French Prog listening project

[Trane]

The "classic/symph" bands were hit and miss, perhaps - but I have a soft spot for Ange (first bulk of albums), Carpe Diem, Atoll (L'Araignée Mal), some Mona Lisa and some Pulsar. And there were lesser/second-tier obscurities who made some solid stuff, like Metabolisme, Pentacle, Ripaille, Troisieme Rivé and so on. But sure, there were also banalities like Orion, Synopsis and the likes.

I'd tend to classify those two more as prog folk
Oddly enough I don't remember seeing Malicorne cited (though I didn't list them myself)

However, what made the whole thing swing was the avant-garde dinglyding. Whether the early efforts of Catherine Ribeiro/Alpes, Lard Free, Igor Wakhevitch and the ensuing zeuhl scene following Magma, or the monstrosity of exploration emerging in the latter half of the 70s; Potemkine, Eskaton, Vortex, Dün, Pataphonie, Flamen Dialis, Plat du Jour, Jean-Paul Prat, Rahman, Forgas (Cocktail), Eider Stellaire, Bise de Buse, Nöetra, Albert Marcoeur, Etron Fou Leloublan, Art Zoyd and so on and on... There was an abundance of insane creativity going on.

mmmhhh!!!...

The French were late on the ball on Psychedelic rock, as before May 68, there was little (if not nothing), but the student revolt certainly changed things, and in a few years, they were right up front in terms of adventurous and dangerous rock, sometimes closer to insurrection than the French made-for-TV pop would have you guess

https://www.discogs.com/Various-30-A...elease/3074205

You not on the PoiL / ni / Piniol / Chromb / etc bandwagon?

Actually I jumped out of the wagon a couple (max) of years ago. Haven't heard Chromb, but the Piniol crowd tires me very quickly - when I saw them in Carmaux's smaller stage, I lasted half the concert.

Not saying I won't jump back on the train, but right now, I'm a little tired of Avant-prog, from anywhere on the planet.
I think it was probably triggered by seeing AZ's 44.5 concert - at least around that time, I started paying less attention.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I'd tend to classify those two more as prog folk.

mmmhhh!!!...

Have to admit to getting tired when listening to PoiL, Ni, Le Grand Sbam myself, but I tend to think that this has something to do with my age. Today I listen to Etron Fou with the same sense of nostalgic sentiment that I once did with Genesis or Yes; they've been with me for a very long time.

I only listen on occasion, though. Mostly I'm just tired and sad and whining about being old.

[Zappathustra]

... Igor Wakhevitch

any suggestions? I've listened a couple of times to Faustus but can't say it really clicked.

Right on. I don’t know Ravel as well as I should...

And I thought there was a direct influence on the Utopia Strong project...

[Scrotum Scissor]

Any suggestions? I've listened a couple of times to Faustus but can't say it really clicked.

Hathor.

[Dana5140]

Magma have never been not relevant.

But Live HHai is one of the greatest live records ever recorded. (The other top 2- MC5 first record, BB King Live at the Regal).

[Trane]

Have to admit to getting tired when listening to PoiL, Ni, Le Grand Sbam myself, but I tend to think that this has something to do with my age. Today I listen to Etron Fou with the same sense of nostalgic sentiment that I once did with Genesis or Yes; they've been with me for a very long time.

I only listen on occasion, though. Mostly I'm just tired and sad and whining about being old.

it could be an age thing, because when I did see it live, I couldn't help but thinking of these guys of being young cock-strutters prancing around singing about how good their dicks are (you gotta to listen to the lyrics too, though I don't expect the few women in their audience to like it), using avant-math rock techniques
I mean, it's fun 10 minutes, but quickly outlasts its welcome veru quickly.

any suggestions? I've listened a couple of times to Faustus but can't say it really clicked...

Dr Faust is my fave of his, but all of his albums are very different from the others... I'd tell you to try Logos (his debut) or Let's Start (his last one), but avoid Fous D'Or.

