FOEHN

While Magma dominated the 1970s with its unique self-made genre called zeuhl with only a few splinter bands like Zao and Weidorje following suit early on, i'm simply amazed at how many bands in the 1980s tackled the zeuhl style and put their own stamp on it. Most of these bands like the French FOEHN only released a sole album before disappearing into obscurity while a scant few others such as Shub-Niggurath that managed to crank out a few albums. While FOEHN was a one-album band, it featured guitarist Alain Blesing of Eskaton. The term FOEHN refers to a type of dry, relatively warm downslope wind that occurs on the downside of a mountain range. Somewhat accurate in describing the band, FOEHN indeed was sort of a dry type of zeuhl that presented a warm vibe in contrast to some of the more dark and avant-garde experiments that emerged all throughout the 1980s.

Pretty much a forgotten artifact of the 1980s and usually only mentioned as a mere footnote in the history of Eskaton as the band Blesing formed after leaving, FOEHN is one of the tamer bands to have emerged during this time and FAËRIA, the band's sole release features one of the worst album covers in all of rock history! And i thought some of the early Krautrock album covers were bad :D Unfortunately the music isn't much more exciting really. While pleasantly delivered sounding most like the 70s band Zao with lovely female vocals, stellar guitar work and a jazzier than usual flavoring, the album is a bit lackluster in the compositional department with most of the tracks coming off as OK but rather mediocre. Some though stand out such as "Licorne II" which features a beefed up guitar performance as it focuses on instrumental expressions rather than delivering vocals.

Strange for a zeuhl album, FAËRIA offers a touch of Brazilian samba mixed in with its jazzy approach. The fusion is stronger than on most zeuhl albums and the tracks are all on the shorter side without the sophistication and experimental excursions that many zeuhl bands explored. One could possibly even call this zeuhl light as it's a rather accessible style that offers a sense of crossover possibilities even though some of the bass grooves and guitar riffs are quite complex at time. The album was released once in 1985 and has never found a repressing and to be honest this is one of those forgotten artifacts that doesn't really need to be rediscovered. Zeuhl is a vibrant and energetic nook of the greater progressive rock universe and offers some of the wildest experiments that mix jazz and avant-prog that an adventurous musical explorer could hope for but FOEHN sounds more like the zeuhl version of the early Return To Forever albums with Flora Purim only without Chic Corea's majesty to animate it to a higher level.

Honestly Blesing should've stuck it out with Eskaton as that band was much more dynamic and although it started out more as a Magma clone eventually found its own unique take on the genre. This is one of the lesser releases in the zeuhl codex, a genre that was quite the rage of the French underground all throughout the 1980s before Magma would eventually reclaim the throne of zeuhl royalty. For those who are charmed by a light and fluffy version of zeuhl that makes Zao look like the most adventurous band since Captain Beefheart, then you might like this more than i do but when i seek out a zeuhl album i want it to be relentlessly experimental and take me places i never knew existed. This one is just too warm and fuzzy and too safe for its own good. The vocal jazz scatting sounds like some New York City lounge act a lot of the time and the actual zeuhl elements are rather tame making this more of a smooth jazz fusion album than anything in the Magma related camp. It's OK. Nothing unpleasant but doesn't get my juices flowing either.

Never quite know what you're going to get with a one album wonder. Its either a hidden masterpiece, or there's a reason they only made one album. Sadly I think this one is close to the latter. Foehn take the scatty vocal style of Zeuhl and apply it to (mostly) smooth jazz. There's plenty of faster paced bits for variety as well. The keys take a lead role on the first track, unusual for a lot of Zeuhl, but the bass is major too. In truth over the next few tracks I prefer the instrumentals than when the vocals get involved, they don't add too much other than a distraction. At other times, the overall piece becomes a bit like lift music. Needs a bit more oomph. Highlight tracks are the first one, and the two Licorne tracks.