AME SON

This is a difficult album to get into but that's part of what makes this record so special. Huge respect from yours truly for what this band released here. Is there humour here in the lyrics? I don't know French but you'd think with early GONG and SOFT MACHINE being an influence that there has to be some silliness.

How about 7 minutes in on "Couer Fou..." where his voice quivers. If that is flute early on the closer I have never heard it sound like that, so avant. Love the guitar that follows as the active drumming continues. The closer is my favourite with the flute and guitar leading the way. More of that guitar, drum and flute show on that fourth track although this is more folky and laid back. Some female vocals on this one too.

Going backwards track three is experimental to start before we get some nice drum work after a minute and check out the tone of the guitar after 4 minutes, so good as the flute gets dissonant and vocals arrive. Flute and a haunting sound to open track two. How inventive and "out there" is this after 1 1/2 minutes. Like free jazz really. More insanity on track one and check out the vocal arrangements to end it. Repetitive and urgent sounding with vocals 5 minutes in. It opens with drums, bass and flute and vocals not until after 2 minutes followed by guitar.

Once I "got" this one I have just grown in my appreciation of it. So adventerous! You should be proud France.

Yes, both albums are, of course, psychedelic in nature. However, while Gong's debut reflects Allen's quirky humor, Ame Son presents a more serious, darker psychedelia. Think Saucerful of Secrets to More Soundtrack era Pink Floyd, and now you're in the ballpark. Then add some mediocre vocals (in English and French) including slightly poppy choruses here and there, along with just a touch of Krautrock. There is also some very nice flute playing by Francois Garrel, sometimes with effects, which adds a slightly jazzy feel in some spots as well. Then there is what some feel is the "dated" guitar sound. I, personally, love the distorted, psychedelic effects-laden guitar sound that Bernard Lavialle lays down on this album. Dated or not, it just sounds cool. The thick tone of Patrick Fontaine's bass and the solid drum work of Marc Blanc create a stoned-out foundation for the music to float across.

As for the songs themselves, they are a concoction of different ideas and/or movements peppered with experimental soundscapes (see Pink Floyd and Krautrock references above). Definitely progressive in composition, if not in performance. What I mean is that the playing is on the loose side - no tight, complex time changes or dizzying solos here. This, I feel adds to the psychedelic, stoner feel to the music, enhancing the listening experience.

As for the weaknesses on "Catalyse," I would say the vocals and the occasionally poppy sound in parts takes away some of the enjoyment for me, but others might like the variety it gives the album. In-between those slightly poppy sections, though, are some excellent tabs of trippy rock for late night get-togethers. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because I feel Ame Son's "Cataylse" deserves some more attention.

STYLE: Having played next to Daevid Allen,it is rather impossible both Blanc and Fontaine not to be influenced by this significant figure.AME SON blended 60's Psychedelia with a newly established complicated rock sound full of free jamming parts and weird passages to contribute on their own way to what we call today early progressive rock movement.All tracks contain plenty of obscure flute parts,trully psychedelic vocals,somewhat dated and trembling guitars but also stable performance on bass and deep drums all the way.

INFLUENCES/SOUNDS LIKE: GONG are the first band that sticks to your mind and it is more than sure that AME SON have given their albums a lot of spins to inspire themselves...but add also some elements of pre-70's PINK FLOYD in the mixture.

PLUS: This is very obscure and experimental music,considering the time of its release.Quite long compositions ranging from 6 to 9 minutes are a daring step for 1970.The flute parts are dominant and, for me, this is certainly the strong point of this album.A very interesting rhythm section makes the album even more challenging.Vocals are at times expressive and intense. A few bizarre melodies,again based heavily on flutes, are very captivating.

MINUS: As I am not a big fan of GONG or early FLOYD,this style of music leaves me a neutral taste.Additionally guitars are very dated,if not the whole album.The parts of the album closer to Psychedelic Pop leave me also cold.Some jamming parts are good,but other one sound totally meaningless to my ears.Vocals are mediocre for most of the album's running time.

