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RENCONTRES

Miriodor

RIO/Avant-Prog


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Miriodor Rencontres album cover
4.23 | 73 ratings | 5 reviews | 41% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 1986

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Échec et mat / Checkmate (4:49)
2. Les passants / The Stowaway (5:40)
3. L'allée des Martyrs / Road to Martyrdom (10:12)
4. Brouillard / Fog (9:02)
5. Rencontres / Encounters (7:44)
6. La Maison-Dieu / A Tower Struck Down (8:43)

Total Time 46:10

Bonus tracks on 1998 CD edition:
7. Lac d'orgueil / Lake of Vanity (4:37)
8. L'expatrié / The Expatriate (7:05)
9. L'homme fangeux / The Miry Man (5:22)
10. Égrégore / Assembly of Spirits (7:30)

Line-up / Musicians

- François Émond / flute, violin, synthesizer, electric piano, clarinet, vocals
- Pascal Globensky / electric piano, 12-string guitar, bass
- Marc Petticlerc / synthesizer, organ, electric piano, bass
- Sabin Hudon / soprano, alto & tenor saxophones
- Denis Robitaille / bass, Chapman Stick, guitar, vocals
- Rémi Leclerc / drums

Releases information

Artwork: Christian Globensky

LP Self-released ‎- Rio 43 (1986, Canada)

CD Cuneiform ‎- Rune 108 (1998, US) New cover art; 4 bonus tracks previously released on cassette, remixed by Sabin Hudon

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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MIRIODOR Rencontres ratings distribution


4.23
(73 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(41%)
41%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(42%)
42%
Good, but non-essential (16%)
16%
Collectors/fans only (0%)
0%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

MIRIODOR Rencontres reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars This has been an absolute pleasure to listen to this past week. I really couldn't believe what I was hearing because I was expecting something more in the Avant-garde style. Apparently that would come with later releases.This was their debut released back in the mid-eighties.The band consisted of 6 members who played sax, flute, clarinet, drums, bass, guitar, violin, synths, piano and organ. I was reminded a little of the Canterbury sounds at times and later HENRY COW. All I know is that this really sounds amazing. There are English vocals on two tracks which only add to the gourmet meal they serve up for us. I can't believe being a Canadian that I have never heard of this band. Shame on me ! They give the titles in French and English so i'll use the English ones.

The album starts off with "Checkmate" that is an uptempo violin led beauty. I'm not a huge fan of the violin but this sounds really good. Drums and guitar help fill out the sound. The tempo starts to shift around 2 minutes in.This is a torrid start. "The Stowaway" features a sax / drum melody to die for. So smooth and refreshing. These guys can play so beautifully. Acoustic guitar is added. A beautiful jazzy tune. "Road To Martyrdom" is a change of pace as it opens with some powerful organ. A nice sax, drum, bass melody follows when the organ stops. Just a gorgeous sound. The melody stops 3 minutes in and flute melodies take over briefly before the main melody returns sounding a little different. An ethnic flavour follows and it's joined by organ first then clarinet? before organ returns. Drums and violin 7 minutes in before the main melody returns again. Flute then sax take the leads. Like the intro we get powerful organ to end it. What a ride ! Over 10 minutes long. "Fog" is darker with synths and organ to open. The tempo does pick up as drums and horns come in. It's still gloomy though until the flute comes in with light drums and bass. The odd metered drumming is cool. Sax arrives as themes are repeated. Check out the crazy drumming 7 1/2 minutes in. "Encounters" is a mixed bag really as the tempo and mood changes throughout. It's dark, bright, slow, fast, loud and soft. It opens quietly with some nice sax and piano. A nice full sound a minute in.

"A Tower Struck Down" has vocals that remind me somewhat of David Bowie. Not quite as deep but close. Flute comes in. Drums and a full sound 1 1/2 minutes in as vocals stop. An excellent sound follows including sax and violin as drums beat. Vocals are back after 7 minutes to end it with synths and flute. "Lake Of Vanity" opens with some beautiful sounding clarinet. The bass is chunky as drums pound away. Violin comes and goes. Sax and clarinet come and go as well. Gorgeous song. "The Expatriate" has a pastoral intro and the flute / sax passages are incredible. The bass and drum work is outstanding as well. Synths provide a nice background. The pace picks up before 4 minutes. It pretty much stops 5 1/2 minutes in and comes back very mellow. Violin a minute later to end it. "The Miry Man" is a fun, uptempo tune to begin with. The tempo keeps changing after that though. It calms right down after 2 minutes, as it becomes almost spacey. Flute and marching- like drums follow. It picks back up again 4 1/2 minutes in. The final track is called "Assembly Of Spirits" with flute, clarinet, synths, drums, bass, piano and vocals leading the way to begin with in a fairly mellow beginning. The tempo picks up 2 minutes in as violin comes in. A calm 5 minutes in as vocals and flute return to end it.

I hate to give another 5 stars out so soon after the last one but this is totally deserving. This will go beside my HENRY COW and Canterbury favs.

Review by apps79
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars 4.5 stars really!

