“This is a nice find that will please fans of EM of the analog years where musical souvenirs are hiding in each recess of cosmic melodies”
1 Chemin D'Enfer 5:56
2 Cosmic Arp3:33
3 Impro-Vision 8:11
4 Le Ciel est Jaune d'un Liquide Inconnu I 11:41
5 Le Ciel est Jaune d'un Liquide Inconnu II 8:47
6 D.X. Seven Age 1:58
7 Little Dream 3:37
8 The Music Is Saved 6:11
9 Its Moogs Strange 4:11
10 Souvenir Du Petit Goom 2:19
11 Rencontre Manquée 2:56
12 Midi-Station 3:17
13 Au-Dela du Passé 9:37
Musea-Dreaming DR 8463.AR
(CD 72:38) (V.F.)
(Melodious, Berlin School)
If Sur Le Chemin showed us a more sober and classical Bertrand Loreau, RÉMINESCENCES is quite different and presents us a more incisive and experimental musician. Written between 1981 and 1985, this album is a collection of 13 tracks where he displays his collection of musical souvenirs and influences which sway between Klaus Schulze, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Tomita and even Space Art. It's a nice collection which plunges us into the absolved universe of a synthesist always poetic and musical, but which explores all the possibilities of his multiple Moogs.
Twinkling arpeggios spinning in limpid spirals open Chemin d'Enfer and its alluring whirlwind of heavy chords which enfold a binary movement where nervous chords wrap a synth with analog moans, as spectral as harmonious. We are at the dawn of the 80's and influences of Heldon and Space Art come in our ears with this heavy minimalist tornado imprinted of fine subtleties in modulations. More cosmic, Cosmic Arp embraces the sonorous strangeness of some old Schulze and the astral poetries of Jarre with a slow procession which pulses under fine serpentines of musical shooting stars. Recorded in the same period is opening with delicate arpeggios which sparkle and flicker in a puddle of brief synth pads to jerky breezes, whereas a nice sequence line with soft accents of a suave bass is cooing in a long wavy breathe. We would imagine being in Schulze's Body Love era, especially with the addition of fine percussions and a sequence with soft modulations and furtive oscillations. It's a very good track from the analog period. Very experimental Le Ciel est Jaune d'un Liquide Inconnu I begins with an eclectic and metallic intro of which rustles are lull by slow morphic strata. We are in the heart of a universe of synthetic noises and sizzling sound effects where the ascent is slow but is worth every of these curious noises of a world in fusion. Arpeggios born and ring here and there, embracing heavy heterogeneous layers before falling in a superb melodious spiral where chords parade in dancing hoops under suave mellotron mist. Build in the same mold, but less eclectic, Le Ciel est Jaune d'un Liquide Inconnu II presents a 2nd portion closer to cosmic rock with its drum which hammers a supple rhythm under a soft fluty mellotron.
DX Seven Age is a nice cosmic ode with its synth fusing laments that roar beneath beautiful dark waves of organs. Recorded at the same era Little Dream is a cute cosmic lullaby where delicate crystalline arpeggios follow the will of cosmic modulations. It's a track where we can feel Vangelis' influences at full ears. The Music is Saved is another delicate cosmic ballad where arpeggios swirl in a soft astral whirlwind while Its Moogs Strange presents synth solos which spin in loops in a deep static sonorous environment while solos of Souvenir Du Petit Goom are supported by brief pads of organ and that those of Rencontre Manquée are pushed by nice sequential impulses. Midi-Station offers a structure where sequences follow each other and tumble down it staccato, wrapped with brief solos of jerky synth, and seem to merge together to form a perfect cadenced union such as xylophone hits and sliding whereas Au-Dela du Passé's sequences flow freely and swirls in deviant ascension beneath deep mellotron pads. It’s a nice and long track with random movements which embrace a bit the cosmic mood before returning to its delicate crystal whirlwind.
Bertrand Loreau's RÉMINESCENCES is a nice find, a very good album that will please fans of EM from the analog years where musical souvenirs and Bertrand Loreau's influences are hiding in every hidden recess of its cosmic melodies. This is EM from France, this music stemming from first stammering of Space Art and Jean Michel Jarre, giving birth to a movement smothered by the outbreak of the English and Dutch movements. PWM Distrib is there and watches the hatching of this school that has more poetic and lyrical movements.
Sylvain Lupari (April 7th, 2011) *****
Available at PWM Distrib