[Scrotum Scissor]

young cock-strutters prancing around singing about how good their dicks are

But I kinda appreciate that in a progressive rock'n'roll band. I think old "prog" bands shuld have done much more of this, although truth be told that's what it was always all about in the first place - albeit expressed a bit differently.

[Steve F.]

Right on. I don’t know Ravel as well as I should but agree with the others to which I’d add Valentin Clastrier.

I have a couple of Valentin Clastrier albums! Good call!

[TheH]

Thank you sir, I'm astonished that it took 42 posts for the brothers Payssan to be mentioned. MV are one of my very favorite bands.

New Album "Air Caravan" will be out soon...

[TheH]

An overlooked gem with lots of guests: Tim Blake, Claude Engel, Francis Moze and Yochk'o Seffer

Weirdo stuff in the best way, a Chancon, Zeuhl, Avant Prog Opera

[Zappathustra]

You've thrown me in a voracious binge, you heartless PE folks!

[Zeuhlmate]

Patricia Dallio (of Art Zoyd fame): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPvr...&start_radio=1

[JKL2000]

Has Mona Lisa been mentioned? And if Monaco counts, Edhels.

[Buddhabreath]

Yes, Le petit violon de monsieur Grégoire is a very good album with some great moments. The vocals are pretty darn powerful.

[Mr.Krautman]

An overlooked gem with lots of guests: Tim Blake, Claude Engel, Francis Moze and Yochk'o Seffer

Weirdo stuff in the best way, a Chancon, Zeuhl, Avant Prog Opera

Another french hidden gem I' ve never seen or heard about ! Sounds very good... thank you for posting it. Now finding a copy at a reasonable price (I don't think it has ever been reissued) would be another challenge, looks it's a collectible (read expensive) record.

[Mr.Krautman]

Yes, Le petit violon de monsieur Grégoire is a very good album with some great moments. The vocals are pretty darn powerful.

The best record of a very good band unfortunately somewhat overshadowed by Ange to whom they were too often compared, maybe because the singer had also a very strong and theatrical personnality.

[Buddhabreath]

An overlooked gem with lots of guests: Tim Blake, Claude Engel, Francis Moze and Yochk'o Seffer

Weirdo stuff in the best way, a Chancon, Zeuhl, Avant Prog Opera

Yes thanks for that! Another unknown (to me) little gem. A thing like this could only have been hatched in France.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Patricia Dallio (of Art Zoyd fame): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPvr...&start_radio=1

I have a lot of respect for her. From what I understand, she was an ace music student at a very young age and could have accepted offers from far more lucrative career-makers than the Zoyds, yet she went the hard and highly unorthodox route. She's apparently kept her "professional" name alive through work in dance and theatre, poetry readings, short films, multimedia and audio installations, but some of her solo releases (like Barbe Bleue and Que Personne ne Bouche) are pretty noteworthy.

[TheH]

Another french hidden gem I' ve never seen or heard about ! Sounds very good... thank you for posting it. Now finding a copy at a reasonable price (I don't think it has ever been reissued) would be another challenge, looks it's a collectible (read expensive) record.

Yes original LPs are collectible (read 100 bucks plus). There is a boot by a US Prog dealer pretending it to be
a Japanese Mini LP CD (read Tachika).

[nnknsh]

Good call. "Heresie" is an absolute classic on what they call "imagined folklore music". The follow up "Le Bucher des Silences" is pretty great too.
So many of really interesting French Avant Jazz in this vein have been done since the mid-late 70s, and many of the major participants (Louis Sclavis, Michel Godard, Gerard Siracusa etc.) appears on these Clastrier albums.

Also "Heloise" and "Tentation Tentations D'Abélard" by Michael Riessler (a German composer / Clarinet player. who appears on "Heresie" and "Le Bucher des Silences").
Actually "Heloise" is kind of a sister album with "Heresie" with an expanded line up, and shares many of the same compositions (but credited to Riessler here), and nearly equally good.

Right on. I don’t know Ravel as well as I should but agree with the others to which I’d add Valentin Clastrier.

