VOLUME III - 32 MARS

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Today is March 32nd

Want a groovy and psychedelic sounding album? One that is a bit peculiar yet fun? Well then this might just well satisfy your needs. Starting with a cool organ playing a catchy tune, this grows to a full spectacle of psychedelic and experimental showmanship. From the entire band playing in a full fledged lineup to the solo piano playing and then to tribal percussion and other instruments (such as a wacky style sax), this opening piece has the full gamut of what this band was capable of - not only in terms of playing and instrumentation but also in being able to create varied psychedelic textures and soundscapes. This track alone is such great fun to listen to; it's a great ride made up of smaller segments that make it up a varied whole. The goofiness shown in some parts of the tracks balances the more psychedelic and spacey parts but does not ruin them at all; on the contrary, it adds distinction to their sound. The whole album flows very naturally from one track to the other, linked by the common sound and style, the organ and the occasional humorous additions. The drumming here is very good, as it gives the great flow of the album and the excellent rhythm that the album has. The organ gives it a somewhat transcendental aspect, and is balanced out by the other instruments and the way the music is arranged. I find the tunes to be very well organized. "Les Chevrons" for example starts out with the organ dominating it but ends up with the whole band joining in a beautiful harmony and a gorgeous vocal line. This album is well worth checking out!

Too bad it is so short an album! Once it's over, you'll want to listen to it again.

3.5-3.75 stars in PA rating scale - rounded up to 4 stars.

Catharsis are a four piece band from France who were active in the 70's. If you look for information about the band's albums you will find quite a lot of confusion, and this is due to the fact that other labels released collaboration albums by Catharsis and various singers. In 1994 Spalax released most of their albums on CD but didn't include the collaboration albums, so the band's discography here in the archives is according to the Spalax releases. So only for your information there are two more albums by the band which should be in here as well. Although a lot of music was recorded during 71-72, the band released very short albums clocking at about 30 minutes each, on top of that some of the songs appear in different albums with alternate versions. Although this album doesn't offer a lot of new music, since two of the songs already appeared in their previous albums, this would be a great starting point for anyone interested to check them out, I think this is their best album (from the ones I've heard).

All their albums are instrumental but with the addition of frequent chanting and operatic vocals sung by the band with an additional female singer. Their main style can be considered as psychedelic prog but there's a lot more going on, they can be quite symphonic at times but there's also some krautrock kind of experimentation and all kinds of middle eastern influences too. The music is dominated by the spooky farfisa organ by Roland Bocquet, and that's the reason they are often regarded as a Pink Floyd influenced band, but aside from the organ sound the music is nothing like Floyd. Bocquet's playing has some clear classical influences, so the music has a very unique vibe to it. I can't help but think that "32 mars" sounds more like something that was released circa 68' rather than a 70's album, the sound at times has a strong Doors feeling due to the organs and drum sound, but the music is nothing like it too. It seems to me like there's two main styles when talking about psychedelic music, there's the more ambienty trippy experimentations without any actual structure, and there's the more song based psychedelic stuff, where you can follow an actual melody. Catharsis are exploring both styles, but here in this album it's the more song based kind of style, and it's the one I usually prefer.

"32 Mars" is the main piece here, 11 minutes of cool and trippy experimentations which goes from one part to the other smoothly. It starts with an exciting arabic/classical melody on top of an upbeat rhythm, beautiful keyboard work there! It then goes in another direction, a frightening atmosphere played only by piano, like something out of a Stanley Kubrick movie. When that's over it's time for some weirdness, shrieking saxophone noises on top of rolling drums rhythm and some background organs to spice things up, I can listen to this all the day long, it just works perfectly. "Masq" is a song which appeared on their debut, this version is slightly shorter but enjoyable as well. It's quite symphonic this time, it goes from one melody to the next, nothing special overall, just enjoying the melodies with beautiful vocals chanting. The debut's version contains a weird piano part which definitely adds a more progy feel to it. "Les Chevrons" was originally released in their second album titled the same. Again this one explores the spooky atmosphere with hints of a classical inspired theme. The fourth song goes back to the first and main piece and only shows the main themes without the experimentations, it's shortened to 3 minutes, totally useless.

This is a great band to discover and totally worth it if you come across a copy, not essential in any way but still very enjoyable stuff. Their next album "Illuminations" sees the band exploring more psychedelic realms without any song based themes. 3.5 stars rounded up mainly because of how I enjoy it.

By 1973-74 the original years of Catharsis appear to have come to an end and the band had taken a break.Being under contract though, albums kept coming, based on earlier recordings of the band.''32 Mars'' was released in 1974 on the Festival and Galloway labels, the eponymous track had already appeared in the first ever single released by the band.

This has to be one of the shortest LP's ever recorded, clocking at 23 minutes and half of it is dedicated to a long version of ''32 Mars'', a tour-de-force of haunting, organ-drenched Psychedelic Prog with some Classical influences and a really dark atmosphere, dominated by chants and sinister moods.Somewhere between GOBLIN and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, this one is characterized by middle-placed sax scratches, neurotic organ waves and some soft piano lines with an ending section full of smashing percussion.Among the very good pieces recorded by the band.Second side contains no strangers to Catharsis fans.''Masq'' is a shortened version of the track already presented in their eponymous debut with Charlotte again behind the microphone.Kind of an Avant-Garde/Psychedelic Rock piece with focus on the Farfisa organ and Charlotte's operatic stylings with some more quirky organ drives added for good measure.''Les Chevrons'' is the same version as on Catharsis' self-titled sophomore release, where the band had taken a more symphonic direction, still displaying a love for dark soundscapes, but surfacing enough Classical elerments, that eventually refined their whole style.A short, 3-min. version of the opener will close the album, lacking the piano moves, the percussion grooves and most of the Avant-Garde touches for a rather organ-dominated version with slight symphonic overtones.

Extremely short album, which still deserves some praise for its haunting atmosphere and intense organ variations.Recommended, unless you feel that 23 minutes of music do not worth your money.CD reissue out on Spalax.