PAIX

Considered as their most progressive output, the 1972 "Paix" album (released in 1974) features two excellent long pieces, the 15mn eponym track "Paix" and the 24mn "Un jour. la Mort". The beginning of the "Paix" piece reminds of german prog thanks to a dark acid introduction with cosmic keyboards and a haunting bass. There's an impressive organ part sounding like Canterburyan trafficked organ sound. Then comes the lyrics declaimed by Catherine Ribeiro which gain progressively in intensity. The breathtaking "Un jour.la Mort" is even better with very intense lyrics related to death, multi-layered keyboard and guitar soundscapes over pulsing percussions. One of the most original records from the 70's French underground.

CR&A's third album (fourth if you count the 2Bis album) is probably the best acclaimed by connoisseurs and deservedly so! Their hippy psych rock filled with revolutionary ideals in their lyrics works wonders in this case as it will in the next few albums, but back in 72, there was still a lot of peoplethat actually believe it was all still possible, something the 73 oil crisis will crush (at least in the old world and around the globe, bar the US). The quintet has again suffered some line-up shuffle and besides guitarist/composer Mouillet, percussionist, drummer Santangelli and keyboard Lemoine, appears Jean-Sébastien, brother of Patrice on bass guitar. With only four tracks and a very pastoral artwork cover

Starting with the wordless a cappella Roc Alpin, the album is off to a rather short &and unrepresentative upbeat track, that presents a slight folk feel. Much more impressive is the equally short (both around the 3-mins track) Jusqu'à Ce Que La Force, which shows all the usual CR&A dramatics over a Tony Banks organ line. Ribeiro's vocals are again very powerful, maybe recorded a tad too low, but her French singing shouldn't be a problem for anyone having the basis of the language. This minimum French is of course mandatory to understand Catherine's usually very strong lyrics, often selling revolution as if the obvious alternative; her sometimes arresting images in her lyrics are very powerful and add much to the group's flavour. Indeed the lengthy (15-mins+) title track starts on an extended instrumental intro (and equally long outro), showing the musical quartet being very good at their respective tricks, but its constantly crescendoing prog chords only add that much weight once Catherine starts bellowing her "peace" messages: "peace to our bellies, tanks for academics garbage" or "peace to our degenerate generations".

The flipside's sidelong suite, Un Jour. La Mort, is another fabulous journey into Alpes' universe: slow organ grindings with spacey electric guitar whinings taking their sweet times to develop, but once the bass gets along, Ribeiro's death-throes scat vocals are taking you on the other side of life, the whole thing dying down around the 7,5 mins mark, until Ribeiro's singing is now taking an almost liturgical tone (especially over the organ), until she becomes seductive and enticing, even when using colourful rebellious and thoughtful revolutionary lyrics. Interrupted by a strident musical raga-like interlude sprinkled with dissonant piano, enchanting acoustic guitar strums, Catherine comes back eructing death, claiming she's not a real lesbian (too bad for her. She's missing out, I am one ;o)), the same happening a little later than Catherine promising to make you a kid as the track slowly retires in a mish mash or her rantings and other antics mixed with strong organ.

Rather hard not to agree with many that Paix is one of CR&A's major achievements, Paix is indeed the perfect entry point to those seeking to enter this amazing French psychedelia. You'll have understood that CR&A is not for everyone, but if you love unusual music and smile at the thought of saying "WTF is this music???", no doubt that CR&A will take a few spins per year in the next few decades in your life.

A delightful French folk? No, not at all!

Let me say please don't be deceived by the first poppy French pop-rock Roc Alpin - Alpine Rock. Ah, sorry, of course this is a very smart and fine song, with Catherine's masculine husky and overwhelming voices and rhythmical French poppy sounds. Consider this is exactly a wonderful French Rock song. And furthermore, in the next ballad Jusqu'a Ce Que La Force De T'aimer Me Manque, with a flamenco guitar solo, Catherine's voices can get more flexible, more passionate, and more melancholic. Cannot help crying in her graceful but exploding chorus, let's try this ACID FOLK!

However, naturally, the real gems in this album should be the last two long songs - especially, the last track Un Jour... La Mort, with three independent parts in it, has absolutely all of their musical essence; quiet, smooth, (and a bit boring) opening... Catherine's mysteriously hoarse but palmy, fruity vibrations with heavy riffs of a bass solo... ethnic percussive sounds with her aggressive French singin'... and based on a fantastic electric guitar solo, impressing avalanche of pleasant voices and psychedelic keyboard & guitar sounds... even her shouts and cries can be comfortable for us, what a beautiful ending scene!

The title track Paix is another gem. spacey percussion is particularly impressive. Repetitive and fragrant riffs by a fancy keyboard solo and a simple (and sometimes eccentrically heavy) guitar one can remind us French progressive folk with some danceable and sensual texture. But the basis of this song is "Rock" I wanna say.

Oh, anyway, finally let me say - Roc Alpin can be very fit for my daily jog. :-)

What if Hawkwind or Gong went folk, with Nico on lead vocals? Perhaps they would have ended up with a sound a bit like the one exhibited by Catherine Ribeiro's backing group Alpes on this release. Sputtering hazily between psychedelic space rock vistas and hippy folk chants and songs, this bizarre release combines adventurous musical experimentation with capable and diverse vocals on the part of Catherine herself, which have a resonance and a boldness to them matched by very few. There aren't many groups who can count themselves as having a truly unique sound, but Alpes might just be one of them.