Member:
ffroyd
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by ffroyd)
Date:
10/14/2006
Format:
CD (Album)
The folks at ProgQuebec are at it again! Is there no end to the incredible stream of great Quebecois music they can pull out of the archives? The latest is a real treat from the short-lived group L'Engoulevent from the Lac Saint-Jean area in central Quebec.
Formed by guitarist/singer Michel McLean who had formerly been part of the folk pop duo Les Karrick with Claude LaFrance, the project was originally scheduled to be a solo outing but as things grew it eventually became a complete band. Keyboardist Pierre Moreau provides a big piece of the sonic picture and wrote a good portion of the music on the album. Rounding out the quartet is Françoise Turcotte on violin and cellist Russel Gagnon. Also adding some incidental percussion here and there is Paul Picard from Maneige.
As you might have guessed, the music on L'Île où vivent les loups is very mellow and quite beautiful. A nice combination of chamber music mixed with folk and soft pop styles. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything quite like this. It takes a few listens to really get the feel for the music but once I picked it up, I was completely engulfed. There are some really dramatic moments in the music and it’s this kind of stuff that makes me want to learn the French language. No, this isn’t all vocal-based material; there are just as many instrumental sections here.
There are quite a few guest appearances here including a few members of Conventum and also backing vocals from Christiane Robichaud of Contration. Speaking of which, there are some really nice choral elements in several of the tracks. My favorite is probably the choir on “Les Vieux Trains” which is very nice. Some of the pieces strangely remind me of the way Renaissance would put together their music with a strong reliance on dramatic vocal melodies and very expressive piano playing.
As if it weren’t good enough for ProgQuebec to just release this wonderful gem back into the world, they’ve added as a bonus another entire album. Étoifilan is a collection of music that was written for a children’s book by author Bertrand Gauthier. The music on Étoifilan isn’t as serious as that on L'Île où vivent les loups but this is not a bad thing at all, in some ways I like it even more. There is a slightly different vibe and the addition of synthesizers gives it a completely new dimension. Several guest musicians lend a hand on this as well, including percussionist Matthew Leger from L’Orchestre Sympathique.
If you’re a fan of any of the releases from the ProgQuebec label, this one should already be on your automatic-buy list. This is the first time either of these albums has been released legitimately on compact disc. Probably I’d say the music on this one is most closely related to the sound of Conventum but honestly, it is in a class all by itself.
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