FOUR YEARS

80's French band, which involved Canterbury legend Hugh Hopper and two guitarists linked with the Canterbury scene, Patrice Meyer and Rick Biddulph.They existed sometime between 1985 and 1990 with the leaders being female singer Emmanuelle Lionet and percussionist/keyboardist Jean-Max Delva.They released a cassette album in 1986, ''Vetue de noir'', recorded at Studio Adam in Roissy en Brie and three years later they self-released their overlooked debut ''Belladonna'' on vinyl with a vastly different line-up, now including saxophonist Pierre-Marie Bonafos, recorded at Studio RB in Montigny.This debut along with a few pieces from the first casette were released on the Aya label as ''Four years'', a couple of them were re-recorded versions of the old tracks with Jean-Luc Distch on drums and Rick Biddulph on bass and guitar.

They played an irritating Zeuhl akin to masters of the sound MAGMA to go along with some experimental vibes, Jazz improvisations and Gothic aesthetics, propelled by Delva's dominant synth experiments and percussion, the gradiose operatic atmospheres and Lionet's outlandish, wordless vocals.There is even a slight Canterbury touch, which is pretty reasonable, considering that musicians from the scene were involved in Anaid, especially during the more Fusion-like moments, but generally the mood goes into theatrical, operatic territories with certain Jazz flavors and some orchestral pomposity.There is some bit of incosistency in here with tracks like ''Nord-sud'' and ''Sea and saw'' sounding like failed attempts on 80's Fusion, Funk and tropical Jazz Rock with some commercial brances and not sitting comfortably next to the otherwise sinister sounds of the remaining pieces.Fortunately the rest of the album is pretty decent Zeuhl/Jazz with some great bass work, Delva managing to create obscure atmospheres with his percussions and vibrahone and Lionet appearing as a very strong vocalist.Odd rhythms, jazzy exercises, light Fusion interplays and the excellent ''Belladonna'' being a great example of soft Jazz mixed with intense Zeuhl and Minilamism.

Good 80's Zeuhl, that has escaped from the radars of many listeners.Both haunting and ethereal atmospheres with nice work on bass, sax, guitars and percussion and some superb female vocals.Recommended.