CATHERINE RIBEIRO & ALPES

A brilliant record from Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes from 1972, "Paix" will take you on all sort of lovely journeys. You'll hear what a Cosmophone sounds like on the first track, "Roc Alpin", a sort of joyous and whimsical cross between a reed instrument and an organ in sound. In this first track, there are moments when you'll feel they channel a British psychedelia sound here reminiscent of Kaleidoscope.

"Jusqu'à Ce Que la Foce de T'Aimer Me Manque" is where the record really takes off. A lovely and moody pastoral folk prog with acoustic guitars, organ and synth like sounds emanating from the varied instruments. Ribeiro's vocals are stunning?lower in range than many female singers and this presents a dramatic haunting quality to it that is essential to the effectiveness of their sound for me. Her voice has texture and passion and a beautiful resonance?its presence is well felt, but never dominates the record.

The third track, "Paix" is a stunner?hypnotic and with a wonderful bass and organ melody over a sort of heartbeat-style drum pattern. The middle of the tune is rather chant-like before eventually returning to the main theme toward the end. You will feel you traveled to far out spaces on this one, and this is all before you flip the LP over for a side-long final track "Un Jour... la Mort". I hear some moments that remind me of Romania's Phoenix, or Sam Gopal?at other times Pink Floyd.

Although there is a variety of approaches they take in sound and songwriting on here, the record never feels like it lacks cohesiveness. They collage these sounds together wonderfully and are patient, not wanting to give up on a melody too quickly. The 2018 Universal Music France reissue LP sounds delightful, and any fan of psych-folk-prog and international rock should consider this essential listening. 4.5 stars.

When it comes the idealistic hippie psychedelic rock 60s evolving into the more serious musical workouts of the progressive rock 70s, few integrated the two styles more elegantly and convincingly than CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES who found a unique niche in the zone that lay in between. RIBEIRO and her team found instant notoriety with their unique one-of-a-kind album 'No. 2' which scored them a seven album run on the Philllips Records label. Not only would the band enjoy the stability of a supportive label but CATHERINE found a secondary career with more pop oriented solo albums where she revived the songs of Edith Piaf and Jacques Prevert in more traditional French fashion.

Pictured in full hippie regalia somewhere in the forested mountains of southern France on the album cover, the band's third album PAIX (French for 'Peace') which was the second on the Phillips label saw the addition of bassist and percussionist Jean-Sébastien Lemoine joining the team after the exit of percussionist Claude Thiebaut. The band shifted gears a bit more towards the world of psychedelic space rock with long organ fueled hypnotic grooves which found less emphasis on the experimental homemade instrumentation of Patrice Moullet and focused more on the lysergic possibilities of the interplay of the organ, bass and guitars fueled by tribal drumbeats and RIBEIRO's vocal eccentricities.

On PAIX the band crafted the perfect balance between the unique avant-folk of the previous works and psychedelic rock which featured a new emphasis on bass grooves and guitar textures. PAIX also featured RIBEIRO expanding her vocal style into more traditional folk arenas as well as her electrifying declarative poetic prose that existed somewhere between Janis Joplin styled singing and recited spoken word tangents. While performed entirely in the French language, CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES sounded like no other and was easily one of the most unique acts to have emerged from the progressive musical world of France possibly second only to space trippers Magma.

PAIX features only four tracks with the first two only hitting the three minute mark with the remaining running time dedicated to the 15 1/2 minute title track and the grand finale, the side swallowing 24 1/2 minute 'Un Jour' La Mort' which is actually several musical motifs merged into one massive psychedelic behemoth. 'Roc Alpin' starts PAIX in a rather catchy upbeat folk rock mode which features a tamer RIBEIRO engaging in a more sensual approach to her singing style. The following 'Jusquá' Ce Que la Foce de T'Aimer Me Manque' features the longest title track name but the shortest playing time at just under three minutes. The most authentically folk number features RIBEIRO unleashing a series of oooo's and aaaah's as she weaves majestic melodic melancholy with the acoustic guitar providing the musical accompaniment along with tribal drumming.

