to have a picture of that recording session with the vehicles, btw. What a great experience to be a Marcoeur newbie!

And 'Colorier' gets a 3.29 rating at Prog Archives. I guess it's not prog-metal enough and/or Pike Mortnoy doesn't play triple bass drum pedals on it. If only....

Why do I do this to myself?

[Scrotum Scissor]

And 'Colorier' gets a 3.29 rating at Prog Archives. I guess it's not prog-metal enough and/or Pike Mortnoy doesn't play triple bass drum pedals on it. If only....

Why do I do this to myself?

Hm. Remember your recent Cow-thread's posting on PA-recensions of Unrest? Or this one, about Knifeworld's The Unravelling?

Review by Second Life Syndrome
PROG REVIEWER

I've seen so much hype about this new Knifeworld album that I seriously wanted to slap an even lower rating on it. But I'm not like that. Knifeworld's latest, "The Unravelling", has arrived from Inside Out, and people are eating it up. There's something about the quirk in this band's sound that has convinced people to bow before them. Yet, I refuse.
Knifeworld. KNIFEWORLD. What kind of name is that, anyways? This band seems overly concerned with appearing special or different. They seem to put tons of effort into looking the "prog part", if you will. On paper, then, this new album seems like it should be a spectacular display of eclecticism and brilliance. With male and female singers (including the venerable Kavus Torabi) and with many different instruments making regular appearances, such as an entire brass section and violin, this album seems like it will be special. Like I said, though, I think that's how the band wants it to look on paper. The band, however, is certainly skilled at playing their instruments, and the album is technically proficient.
In reality, much of this album is a pretentious mess. Melodies and instruments clash and play past each other. Spaces in the music are like gaping holes in a bucket, letting all the content just escape. The band seems to think that composing music is simply cutting and paste grooves and melodies from classic bands. Indeed, there are entire foundations of songs on this album that seem like they were ripped directly from a Gentle Giant album. It's one thing to include a tool used by an older band, it's entirely different to change very little and expect the listener not to notice. I speak specifically of "The Skulls We Buried Have Regrown Their Eyes", as the brassy, bassy groove sounds ripped from "The Power and the Glory". That isn't the only one either. Not by a mile. Other bands ripped off include Yes and even The Steve Miller Band. Generally speaking, then, this album is nothing but old material arranged slightly differently, and with absolutely no shame at all.
The entire persona of the band screams prog-wannabe, though. From the pretentious song titles to the lazy attempts to sound and look unique to even the freakin' band name, the band comes off as trying to be "prog" as hard as they can, but there's just no real content or real inspiration involved at all. It's sad, though, as many of the songs have very short moments that sound original, but the band abandons them as quickly as they came. Overall, then, I'm completely unimpressed, and I was glancing at the clock before the album was even halfway done.
2.5 stars

Tells you all you want and need to know about the case.

[chalkpie]

^ The thing about these Guinea Pig turds is that ultimately I don't care what they think - and everybody is entitled to our own opinions and we all have our own tastes - but when something is so blatantly ignorant regarding a fine work of art, it does matter. The people that have trust in that guy/gals judgment are going to take these 2-3 star Henry Cow, Marcoeur, etc reviews without a grain of salt, and therefore never check them out. It's frustrating in many ways and essentially its been this way all along - we know that much. Hopefully folks will read and see the passion and enthusiasm for Albert here (for example) and take the leap to at least try. This is not coming from an elitist RIO/avant prog point-of-view either, or something even close to resembling that. Open your hearts and minds for 40 minutes, that's all it should be about.

[Mister Triscuits]

Hm. Remember your recent Cow-thread's posting on PA-recensions of Unrest? Or this one, about Knifeworld's The Unravelling?

Jesus wept. At least the dingleberry acknowledges that Kavus is "venerable."

[Scrotum Scissor]

^ Oh, but what kind of name is Knifeworld?!! And on... O-on InsideOut?

[aith01]

Hm. Remember your recent Cow-thread's posting on PA-recensions of Unrest? Or this one, about Knifeworld's The Unravelling?

Review by Second Life Syndrome
PROG REVIEWER

[B][I] I've seen so much hype about this new Knifeworld album that I seriously wanted to slap an even lower rating on it. But I'm not like that. Knifeworld's latest, "The Unravelling", has arrived from Inside Out, and people are eating it up. There's something about the quirk in this band's sound that has convinced people to bow before them. Yet, I refuse. [...]

Oh lord... I honestly couldn't bear to read much further than that. I skimmed the rest, but would rather spend my mental energies elsewhere. What a pompous "review".

To each his own of course (I love Knifeworld, personally), but that excerpt sums up all that is wrong with ProgArchives IMO. It's the attitude.

^ The thing about these Guinea Pig turds is that ultimately I don't care what they think - and everybody is entitled to our own opinions and we all have our own tastes - but when something is so blatantly ignorant regarding a fine work of art, it does matter. The people that have trust in that guy/gals judgment are going to take these 2-3 star Henry Cow, Marcoeur, etc reviews without a grain of salt, and therefore never check them out. It's frustrating in many ways and essentially its been this way all along - we know that much. Hopefully folks will read and see the passion and enthusiasm for Albert here (for example) and take the leap to at least try. This is not coming from an elitist RIO/avant prog point-of-view either, or something even close to resembling that. Open your hearts and minds for 40 minutes, that's all it should be about.

One PA reviewer almost made me take a pass on The Underground Railroad's Origin of Consciousness a few years ago. The review said that it was all (paraphrasing) 'unmelodic' and 'jagged' and I can't remember what else -- basically saying there were no memorable parts or melodies. Made me afraid to try it. And yet, I did -- and it's really good! At least to me.

So I hope that people like this don't dissuade folks from hearing things that they might actually enjoy. Surely it happens though.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Oh lord... I honestly couldn't bear to read much further than that. I skimmed the rest, but would rather spend my mental energies elsewhere. What a pompous "review".

To each his own of course (I love Knifeworld, personally), but that excerpt sums up all that is wrong with ProgArchives IMO. It's the attitude.

Attitude is one thing. But the main attitude here is - again, as I've stated elsewhere - that you obviously don't have to actually know what the artist or its work is essentially about for you to take a stand towards the final outcome. The reviewer in question here openly performs such a wide variety of "assumptions" as to what Knifeworld are apparently about and their presumed motives/intentions/aspirations for this, that one should at least expect for the critic to display a set of general and overall insights allowing for casus analysis, yet he doesn't show any such thing whatsoever. Attend his other reviews and there's little to suggest that he's even aware of some central termss, scenes and movements within the realm of progressive rock as historical object. Consequently and accordingly, he reviews Knifeworld from a point of reference which simply doesn't cover the logical ground for his conclusion.

And this is why it ultimately gets entirely embarrassing, not only as a read but as an artifact of "prog" thought as a whole. If this shit is its weakest analytical link, then there's no wonder why the genre as such was doomed to begin with.