MALICORNE 1 [AKA: COLIN]

This folk group is really borderline for this site as there is not much rock on any of their al;bums (at least the ones I heard - 5 ). This debut is reproducing popular music in renaissances days from France, doing Rondes , Dances et Gigues de France au XVIII ieme siecle. In correct french , they are doing traditional jigs and dances but rather avoid the celtic side of things as they concentrate on mainland France and do not veer towards Britany with Merlin and Arthur stuff. This one contains one of their better number called Dame Lombarde and La Pernette. Bourée has nothing to do with Bach or Jethro tull. The main plot of most of these songs are about girls to marry , girls who are easy and girls who are unfaithful. "plus ca change , plus ca reste la meme chose. "

Since in my opinion MALICORNE was much more a folk group than a prog group, their 1974 debut album sounds mostly like a French version of the English folk rock band STEELEYE SPAN. Just like their early albums, "Malicorne 1" contains traditional folk songs, using medieval instruments as well as acoustic and electric guitar and percussions which somewhat "modernize" the old arrangements. On the other hand, the "character" of this album is entirely French and has nothing to do with celtic music or any kind of copying British folklore. In fact "Malicorne 1" (along with its successors "Malicorne 2" and "Almanach") established the rennaicance of traditional folk music in France, updated with slightly electric arrangements. This album is highly recommended for fans of the traditional work of STEELEYE SPAN, FAIRPORT CONVENTION and JETHRO TULL, but also people who generally like innovative musical styles might it find interesting.

This band plays very traditional folk music, and rock elements appear only in occasional amplified bass and guitar lines. The drums are neither played in rock style, but they are merely simple bass drums and percussions beating the rhythm. The main instruments here are guitars, violins, voices of both male and female singers plus some wind instruments. There are also some bagpipes been used on track "Réveillez-Vous Belle Endormie". The arrangements of simple melodies are done professionally and often under the surface of basic themes one can found many interesting patterns and details. The values of beautifulness are presented here in a way which pleased me, that being romantic minor key approach, track "La Pernette" representing these qualities most perfectly. If you like medieval oriented folk music, this band brings a nice addition to the league of British folk groups, though the cultural heritages of these two countries aren't very far from each other, when compared to folk music of non-Western countries. For example the style of the melodic patterns of singing on these songs is familiar to me from lullabies I heard as a child myself, the human cultures are not so much about vast differences but impressive similarity in my own observing. The only negative side in this record is that it isn't very powerful from dramatic power except for few tracks. Many of these songs are pleasant to listen, and some of them are real gems, but also many of them aren't very memorable, and they don't create a desire to listen the whole album trough over again and again. But it's a nice addition to any collection of folk music.

Malicorne's debut is an uneven but promising start. With Dame Lombarde they deliver a first calling card for their later achievements. It's an attractive folk song with a very nice and rhythmic interplay between electric bass and clean guitars. The melodies are good but the vocals come off a bit dusty.

La Pernette has Marie on vocals and conjures up memories from Sandy Denny's songs with Fairport Convention. The main difference would be that Malicorne doesn't use a rock drum set yet on this album. It ends with a very attractive dance. Landry is another highlight. Some bass drum sets the pace for a captivating little folk story. Also Le Chant Des Livrées and Le deuil d'amour are very good early Malicorne songs.

Still, for folkies only.