Aksak Maboul - 1977 - Onze Danses pour Combattre la Migraine

Aksak Maboul
1977
Onze Danses pour Combattre la Migraine

01. Mercredi Matin (0:22)
02. Saure Gurke (Aus 1 Urwald Gelockt) (2:20)
03. Animaux Velpeau (0:36)
04. Milano Per Caso (3:18)
05. Fausto Coppi Arrive! (1:08)
06. Chanter Est Sain (3:09)
07. Son Of L"Idiot (3:21)
08. DBB (Double Bind Baby) (3:28)
09. Cuic Steppe (4:20)
10. Tous Les Trucs Qu"il Y A Là Dehors (1:58)
11. Ciobane (0:23)
12. The Mooche (1:35)
13. Vapona, Not Glue (6:54)
14. Glympz (4:36)
15. Three Epileptic Folk Dances (2:19)
16. Mastoul Alakefak (9:16)
17. Comme On A Dit (1:12)


- Marc Hollander / Farfisa organ, Fender Rhodes, darbuka, drum machine, saxes, flute, clarinets, xylophone
- Vincent Kenis / accordion on 4, guitars, bass on 7, 12, 13, 14, 16
- Paolo Radoni / guitars on 4
- Jeannot Gillis / violin on 4
- Catherine Jauniaux / voice on 4, 16
- Lucy Grauman /voice on 6
- Ilona Chale / voice on 6
- Juliette / voice on 10
- Chris Joris / Fender Rhodes on 16-1, Soprano saxophone on 17
- Frank Wuyts / keyboards on 16-2
- Denis Van Hecke / electric cello on 16-2
- Michel Berckmans / bassoon on 16-2
- Geoff Leigh / saxophone on 16-2
- Lee Schloss / Soprano saxophone on 17

My summary is that this is one of the best RIO/Canterbury influenced albums I have heard this year. Several tracks (I have called them standout below) should be in any serious listener's library. Thanks to Ronan Griffin for introducing me to this excellent cd, 1. Mercredi Matin: short folk-dance melody with beautiful ringing tones. 2. (Mit 1) Saure Gurke (Aus 1 Unwald Gelockt) Nice electronic groove with a moving melody 3. Animaux Velpeau Like Dolphy one of the greatest 36 seconds of bass horn playing ever recorded. A standout track! 4. Milano Per caso: lovely acoustic guitar and piano over a central European folk grounding. Magnificent clarinet. A strong contrast with the electronica and even features some elegant vocal work. 5. Fausto Coppi Arrive!: Great Henry Cow/ Picchio Dal Pozzo horn opening. Runs into.. 6. Chanter est sain: now we are in desperate straits territory. Lovely solo vocal piano. Then over-dubbed minimalism. More of the splendid melodic sense which informs the whole. Another standout track as piano dominates beautifully before the return of the lyrics. 7. Son Of L'Idiot: Hand beaten drums provide a platform for great ensemble playing. Keyboards sounding like glockenspiels, a very Canterbury riff and guitar sound. Derivative but brilliant. Would not be out of place on Hatfield album. Great bassoon figure at the end. 8. DBB (Double Bind Baby). Solo piano, introspective but not miserable, lovely chordings, very open and then horn statements. Great composition and like a good abstract painting every second fascinates. 9. Cuic Steppe: time for percussion instruments piano and glocks. Zappa loved glocks and so do I. Bass horns too. This has all the sound textures you need for musical heaven, and they work together in a perfect way as the tune progresses. Standout track. Unfair to say it's like Henry Cow. I hate to say it but it's better than Cow! Best track so far. 10. Tous Les Trucs... a child singing. You can hear the proof that so-called difficult melodic phrasing is innate. The keyboard working from it actually takes away from the point. 11. Ciobane: odd fragment. 12. The Mooche: Ellington gets a treatment. Annoying, but lovely sounds, although the Casio keyboard wrecks it. 13. Vapona Not Glue builds from The Mooche and the improvised keyboard lines are uninspired unlike the soprano sax which is very good. This track drags because of the same pointless Casio ground. Great horn and bass near the end but the keyboard and programmed percussion are killers. To be fair they are eliminated before the finish which is very good. 14. Glympz: hand percussion again with lovely chords on keyboards and horns. Very mellow. 15. Three Epileptic Folk Dances: Great opening riff, more glock, so good. Then we get a splendid staccato phrased melody on bass keyboard and squeaky higher register leading to part three which has lovely bassoon and soprano sax. Another stand out track. 16. Mastoul Alakefak: classic stuff, really like Hatfield. An absolute joy to experience. Great fall apart and make noises ending. Standout again. I regret never seeing them play this live. 17. Comme On A Dit: and indeed as I have said this picks all the best aspects of the acoustic elements of the band for a few seconds to sum up.