WILL APPEAL TO: I would dare to say that ''Catalyse'' would be a moving experience only to those who were part of the 60/70's transession from Psychedelic Pop to Psychedelic Rock.Anyone deep into GONG or Syd Barrett-era PINK FLOYD will also like this one.

CONCLUSION/RATING: I think I will rate this album having in mind how important it was around the time it was released and I will give ''Catalyse'' 3 stars,though my true rating is closer to 2-2.5...''Catalyse'' didn't stand well against the sands of time,but it remains a ground-breaking experience for early 70's.Approach,after listening to some samples.

The opening track was an Ame Son aggregate formation doing a soundtrack piece for a movie where singing-flutist Garrel's brother was playing. It sounds very much like what you can hear on Catalyse (meaning not that well recorded either), even if it is Garrel's brother playing guitar. As often on Spalax releases, track timing are inaccurate, with a second short track of 25 seconds (instead of the 3 announced minutes) is just a short but enjoyable plaything. Rather incredibly, the next Ame Son track was recorded by the Quai D'Orsay (French foreign Affairs) in 71 to promote French culture around the world (that's what the booklet says anyway) and again sounds psych rock very similar to Catalyse's sound and last six minutes as opposed to the 3.5 announced.

The next five tracks are a five-part demo track (recorded on a Revox also in 71) lasting around 20 minutes, for a demo, the quality is rather very acceptable and on the whole this excellent Je Veux Juste Dire (I just Want To Say) is absolutely gorgeous 20 minutes of instrumental psych. Apparently this was used for varying over-dubbing experimentations and the result are giving splendidly.

The next two tracks were a 75 rehearsal of their 68 tracks (written by Stisi, when Ame Son were still known as Les Primitiv's) and at that time they sounded Yardbirds-(Beck era)-like, both tracks sticking out a bit like a sore thumb with the rest of what's present on it, even if Dédoublement is clearly related to Ame Son. The last track is from 76 a reformation concert of Ame Son and of medium interest as well, but not devoid of interest either.

Although of uneven quality, this album is still quite worthy for the first three quarters. But this should be for confirmed Ame Son fans.

To describe their music to progheads is not that easy, because their particular type of psych rock is often truly improvisational, but if dissonant, it did not go in the free-jazz and is much wiser/pleasant than Crimson's Moonchild (note: they don't sound like them at all). Basically a guitar trio with a signing flutist (but not our Tull Mad Flauter, more like Bloomdido Bad De Grass Malherbe), their sound approaches a Floyd-ish (circa Saucerful or live Ummagumma), a calmer Guru Guru (UFO and Hinten) and early Gong (Continental Circus OST), even if vocally they might have been stronger (but as I warned above, recording vocals in a different studio than the music, probably caused difficulties). But Ame Son managed to remain accessible by never over-stretching their talents or their improvisations. In many ways, Catalyse reminds me of Dashiell Hedayatt's jaw-dropping Obsolete (which is also Gong-related) with their raw hippy dreamy rock. Most of their tracks (none shorter than six minutes) are subdivided into sections of which Coeur Fou and Reborn This Morning are the highlights, but there are some real flaws: Coup De H/Sable Mouvants is not only slightly weaker, but definitely not well recorded. Two bonus tracks from a single are added on the Spalax Cd reissue, and they are fairly well in the spirit of the album (even if shorter), but a good remastering job is more than needed for that single and the full album.

After touring extensively France for two years, the group split up in mid-71, after some recording sessions to reform in 73 with a different line-up and made recordings, which also did not materialize, in a second album. AS's only album is one of those French pearl that qualifies as psych proto-prog and is very much recommended to anyone into Gong, Daevid or early Softs and untamed Floyd. For my part, I find this album stunning and in my French top 20 - Zeuhl notwithstanding.