MANEIGE

The Maneige albums are special albums and each offer different musical perspective. On their debut album Maneige were an all instrumental psych-jazz-prog band who in many ways remind me of a mix of Ummagumma era Pink Floyd with pieces of Mike Oldfield, Jethro Tull and traces of Canterbury prog tossed in. Their music is captivating and like many of the 70's prog quebec bands carried a high degreee of musicianship and deep song writing ability. On this first album maneige mix a wide range of instruments with some great mallet work, flute, various percussive tones, woodwind and sax. This is my favourite of all the Maneige albums and an absolute essential album to own. In the summer of 2007 i got a chance to meet Gilles Schetagne (percussionist in Maneige) and got to tell him how much i have enjoyed thier music and thanked him for the music after all these years.

3.5 stars. "Les Porches" is similar to the debut but without the dark passages and avant moments.So for my tastes the debut is much better.This is so well played and arranged though,very impressive.The classical and pastoral flavour of this album just does little for me,no matter how good it all is.I know i'm in the minority with these feelings so take my opinions with a dash of salt(if you know what i mean).This album consists of two long tracks and two short ones. "Les Porches De Notre-Dame" is classical and pastoral with lots of flute and piano for the first 13 minutes.I just can't get into this,and believe me i've been trying.My favourite part of the whole album is the final 6 minutes of this song.First vocals come in and they are fragile,almost quivering but i like them.Sax before 15 minutes leads the way while bass impresses.Guitar takes over before 17 1/2 minutes and is just fantastic! Six minutes of these guys letting their hair down and showing some passion. "La Grosse Torche" is very classical with strings. "Les Aventures De Saxinette Et Clarophone" is mellow with some atmosphere for a couple of minutes then a melody arrives.Piano and an uptempo melody before 4 minutes.I like the guitar after 6 1/2 minutes then it settles with percussion and vibes as the piano continues.Guitar is back 8 1/2 minutes in.A change after 9 minutes as horns come in.It's chaotic 11 1/2 minutes in.Great track. "Chromo" features lots of wind instruments,bass and drums.A calm before 3 minutes and it stays fairly restrained the rest of the way. It's hard for me to imagine too many people giving this less than 4 stars,but the enjoyment level isn't there to warrant it from me.

I guess you could call this "Rhythmic Fusion" with all the percusion,drums,xylophones and vibes.Very accessible and polished with shorter tracks, it's a far cry from their first amazing album.So yes this was disappointing for me,mostly because my reference point with them is the first album. "Troizix" opens with a beat and lots of clapping.Guitar comes in followed later by flute. "L'Envol Des Singes Latins" opens with percussion and synths before drums and flute take over.There is an island vibe to this tune after 1 1/2 minutes.A catchy track. "Les Petoncles" is better with the slower beat and vibes.Guitar and bass follow.I like the calm after 3 minutes.Sax comes in then the tempo picks up to end it. "La Belle Et La Bete" features xylophone and vibes early with drums.Flute 1 minute in.Good sound 2 1/2 minutes in as we get a fuller sound.A gong ends it. "Bagdad" has a good rhythm to it once it gets going. "Noemi" is less than a minute of piano,guitar and flute. "Celebration" opens with bells as flute joins in.A full sound arrives around 1 1/2 minutes. "La Noce" opens with sleigh bells then flute and classical guitar.I feel like throwing on some tights and prancing around.Kidding! Thankfully a good piano melody takes over with drums and bass.Guitar comes in at 2 1/2 minutes.Flute leads the way later. "Toujours Trop Tard" is mellow with flute.Drums,percussion and guitar take over.Sax 3 minutes in then guitar returns before 4 minutes. "Miro Vibro" opens with piano before flute and percussion arrive before 2 minutes.Piano is back leading the way then flute joins in again.Tasteful guitar late. There is certainly lots to enjoy here if your into the lighter side of fusion.

