TRIXIE STAPELTON 291 - SE TAIRE POUR UNE FEMME TROP BELLE

Sole album from an experimental French band that had an apparently floating line-up under Enui's leadership. Released on the obscure but legendary Futura Red label in 71 under the Trixie Stapleton 291 name, this album (also being named: to shut up for a too cute woman) sits fine among its Red and Son sub-labels of Futura, along the Mahogany Brain, Travelling, Triode albums or the Horde Catalytique or Semool, all of which have been reissued on CD by now. The album's 11 tracks are penned by up to six members, but the title-less track is a group effort composition. I am not sure the majority of tracks on this album should be called composition or that we should speak of "songwriting", though.

Opening and closing on the psychedelic rocking jams of Speed Way and Annal-Mandrake (with two n's) pieces; which spend their time in conventional (everything being relative) trippy psych rock, where Guildon's guitar reigns supreme, the album's centre is much more experimental. Indeed, the dissonant piano and electronic noises of Boulogne, the bizarre de-tuned guitar and percussions of Princesse Nuage, Barab Lowengren's spoken words over a bed of electronic dog-barking of Amour-Gel are definitely giving a weird and unexpected twist to the album, but all three are short tracks ? 2.5 minutes max. An annoying buzz fills the the sonic space for the longer Paravent track's fairly lengthy length (almost-6 mins).

The flipside is no less weird; opening on the dissonant piano tinkling of Bubble Gun and Tibhora tracks, but the following spoken words over electronic bruitage is no less demanding on your patience. What to say of the title-less track then? Never mind, uh?? The following Ordination oscillates between Celtic and Arabian folk music (an electric violin?). After such a demanding sonic experience, the group gratifies the listener with an eight-mins wild psych piece that echoes the album's opening track.

Overall, outside the lengthy noise-buzz track ending side A, most of the experimental music pieces are relatively soft, but also senseless. Definitely not for everyone's ears, this is a fairly schizophrenic album that shares its time between wild psych rock (roughly a tad above a third of the album) and some bizarre, often dissonant sonic quagmires (the rest), but most of it remaining acceptable to the reasonably adventurous progheads.