If you don’t know him, he’s a composer/ hurdy gurdy player. His work just drives me nuts, as a comparison his melodic language is similar to Fred Frith but, I’d say, further out perhaps.
His albums are pretty hard to track down but if you can find ‘Heresie’ then you’re on to a winner.

I’m a big Etron Fou Leloublan/ Ferdinand Richard fan too but, in all honesty, don’t listen to them with the same appetite I used to in the 90’s

[Trane]

I've seen Clastrier live a couple of times, but mostly because he was also on the bill with other artistes scheduled on the event.

While I enjoyed listening to him live, I've tried his albums (borrowed at the library), but found it to be fairly boring.
Easily explained that I understand/enjoy his music when seeing him play his Hurdy, but once the visual dimension is out, then I don't see him Gurdying away and have a hard time keeping patience through it all.
Clastrier has all my respect, but I willprobably never buy an album of his. Maybe a live DVD some day, if he has one out there.

[nnknsh]

While I understand that Clastrier's music might not be everyone's taste, may I ask you which of his album you've heard ?
I am asking this as his album is quite diverse in instrumentation / composition, and the more widely available recent titles shows his aspect as an more folk / medieval music meets Jazz / improv player in a simple formation (solo or duo with the clrinet player Steven Kamperman) and very different from those early 90's albums ("Heresie" and "Le Boucher des Silences") in terms of vision and composition.

Below is a link to tracks from "Heresie" and "Le Bucher des Silences" which are fairly representative of the music he was doing during the early 90's (which are quite different from his recent albums).

I've seen Clastrier live a couple of times, but mostly because he was also on the bill with other artistes scheduled on the event.

While I enjoyed listening to him live, I've tried his albums (borrowed at the library), but found it to be fairly boring.
Easily explained that I understand/enjoy his music when seeing him play his Hurdy, but once the visual dimension is out, then I don't see him Gurdying away and have a hard time keeping patience through it all.
Clastrier has all my respect, but I willprobably never buy an album of his. Maybe a live DVD some day, if he has one out there.

[Zappathustra]

WTF, no Brigitte Fontaine? Prog or not, she belongs to the same milieu (good to use a French word that people can understand) and albums like Je Ne Connais Pas Cet Homme and Comme A La Radio are definitely of huge interest for progressive ears.

A couple of obscurities that rarely get mention:

Ergo Sum - Mexico from 1971 is an excellent token of early progressive rock, in the vein of Family, but with a more progressive twist (violins and flute involved). The vocals are so harsh that make mister Chapman sound like a baby. An astonishing obscurity.



Gutura - Des Etres au Cerveau Apparent This sounds like an unholy coalition between Art Bears and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Excellent and relevant to this date (it was suggested to me by Spacefreak himself, the ultimate guru of French progressive music)

[Trane]

While I understand that Clastrier's music might not be everyone's taste, may I ask you which of his album you've heard ?
I am asking this as his album is quite diverse in instrumentation / composition, and the more widely available recent titles shows his aspect as an more folk / medieval music meets Jazz / improv player in a simple formation (solo or duo with the clrinet player Steven Kamperman) and very different from those early 90's albums ("Heresie" and "Le Boucher des Silences") in terms of vision and composition.

Below is a link to tracks from "Heresie" and "Le Bucher des Silences" which are fairly representative of the music he was doing during the early 90's (which are quite different from his recent albums).

yikes, you made me looking his discography up.

If memory serves, I saw him the first time circa mid to later 90's, so after the two albums you've pointed out (I listened to them too and indeed, it's relatively different from what I remember hearing live), but then again, he was solo on stage.
My guess as to what I borrowed was these two vinyls (below) or something similar
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/co...e-hurdy-gurdy/
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...e_limaginaire/

the second time I saw him was some 7 to 8 years back at a folk festival, also solo and it was more like this below

[smcfee]

Good call. "Heresie" is an absolute classic on what they call "imagined folklore music". The follow up "Le Bucher des Silences" is pretty great too.

Hey, it's Nobu! I have you to thank for knowing about this artist. Have the 2 CD comp with Heresie and Bucher, but haven't spun it in a while.

Regards,
Sean