PHILHARMONIE

I really like the "sound" of this album as this three piece play drums, Warr guitar and Frederic playing bowed and plucked strings as it says in the liner notes. There's a lot of discipline(pardon the pun) on this album where they keep things in line. And while I prefer the darker and heavier sounds of "Fever Island" and "A Complex Nature" this is an album that brings a lot of satisfaction to me musically. Again it's that "sound". And in light of this we get an album where there really isn't even some standout tracks for me, this is all good and it clocks in at under 48 minutes over seven songs. It was that opener though that moved me to put this on my play list last week. Sounds build as drums join the guitars and the contrasts will continue throughout this track. As I mentioned earlier KC's "Discipline" is a marker for what we have here with the intricate, complex guitars and really good drum work. Clearly Frederic's schooling helped so much here when it comes to composition and counterpoint especially.

Of SHYLOCK, PHILHARMONIE and YANG I would have to say I lean towards SHYLOCK followed by YANG then PHILHARMONIE. Headphone music right here.

This sophomore work by the French guitarists sounds rather different from their first effort and this fact alone marks them as a totally unique band in my books.After all, how many styles can you play on guitar and at the same time come up with a listenable record?What really differs from the first release is the fact that ''Les elephants carillonneurs'' sounds a lot more shiny and positive of a listening experience.There are still many KING CRIMSON references to the sound and the jazzy spices can be found everywhere in this work, but I can hear a definite switch towards strongly atmospheric soundscapes, which offer plenty of dreamy chords and ethereal textures.It's also fairly more laid-back with a soft guitar jazziness, but what really shocks is some, what should I call them, pre Post-Rock tunes, a term not even defined in early-90's.The album has an obvious ambiental atmosphere, which works very well despite its length, on the other hand there are these less interesting moments, which hurt the consistency of this work with the band sounding a lot like throwing an academic seminar of guitar exercises.No bass, no drums.Just lovely guitar spelling with some nice and smooth playing.

Again the album's length is not a positive assess.The best moments of ''Les eléphants carillonneurs'' deserve a wide exposure, but the lack of coherence makes this a simply recommended effort, which will be loved by guitar heroes worldwide.

This is a trully experimental record of three guitarists performing both individually and simultaneously in an album, that produces dreamy, ethereal and Ambient-like atmospheres.Already since his days with Shylock L'Epee had been compared to ROBERT FRIPP regarding his style and this comparison seems reasonable again listening to ''Beau soleil'', where the three guitarists use these FRIPP-ian techniques to result obscure soundscapes, based on steady grooves, light jazzy solos, dark distortions and generally series of unique collaborations.The ability to come up with a very personal and haunting atmosphere marks Philharmonie as a very original act, however the long duration of the album does not really help, a length of 30-40 minutes would be really great and the time plenty enough for the listener to catch up with the idea, unfortunately ''Beau soleil'' tends to sound rather boring after the 40-min. mark.

Hard to fully describe it, but good enough to purchase it, ''Beau soleil'' is an album with a unique sound of its own and definitely in need of a decent reissue by a major label, fully representative of Frederic L'Epee's musical personality.Recommended to all guitar freaks and lovers of deep music atmospheres.

This is heard most prominantly on the song "Vers Le Nord".There are drums and bass on this record as well, but the guitars dominate the sound. The sound here is restrained and pleasant without much variation. There is little in the way of outbursts or solos. This is a band playing together as one for the most part, and it's very impressive. Intricate and interplay are two words that come to mind a lot. I must say though that I much prefer L'Epee's next band YANG which is very dynamic with some great angular guitar. The final song "From The North" was interesting because the guitars almost sound like electronics the way they sort of bubble quickly.

This is in my opinion more for guitar fans or guitar players. An hour of this is a bit much for me though.

The album has very high-class compositions, and there's not a weak track. The production and the sound quality are also top notch.

The band disbanded in October 1997, and this fifth and final album was recorded between March and August, 1998 at Studio 26, Antibes, France, and it is a great way of saying good-bye to their audience. Recommended!