This has to be among the best bands around since the 80's!MIRIODOR were found in 1980 by François Émond and Pascal Globensky in Quebec,at a time when most progressive rock bands were disappearing from the musical map.The band setted as a sextet around 1983 and released their first album ''Recontres'' with material recorded in Montreal in a three years period.The album was actually a self-produced effort,now long time out of print,which was re- issued by Cuneiform Records in 1998 and I think the cover is different from the original album.

What a surprise to listen to such a perfect and almost entirely instrumental blending of RIO- style music with the Canterbury school of rock and the complex prog of GENTLE GIANT and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR.MIRIODOR can be at the same time complex,dark and obscure as well as romantic and melodic.Lots of different instruments offer a unique experience of varied atmospheres and changing climates.With two woodwind instrumentalists on the line-up,the sound is dominated by massive jazzy saxes and beatiful clarinets,creating weird soundscapes in the vein of UNIVERS ZERO or even VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR (an influence supported also by the deep organ sounds).When the sound gets more melodic,it's the Canterbury bands which come to mind: Driving flutes in full harmony with delicate sax work and light electric pianos remind me of legends like HATFIELD AND THE NORTH,NATIONAL HEALTH and GILGAMESH.When the band is really on for some trully adventuruous yet inspired music,it's time for GENTLE GIANT to spring to mind...and what to say about this excellent rhythm section:When the other musicians alternate,Globansky,Robitaille and Leclerc are there to fill the spaces with a confindent,heavy and tight playing.

It's really hard to fully describe MIRIODOR's sound,which also includes a variety of keyboard passages and effects with nice moog,organ and spacey synths.One thing is for sure:MIRIODOR's talent is over the top and their music should be spread to a wider audience.A multi-influenced album with a personal sound,which will leave lovers of different prog styles a lot more than simply satisfied.A strongly intricate listening followed by a high recommendation!

Review by Man With Hat
COLLABORATOR Jazz-Rock/Fusion/Canterbury Team
4 stars Miriodor, Take One.

The debut of one of the best modern avant-prog bands. Always fun, always addictive, always enjoyable. A defining characteristic of this band is how much their sound changes and evolves throughout their existence. For anyone who is familiar with their later work, this will sound quite different. A strong canterbury flavor is in the mix, with plenty of delicious sax work and dripping with flute passages (something that can't be said for their later albums). Even the next two albums really don't sound like this, making it a unique entry in the world of Miriodor. The sextet version of the band is quite enjoyable, ensuring that many sounds roll out of the speakers, even though keyboards (of all types), and flute are most salient. Moods on this album range from quirky to tense to mysterious to lamentful to exciting. Finally, the compositions are strong and interesting, never sounding to repetitive or wandering. All these factors ensure the listener will not get bored any where through this long album.

Even for a debut album, they have carved out a unique niche, as this doesn't sound too much like any other band. Some stylistic similarities can be drawn to canterbury bands, and more lighthearted RIO/Avant bands, but there is never a time where I hear phrases that could be taken from other bands. (Hell, they don't even sound like themselves!) For a debut, this is definitely an impressive quality. There are really no bad songs on this album, but the best moments include Checkmate (an embryonic form of the "traditional" Miriodor sound), Road To Martyrdom, with excellent organ runs, and the brilliant Fog, with some outstanding drumming throughout, especially at the end. The only downside I can see here is the sound quality. It is not great, but passable. The drums, especially, seem to get bogged down in the mix, as well as the bass to some degree. I suppose recording conditions for (what I assume are) a poor unnknown avant-tingled band in the mid 80s in Canada weren't ideal. This sound quality certainly threw me on the first couple of listens, meaning that this is really a headphone album, where you can just like the music swirl around you and truly get absorbed, without distraction.

All in all, this is an excellent, and fairly unique Miriodor album. Miriodor, in general, are an excellent band for someone who isn't all too familiar with Avant-Prog, or who doesn't generally like that type of music, and this album may be one of the best to begin with, with its more relaxed, canterburyish sounds. May be difficult to find, but if you do, it's well worth it. 4.5 stars. Recommended.

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars The self-released debut LP by Miriodor finds the band drawing from diverse prog subgenres. It's only natural that this includes the jazz-rock stylings of the likes of Maneige, since Miriodor also hail from Quebec, and there's also the humour of the likes of Samla Mammas Manna or the Muffins in play, as well as extensive influence from the likes of Egg, Hatfield and the North, and National Health - none of whom could exactly be described as dour.

The end result is a sort of Canterbury-ish RIO-y sort of jazz-rock mayhem, and one delivered with deft skill by the players. Putting out a debut album with this sort of sound in 1986 was a risky prospect, but such is the quality of the material that if you sent it back to 1976 it could have gone toe-to-toe with any of the group's influences.

Latest members reviews

4 stars This was the first title of this very interesting canadian band. Between fusion, prog and avant garde, "Rencontres" is a very nice album, with a great work on wind instruments and keyboards. A few songs to remember: "L'allée des martyrs", "Rencontres" and the very- very beautiful and emotive pi ... (read more)

Report this review (#40315) | Posted by progadicto | Monday, July 25, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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