Les Porches is certainly the best album of the Quebec scene, better than Harmonium albums and Sloche albums; a real masterpiece of untypical musical instruments, perfect instrumentation and a lot of folk, jazz and classical influences. Both long pieces contain real ecstasy moments (emphasis for clarinet, sax and percursion and the vocals and guitar solo on désouverture) and the short pieces have wonderful melodies. Another characteristics are the non-clear experimental and concret music moments (few moments unfortunately) and the power but not agressive bass. Xylophones also join the music with eminence some times. My favorite song on this album is Les Porches De Notre Dame and its Désouverture and Suite I; Chromo part two also is incredible. I hope progressive guys enjoy this work and my last spell of this album is simple: a non-rock but progressive masterpiece

Maneige's first 2 albums had too many cooks in the kitchen and their sound was a mixture of Henry Cow- light, Gilgamesh, Gentle Giant influences and post-Daevid Allen Gong. Their first 2 albums were somewhat directionless best served as backround music while not quite being muzak. No question Maneige are talented bunch, but the first 2 albums were meandering jazz doodling, really(IMHO). However, _Ni Vent, Ni Nouvelle shows Maneige maturing with cohesive composition and some playful childlike melodies combined with a lightjazz ethereal flow(if that makes any sense to you, dear reader). Electric guitar appears more frequently. This is a percussion heavy album, not unlike Pierre Moerlin's Gong. Other points of reference would be Pekka Pohjola and the Spanish band GOTIC. Recommended.

Maneige does indeed make lovely music. This is the least electric of the 4,but great never the less. I love Quebec prog like Cano and Harmonium also which is in the same sounding category of music. My problem with this album though ,is the first 4 minutes of the first track and a few bridges along the way. It sounds like the group strumming/tuning in avantgardish fashion,which in my ears just get totally annoying.I play this song the least because I just can't get bowwered sitting through the intro. Don't get me wrong,when the melody here is flowing, it is very special indeed. A big thank you to ProgQuebec for making these albums available.They say 'Non profit',but I do not find them particularly cheap.But ,I have no problem with that really ,because Maneige is a great band,and is nice that they are available. I rate this one three ,and the next Maneiges 4 * each. I will add though, that a proghead should at least own one Maneige.

MANEIGE should be considered one of the most clever progressive rock bands in history and surely one of the top-3 coming out of the progressive scene of Quebec.The band was formed back in 1972 with main figures being the woodwind player Alain Bergeron and the keyboardist Jerome Langlois.The band at first started as a quintet but ended up as a sextet before releasing their first eponymous album in 1975.

Having a woodwind and a keyboard player as their leaders it is not surprising that MANEIGE's debut is dominated by the flute and the piano,resulting an almost chamber rock album.The album is totally instrumental and consists of a side-long 21 min.epic plus 3 shorter songs on the b-side.Do not expect that the tracks do differ very much in their sound despite the different running times,this is a heavenly structured mix of chamber music,folk prog,symphonic prog and jazz improvisations.Bergeron's flute is all over the place,while he is accompanied by Langlois' piano work at most of the times.With the right doses of bass lines,drums and percussion the final result is fabulous,combining the cleverness and the difficult to get into- complexity of GENTLE GIANT with the symphonic touch and darkness of KING CRIMSON in a more folkish and less electric way...Progressive rock...And where's the electric guitar?...If you ask me,after several careful listenings the only track I can remember hearing some electric guitar is the final one...But do not hesitate...This is progressive rock 100% despite the evident lack in electric instruments...

Coming to the end,it is just a shame for an album like that to have only 4 written reviews by this time.This is an album for all the open-minded progressive rock fans full of numerous interplays between rock and non-rock instruments,with an obvious ''classical feeling'' and superb-structured instrumental tracks.It is not the absolute masterpiece of progressive rock but it is at least an essential one for a decent collection...4 stars along with high recommendations!

MANEIGE play chamber music that is mostly flute and piano led with some dissonance and darkness.This band from Quebec is pretty amazing actually.When i say flute and piano led,don't think this is lightweight music because it isn't.The musicianship is top notch by the way. "Le Rafiot" is the side long opening track at over 21 minutes.It's quite experimental and dissonant to start until we get a piano melody after 4 minutes with percussion.Flute and bass follow.This is very classical sounding at times with flute and piano usually leading the way.It turns dark after 13 minutes,then intense after 16 minutes as horns come in and drums go crazy.Dark again before 19 minutes before piano takes over again. "Une Annee Sans Fin" features some harsh sounding piano early and flute.A good melody before a minute.Vibes and bass join in around 2 1/2 minutes but it's brief.Piano and flute take over.Great sound before 5 minutes. "Jean-Jauques" is my favourite track on here.Piano intro is joined by flute and drums.The bass that follows is impressive.Cool ending. "Galerie III" reminds me of Zappa early on.It then settles as flute and vocals come in.A heavy sound follows,but these guys are all over the place at this point.Some dissonant horns followed by vibes then a pleasant melody.It turns dark and spooky before 5 minutes to the end. This is a very entertaining listen that will appeal to fans of chamber music and avant-garde music.

Review 30, Les Porches, Maneige, 1975

StarStarStarStarStarHeart The delights of this album are at heart surprisingly simple ones. Maneige have drawn no artificial musical lines in writing and performing this and clearly had enormous fun in doing so. Add to that that all of them are great musicians, capable of both improvisation and planned playing, as well as having two extremely talented composers in flautist/pianist Alain Bergeron and clarinet/guitar/piano player Jérome Langlois. The classical, avant-garde, jazz and rock elements are all fused into two masterly suites. Les Porches De Notre Dame itself is in my indeterminately long list of 'all-time-favourite-song-ever-except-for-the-other-ones-on-the-list'. This masterpiece is crafted by both a host of musicians and a host of guest musicians, so I usually have very little idea who is playing. I may thus avoid my usual tactic of 'throw in a band member's name so it seems like I know what I'm talking about' in this review. Extremely highly recommended to anyone who can take a dose of classical or jazz ideas in their high quality prog, and should at least be tried.

Gentle clarinet and flute, accompanied by some of the percussion characteristic of Vincent Langlois and Gilles Schetagne throughout the album, begins the gorgeous Les Porches. The two instruments gently tease each other to prepare for the tingling glass-like percussion and a slight, gradual escalation, with a tad of accompanying bass or perhaps oboe.

After the gentle romance of this overture, the piano sets in, cold and clear, intelligently moving, backed up by a rather menacing hum. A high, chilly flute plays a number of beautiful melodies, while stretching percussion, marimbas included, only enhances this crystalline feel.

The second section of the suite is begun by avant-garde cowbell-clanging, and has a rather more homely, yet still delicate feel, with a clarinet being most prominently featured.

The third section of the suite is again full of piano and glockenspiel, as well as a throbbing bass and warm tubular bells. An almost bird-cry-like effect gives rise to a gorgeous section with multiple pianos and the same rich percussion sound throughout. Rather warmer, and the lush clarinet and flute provide the feel of a day dawning, and sun streaming in through the stain glass windows of a Parisian church. An equally cheerful section leads us up to the crashing gong and the piano solo.

I don't know my classical music well enough to describe the piano solo in a way that will be of any meaningful help to a serious musician, but I know that this solo is one of the most moving moments of music I have ever heard, with a warmth, beauty and a sense of loss and nostalgia that gets me on every listen.

Following the beautiful conclusion of this, Les Porches proper sets in with a gorgeous mellotron-like background sound, piano, amazing vocals with appropriate lyrical ideas from guest Raoul Duguay, snatches of rock drumming that carefully foreshadows the full explosion of the piece, some stunning bass solos and several beautiful piano parts. A clarinet brings the piece back from the vocals, and suddenly the best conclusion of all time begins, with a warm, heart-felt masterfully polyphonic combination of everyone involved. Electric guitar sears through the eardrums, saxes swirl, conveying the full light of the day, the drumming is life in its purest form. Additions from piano appear from nowhere, the bass runs around dissolutely, but connected to the rest. The guitar and sax launch out on their own, contributing solos finer and more vibrant than anything from Howe or Hackett. It brings itself to a natural conclusion, in a fairly bluesy style. The perfect musical interpretation of life and of the day.

The lively La Grosse Torche, a basically classical composition, with an enormous versatility of ideas on piano, flute, percussion and a string quartet handled perfectly and emotively in the space of only a minute and a half. The only way you could continue the album from Les Porches without disappointing.

Les Aventures De Saxinette Et Clarophone is also extremely interesting, versatile and continually a plain joy to listen to. It is divided whimsically into three chapters, two of which are split into two adventures.

From the strange get-go with its combination of freely used percussion and a slightly precursor to the bass that will hold together the first episode, Chaiptre I is distinctly eclectic, with a tapping, lively feel. A barrage of drums, including marimba, prepares for soulful, and surprisingly edgy saxophone-clarinet interplay. A warm bass part changes the thoughts to a darker, more pensive mood to conclude the episode with a cliffhanger, presumably.

The second episode kicks off with something instantly punchy but alien to my ears and added glockenspiel or something of a similar nature as well as a soulful, dark, foreboding piano, a great drumming part prepares for the piece's full explosion into first scorching sax and then building up into a superb polyphonic section, complete with electrics. The glockenspiel and percussion lead up gently, with the anarchic piano accompanying, to another of my favourite guitar solos ever, this time with a rather more bluesy edge (presumably from guest Denis Lapierre). A warm clarinet concludes the first chapter.

The second chapter begins with a snarling clarinet, more percussion everywhere, and the sax and the clarinet exchange thoughts and ideas. This is very much a theme throughout the rest of the piece, including more avant-garde percussion ideas and something that sounds like a spoken conversation, utterly hectic in nature on the second episode of this chapter with a rather eery, haunting atmosphere caused by the screeching duo. Suspense waiting for our instrumental heroes to confront the villain, whose arrival is signaled with a crash.

The third and final chapter of our story is begun with a bass theme and (yes, you guessed it!) bizarre percussion, and a brief exchange of taunts leads to the final confrontation, with a brief engagement resulting in the inevitable victory of the triumphant clarinet and saxophone. It shimmers gently out, rebellious, yet heroic.

Chromo abruptly tells us that we haven't yet reached the end of the album, even if the sheer amount of great music we have heard might give us that impression. A constant bass riff dances throughout the album, and, more than ever, we get the impression that the band is just having fun with a full workout, drums, flutes and clarinet playfully spotlighting themselves. Although the bass remains pretty constant throughout, everyone gets the opportunity to throw in an idea at any point. A rather mechanical bass-and-accompanying bits-and-bobs duo gives both suspense and a cheerful atmosphere at different times, and the skill and brevity with which they move from dark moods to very uplifting ones can only be admired. A surprisingly good end for the album.

The album as a whole needed a bit of listening time to expand and grow on me until it reached its current level of consistent delighting, so I suggest not writing it off if at first you're less amazed than this fawning review suggests you should be. A full five stars, and absolutely perfect. Also, I think the sound quality's stellar on the remaster, even if I don't know what I'm talking about, and haven't heard the original.

How many albums do you know that can express not only an insightful understanding of the day and life's essence itself, but also convey a fictional, free-to-interpretation comic-book, without a single word, and do so with so little distinction between the borders of jazz, classical and rock music? Its description as fusion is the only one possible, but inadequate to express exactly what the album is, and even if Chromo doesn't grip you (I feel that it's not really representative of the album's majestic longer pieces), I am certain that something from the two longer pieces will. Five stars.

Buy this album

Rating: Five Stars

Favourite Track: Les Porches De Notre Dame

The album's opening is probably rather misleading. Troizix bounces with a simple jazzy hip-hop feel, a deep bass, clap, bass, clap, type of thing. Soon, though, bongos, drums, flute, guitar and piano arise and drown out the bass, clap, repeat, theme, and drive the song towards a jazzier and smoother, less contemporary (though still very much so) song. The album proceeds very differently, focusing on lush flutes, aggressive splashes, and excitingly odd rhythmic complexities. The rhythm section get quite a spotlight appearance here, which is strange, as on their more noted release Les Porches rhythm was quite diluted and the focus was, without shame, the flutes, clarinets, and their lush and beautiful themes.

A second misleading quality of the album is cover. Don't expect dark, sinister, grim, and bleak atmospheres. Expect funky beats, bright atmospheres, and sharp drums.

Though it shapes up to be a pretty decent contemporary jazz release, I find Libre Service to be almost too modern. The production and sound quality are extraordinarily clear, but they also have more of a mechanic feel, as opposed to the really free, organic compositions of Les Porches which really drew me in. That, and some of the feel that distinguished them from other jazz bands in a similar pool is nearly gone completely. Despite these flaws, however, it is a great 'song-based' jazz album with some truly stellar moments, and some very mediocre segments.