Pseu & Uppsala

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PSEU and UPPSALA were two French Zeuhl bands who had albums recorded in ze late 70's early 80's. Both are usually not mentioned much but they should. (I deliberately left out ABUS DANGEREUX and other such bands out).

Here are ze only reviews here on PA, by non other than my friend, John:

PSEU — Pseu
Review by sinkadotentree (john davie) 
Prog Reviewer 
 PSEU were a band from Bordeaux France who existed from 1979-1983.Their music is very much in the MAGMA school of things with male French vocals.His vocals are often theatrical,sometimes tortured,and you could add strange and bizarre to those descriptions as well.He often sings melodies without words, and sometimes mimics an instrument that has just played ahead of him.He's great.There is a definite Rio flavour at times,and talk about complex arrangments and instrumental work! This music is for the adventerous who are up for a challenge, but who also enjoy catchy rhythms and wonderful solos.Yes i am blown away by this obscure release,much as i was with Francois Thollot's album "Contact".The tempos change often as do the moods, from bright and sunny, to dark and sinister.This is a trip.This is brilliant. "Biguine" hits the ground running with relentless bass and pounding drums.The guitar and keys both come and go.The vocal melodies are great and mimic the instruments at times.There is some screeching guitar that's hard on the ears before the song starts to slow down as it ends. "Satno Danse" has a good beat of bass and drums,as the guitar adds to the sound.Vocal melodies 1 1/2 minutes in.This song seems simple enough but it works to perfection.Keys comes in after 3 minutes.This is fantastic! Some nice jazzy guitar to end it. "La Ronde Du Jardinier(Simulacre/ Part 1)" opens with what sounds like xylophone,but the bass is dominating.This has such a great soundscape with plenty of tempo changes.Check out the sound 3 1/2 minutes in,the keys and drums shine. "Rencontre Avec Les Devas(Simulacre/Part 2)" has a darker sound with some eerie guitar that is slowly played.Cymbals clash in the background slowly as well.This one is more like chamber music. Now we get to the final three songs, which happen to be the longest three tracks as well. "Vidange" opens with the drums pounding away as the angular guitar melodies come in.The vocal melodies join in,and then he starts to speak words,he's very theatrical.Ok he's starting to act a little weird now 4 minutees in as he's laughing,speaking, and just carrying on really.The soundscape is wonderful and the guitar is incredible 6 minutes in.The song slows right down after 8 minutes,but it's brief.It picks right back up with vocals returning 10 minutes in to close it out. "Miroir" is my favourite song on this record.The vocals are a little crazy,operatic actually, and the sound is plain amazing.The guitar grinds away as drums pound and bass throbs.3 minutes in the vocals are even stranger as the guitar turns dark and the cymbals clash.More angular guitar 5 minutes in.Nice.The vocals at this point are tortured and deranged.This guy needs help.The song slows right down and out of that calm a light appears in the form of an uptempo,bright soundscape with some scorching guitar and vocal melodies.This is great! The final song is called "Demascarade".We get some light drums and keys with some Latimer-like soaring guitar.Well not quite soaring but it's getting there.The song speeds up with vocals 3 minutes in.There is a long hypnotic section of drums and bass as the guitar and vocals show off.After 8 minutes we get some blistering guitar with keys and vocal melodies.And i mean blistering guitar! Thankyou so much Avestin for bringing another great recording to my attention.The vocals took a little time to digest,but they're really avant/garde on only a couple of tracks.It's the instrumental music that really took my breath away.This is a masterpiece. 
Posted Thursday, September 20, 2007, 23:21 EST
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UPPSALA — Uppsala
Review by sinkadotentree (john davie) 
Prog Reviewer 
 This record took longer than most do for me to really get into.I think part of the reason for that is the fact that this is not like any of the Zeuhl i've heard so far.This is lighter, with mostly slower to mid-paced songs.A lot of acoustic guitar as well,and the electric guitar is very well done i might add.Also this band is a trio instead of the usual "many" members that make up a lot of Zeuhl bands.UPPSALA played over 40 concerts before finally recording their first(and so far only) album in 1983.They had a terrible car accident in Belgium in 1979 in which the bass player lost the use of both his legs, and the drummer was seriously injured.Fortunately the main man Philippe Cauvin the guitarist/vocalist was unscathed.Dany Marcombe the bass player bravely returned, even though he would play bass in a wheelchair. My cd has three bonus live tracks on it that were all recorded in 1995 when they reunited to open for a band called FUSION, that consisted of Christian Vander,Janik Top,Didier Lockwood and Benoit Widermann.Nice. "Algarade" has an island feel to it at times.Vocal melodies,bass,drums and guitar lead the way until a minute in when the song calms down.Vocals are back before 3 minutes,and the guitar is great. "Coste And Jukka" is named after two Swedish guitarists they met while vacationing.Actually they named the band after the Swedish town(Uppsala) that these two guitarists are from.It opens with the band having some fun as they are carrying on.There are some spoken words that come and go while we get some singing a minute in that turns into dual vocals.Some higher pitched vocals later.This is a very good tune. "Les Nouvelles" has a RUSH vibe to the guitar sounds.This song has such a relaxing melody with vocals after 5 minutes. "Boucle Aux Oiseaux D'en Face" is another highlight with the acoustic guitar,vocal melodies,bass and drums. "Coup De Folie" has a good beat along with some steller vocals.This reminds me a little of THE TALKING HEADS.Some scorching guitar 2 minutes in. "Etude N 1" has some great guitar and bass work.The vocals are getting close to theatrical. "Uppsala" is the longest track.It is mid-paced,as they just jam for over 12 minutes.The three live bonus songs also feature a guest trumpet and synth player named Freddy Buzon. "Antrada" has some serious atmosphere in the beginning before giving way to a nice acoustic guitar melody that is RUSH-like.Trumpet comes in after 4 minutes as the song becomes jazzy until bass and guitar take over followed by the drums 7 1/2 minutes in. "Chant De Nuit" has some strange vocals with not much in the way of a melody. "Entrechocs" has an impressive drum solo for 2 1/2 minutes that is followed by the crowd cheering.The guitar and bass then share the spotlight, with the guitarist playing a few bars from the happy birthday song. This has grown into a 4 star record for me, but just barely.I really think all Zeuhl fans should own this bands take on Zeuhl music, as it is both refreshing and very well played.Well done! 
Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007, 01:13 EST
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Poll Question: Zeuhl-battle
Poll Choice	Votes	Poll Statistics
Pseu	5	[100.00%]
Uppsala	0	[0.00%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted