CLACOSMIQUE

Excellent debut by Camembert, a new French band from Strasbourg. The 6 track EP (over 30 minutes) is crammed with good music, the influences ranging from Zappa, Gentle Giant, Pierre Moerlen's Gong to Henry Cow and Billy Cobham. Apart from guitar (electric & acoustic), bass, drums, tuned percussion (vibra-& xylophone) and a brass section the band plays some rather unusual instruments like didgeridoo, harp and the wonderful too seldom played bass-trombone! Let's see the menu:

Clacos O, a short spacy intro....leads into Untung Untungan, maybe the highlight of the EP, with eleven minutes of polyrhythmic galore featuring xylophone work à la Ruth Underwood and a twisted brass section in the tradition of the Grand Wazoo, plus elaborated solos for guitar, harp and a special mention for the big fat bass-trombone lines, my absolute favourite instrument on this record! ...an echo bass line starts the interlude Glacos 1 Notre mère a tous, a short quiet piece with influences from Gentle Giant and Gong, again with excellent tuned percussion arrangements and some acoustic guitar and didgeridoo. The second main dish (10:23) is Le vautour de mars, the mars vulture, a funky bird that would not have been out of place on Billy Cobham's Crosscurrents, an excellent funky groove composition with monster brass on top, featuring great solos for guitar, harp, trombone and trumpet and a nice triologue between the guitar, muted trumpet and muted trombone in Wazoo territory. The last two-part composition, Bernard l'ermite, starts as a relaxed groove with drums and brass and builds up tention while the vibraphone plays a short repetitive motive against the brass section followed by an UncleMeatish percussion theme and a Zappaish guitar solo. The second part builds up into a polyrhythmic frenzy, alternating with a nice slower theme for bass-trombone and whistling, a theme which could have occured in a Sergio Leone western.

An absolutely stunning debut for Camembert : the musicianship and quality of the compositions are high and mature. My only concern : some passages (mainly in the Mars Vulture) are a little too predictable and I'd wish that the band gets a little crazier  in the future and leaves the (exellent) influences behind.

Formed in 2005 in Strasbourg,Camembert are a Jazz/Avant/Zeuhl/Prog band led by bassist Pierre Wawrzyniak, guitarist Vincent Sexauer and drummer Philémon Walter.As time went by, additional musicians joined the band to form an unusual seven-piece act with trumpets,trombones,harps,vibraphones and xylophones among the usual rock instrumentation.The band with a personal style of its own released a debut-EP in 2009,entitled ''Clacosmique''.

An all instrumental affair,''Clacosmique'' balances dangerously between Brass Rock,Jazz-Rock and KING CRIMSON-esque Progressive Rock with strong elements from World Music.The EP is highlighted by the two extended instrumental compositions ''Untung Untungan'' and ''Le vautour de Mars'' clocking at over 10 minutes,where the big time brass section is blended harmonically with complicated electric passages and mellower moments with a folkier edge.The use of xylophones,harps and vibraphones is heavy but always carefully executed,while the guitar work of Sexauer is trully interesting.There are also a couple of very short introductions to the longer pieces of the album,along with the two closing compositions,which can be regarded as one. ''Bernard l'ermite'' parts 1 & 2 do not differ much than the two long instrumentals,highly-executed Jazz-Rock with strong brass instrumentation,maybe a bit more melodic at the softer parts,but still musically challenging and rich.

For fans of Jazz-Rock,Avant-Prog and Zeuhl this album will end up among their premier preferences.Nice musicianship with the tracks though sounding a bit similar but certainly the quality is high.Recommended.

The debut release from this French band and a forewarning of what to hit the scene on their 2011 album.

Camembert's statement of intent is to blow down the barriers between the genres. Perhaps that is so. But Clacosmique is a blend of trad jazz and Canterbury scene jazz like for example Pierre Moerlen's Gong. That and a great deal of funk. In this respect, they are pretty similar to their fellow countrymen Abus Dangereux. The use of untraditional instruments like vibraphone and xylophone gives me Abus Dangereux vibes aplenty. The use of harp as a solo instrument is also something I have never heard before. An experiement they pulls off. The music is also driven by a bass too which churn out most of the comp. Woodwinds, harp, guitars and other instruments floats on the top of the bass and the percussion. But the bass is the basis here from where all life is created.

The quality of the stuff is really good throughout. The music is a bit one dimensional though with not much breathing spaces inbetween the chunks of funky jazz thrown at us. But it is a very good debut from a band I hope will get a good long career. Bands like Camembert is very much needed in today's scene.

3.5 stars