Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Ange - Le cimetière des arlequins [Philips - 1974]

The years 1968-1975 constitute, in retrospect, a magical time. Hippie ideals were slowly falling apart,and the revolt of May '68 had failed because of the deeply ingrained consumerist concerns of even themost hardened revolutionaries, who found school holidays more important than standing on thebarricades. Hollywood had not yet succumbed to the blockbuster disaster, and turned out some of itsfinest movies, such as The Conversation and The French Connection.Exploitation and B-movie cinema was at its pinnacle with dozens of titles released each month.In Italy, the dynamics of the time created fantastic film music (Ennio Morricone,Bruno Nicolai); In France, some of the greatest electro-acoustic music ever recorded(Pierre Hernry, Bernard Parmegiani, François Bayle) was unleashed bygovernment-subsidized organizations such as INA-GRM; And in Germany, a number of groups lumpedtogether under the krautrock monicker traveled down vistas unknown where post-hippie freakouts,Stockhausen-influenced avant-gardism, jazz, and adventurous rock met.

The area of greatness that we wish to address here is that of progressive rock, that much maligned andmisunderstood genre, which produced its everlasting classics in exactly this time-frame. One only needsto listen to Genesis's Foxtrot or King Crimson's Larks' Tongues in Aspicto get an idea of the promises that this type of music once held, but unfortunately failed to live up toin subsequent years. In the slipstream of these "big names," numerous now-forgotten bands tried theirhand at this once exciting new music, which for the first time tried to marry the rebellion of rockto the intellectualism of jazz and classical music.

We will save our discussion of outstanding contributorsto the genre such as Osanna, Area, and Heldon for some later date,and will for the time being concentrate on French outfit Ange, who produced some of thefinest albums of the period. We recently stumbled upon their Le cimetière des arlequins (1974)in a second-hand record store in Liège, Belgium. Little did we know that we held in our hands whatwould soon become one of our all-time favorite records, irrespective of genre. What we have here isa demonstration of the currents that ran through European intellectual circles in the early 70s.The album displays a poetry and a lyricism that can only be associated with the films (those ofJean Rollin in particular spring to mind), the literature, and the overall zeitgeistof those years. The album works as an organic whole, with beautifully fuzzed out guitar workcourtesy of Jean Michel Brezovar, reminiscent of both Robert Fripp and Steve Hackett, ferociouslyfree drumming placing the emphasis on the cymbals, and all kinds of analogue organs including theubiquitous Moog and the mysterious Mellotron that never fail to arouse the appropriate feelings ofgrandeur and pathos. Lyrically, the album treads the paths beaten out by a decidedlyFlemish or Northern-French magic-realism, that is found in the paintings of Clovis Trouilleas much as it is present in the novels and essays of Hubert Lampo, Johan Daisne,and Jean Ray, and that seems to be a property of the territory that stands in sharp contrast to itsoften desolate landscape and dispassionate industrial towns. This was a time when confessing toan interest in esoterica, Tarot, and the supernatural was not yet frowned upon by the forces ofmaterialist reductionism which came to rule the minds of the masses. Imagine a party in a room withop-art design wallpaper, furniture in orange and brown, thick red and white carpets on the floor,long-haired freaks holding glasses of red wine in their hands, discussing the effects of Situationismon bourgeois society while at the same time expressing an interest in vampiric lore andmedieval alchemical tracts...

We have not yet been exposed to what many claim is Ange's true masterpiece, 1975's Au-dèla du délire.As has happened to us before with other artists, we are so overwhelmed by the overall beauty ofLe cimetière..., that we hardly dare go back to that record shop in Liège, where we know we can findthat follow-up album. Suffice it to say that, if the rumours are true, chances are thatAu-dèla du délire will land itself into our all-time Top 3 once we allow ourselves to hear it.In the meantime, we enjoy each spin we give to Le cimetière....

As a final remark, this albummust be experienced in its original vinyl format. The stunning foldout sleeve is impossible toreproduce in the CD format, and the album ends with a locked groove which is again something thatwill not survive the transition to the digital world, where everything is served to the consumer ona plate in digestible bits and pieces. The physicality of it all is part and parcel of that magicalperiod, and we therefore recommend you go the extra mile and hunt down the original vinyl.

Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

Latest Reviews

Ange - Le cimetière des arlequins
The years 1968-1975 constitute, in retrospect, a magical time. Hippie ideals were slowly falling apart,and the revolt of May '68 had failed because of the de...
280324   Typhoon Club - Typhoon Club(B...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
220324   Patrick - Patrick( UHD/ Blu Ray)
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom