ÉTOIFILAN

3.5 stars really!!

Actually by this album's release the group had pretty well changed its name to Etoifilan. Written by commission for a youth attention program (as the strange cartoon-like artwork indicates), Etoifilan is an extremely short album and while definitely musically-related to their debut album, the song's focus is definitely more child-like although this really depends of which tracks. Actually you can hear more their Acadian folk roots on this album than on their debut, but the original quartet gets the help of a rock rhythm section (bass and drums) on most tracks. The lyrics are written by Le Tamanoir label boss and provide much of the good times feelings of this conceptual release.

After a brass-laden intro, the album is often close to jigs and other "ritournelles" that trad folk is all about. In this album, Moreau's classical influences seem to take a bit of a back seat to McLean's folk meanderings but if listened to correctly, you will find that the music writing is well shared as Concert Océanique will hint and it might just be this album's highlight. Chanson Des Planetes (with its dissonant electric piano) and Je Suis Etoifilan are at the core of the album's concept. But the other highlight is the stunning 6-min Fete De La Musique where the complexity of the music is rather surprising (and almost opposite) to its childish themes. Easily the group's progressive masterpieces with complex strings and brass arrangements, it seemed evident that the group was ready for new heights with their yet- unreleased Marche Des Rennes. The outro is a bit the other bookend from the opening track.

If I was always a bit upset by their debut album's duration, the frustration is even greater with this album, clocking at just 25 minutes, yet this album, if you forget the childish themes is a better showing (more progressive anyway) than their debut. Probably too expensive on the vinyl format, this album is an added bonus with the debut's reissue.

This second L'ENGOULEVENT album, branded as a release by a "new" group Etoifilan at the time, was conceived as a soundtrack to accompany a children's book of the same name. I cannot vouch for the book, but the music appears to be aimed at the parents. If anything the blend of folk, prog and jazz is more sophisticated than on the inaugural release, with more keyboard embellishments. Only the diminutive "Chanson Triste" sounds childish in any way, but even it seems like an embryonic blueprint for the much later works of MANU CHAO. La Chanson des Planetes" and "La Fete de la Musique" are the most evolved and appealing numbers, and there is nothing as egregiously untoward as "Je me Demande" had been. Yet, with the exception of the lively "J'ai des etoiles dans le nez". this refinement has usurped the unshakable emotional resonance of the recovered time capsule that was "L'Ile iu Vivent les Loups". It's worth seeking out on the CD reissue as a 2-fer that still manages to runs shorter than most modern releases. 3.5 stars rounded down.