This French group is made up of Marie-Soleil Belanger on violin,
Bernard Falaise on guitars and fretless bass, Pascal Globensky on
keyboards, Marie-Chantal Leclair on saxophones, Remi Leclerc on drums
and electronics, and Nicolas Masino on bass and keyboards. The
music is a blend of progressive rock ala groups like Camel, ELO, and
Genesis mixed with a frivolity that is not normally associated with the
genre. At times the music plays like the soundtrack from a
surrealistic film of the 70s; a better analogy might be Jethro
Tull. It’s strictly instrumental and when track six makes a break
from the standard fare to sound more like Mannheim Steamroller, the
sound quickly drifts back to a free form electronic jazz
performance. The next track goes off in the same vein and reminds
me of some of the work of Mark Isham. If you get the feeling the
music is a bit off the beaten path, then you’d be right. The
songs have names like Jack-in-the-Box, Skinny Dance, and Frosted
Bonsai—there could be no mistaking the variety of themes.
The bonus second disc is a live performance recorded at the Patriots
Theater at the War Memorial on June 29th, 2002 in Trenton, New
Jersey. Although the material is different, there is not much
different in the music and sound of the first disc—there is a little
jazz, some progressive rock, and some soundtrack music. These
discs are definitely an interesting listen, but may not appeal to
everyone, so tread carefully. Songs included are: Disc 1-
Pyramide; Scarabee; Caramba!; Uppsala; Tartine; Contrees liquids;
Polar; Boite a surprises; Checkpoint Charlie; Talrika; Le
cruciverbiste; Gavotte chetive; Bonsai givre; Boite a rebuts;
Preparatifs de vacances; Foret dense. Disc 2- La celebre boucle;
Le regne des termites; Toutes proportions gardees; Mine de rien;
Singularite; L’inevitable; Mangeur de masters; Le sorcier; Mme X; Le
fantome de M. C. Escher; Le roi soldat; Pas a ce que ie sache, Sacha;
Igor, l’ours a moto.
-Brian Bloom