The title track somehow teased an instantly addictive melodic motif into a near 16-minute marathon of variations of a bass groove, lysergic organ runs with psych-soaked atmospheres and a hypnotic drum circle vibe. The track takes a good six minutes just to warm up before RIBEIRO unleashes her classic declarations in half spoken form seemingly having a conversation with Lemoine's stealthy bass workouts. RIBEIRO whips you into a frenzy as she sounds as if she's performing some kind of ritual or perhaps an exorcism of some sort as she brings back some of the more outrageous proclamations that made ''Âme Debout' so intense. Overall PAIX is a much less frantic release with RIBEIRO having chilled out a bit and finding clever ways to weave her lyrics and wordless utterances into the fabric of the instrumental interplay with remarkable elegance.

The closing 'Un Jour' La Mort' is a bonafide transcendental journey and in many ways the logical conclusion to the psychedelic hippie era having unfolded in its unadulterated natural purity. By opening with a layered atmospheric effect of swirling ambience and pointillistic guitar notes that hint at the melodic developments to come, the track is like a spiritual ride in the astral plane. The rather simple yet catchy melody oozes into the framework as a bass note adds the missing pieces. Around the four minute mark CATHERINE begins delivering a series of wordless vocals while the acoustic guitar and bass grooves accent her hippie chants. The music coalesces into a unique folk-infused gleeful tune with sing-along oooo's and aaaah's building up the momentum and a lead guitar lick transmogrifying the hippie folk into psychedelic space rock. The track showcases several motifs which excel in recurring themes and variations on those themes. The track climaxes with RIBEIRO delivering a frenzied almost psychotic series of screams while the musical build up leaves you with the most pleasant mix of organ, bass and guitar strumming.

While CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES would follow PAIX with five more albums, this unique act would peak with this 1972 release in tandem with the previous album ''Âme Debout.' While this team would never create such majestic magic that rose so high seemingly to the stars, the band remained fairly consistent for the next few albums in staying true to its core values of melding its unique brand of avant-folk with psychedelic rock. What's cool about this album is that while most 60s psych bands totally reinvented themselves and strayed far from where they began their journey, CATHERINE RIBEIRO and her boys were very much still rooted to the idealisms of the hippie culture without having been derailed by the nihilism and reality checks that followed. Instead they fueled their stylistic approach ever so intensely and in the process refined the possibilities of their musical vision until it shined like a diamond. PAIX is without a doubt one of the most magnanimous expressions of free form musical expression coupled with catchy pop sensibilities, folk inspired melodic underpinnings and the excesses of progressive rock all wrapped up in pure psychedelic escapism. One of the best albums that the era had to offer period.

There were many like-minded artists of the day who emerged as a congregation of kindred souls in the late 60s with the sole purpose of creating a new musical paradigm. This fertile era succeeded in artists exploring hitherto unthinkable niches in the form of musical expression and France's CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES which arose out of the 1968 riots and social upheaval. The results were that they became one of the most original and timeless sounding acts of the day having created some of the most unclassifiable and idiosyncratic musical paradigms there was to be heard. Unfortunately they were so far out in the clouds that very few related to their bizarre brand of psychedelic freak folk and rock.

CATHERINE RIBEIRO may have began as an underground actress turned leader of a psychedelic band much like her German contemporary Nico, however RIBEIRO led her ALPES outfit into more Gallic pastures that sounded like a more lysergic version of Bridgette Fontaine delivering psychedelic chansons of medieval folk traditions that crossed paths with contemporary free jazz laced with the confrontational poetic lyrics that was in line with the rebellious spirit of the era. After a debut album under the moniker CATHERINE RIBEIRO + 2BIS, she dropped the second affixation and it become ALPES on the aptly and unoriginally titled "No. 2." However on album No. 3 beautifully titled AME DEBUT ("soul debut") is where it all came together and all the idiosyncrasies that were delivered so well on the first two albums united into harmonic perfection.

AME DEBUT like all ALPES releases was the perfect union of RIBEIRO's poetic and moody stage performances and the musical genius of Patrice Moullet, whose brilliance expanded beyond the mere art of compositional creations. One of the key elements of the band's unique sound was his self-invented musical instruments which gave the ALPES one of the most uniquely recognizable sounds of the entire revolutionary 70s. While these instruments played a huge role from the beginning, on AME DEBUT the mastery of these idiosyncrasies in unison with the folk, jazz and rock elements finally reached the perfect balance. Also new to the band was Patrice Lemon from Gong as well as his brother bassist Jean-Sébastien.

The melodies on AME DEBOUT are downright haunting, suiting RIBEIRO's unique vocal style to a T and nowhere is that more apparent than on the opening title track which findings a hypnotic dueling effect of the percolating percuphone and ethereal cosmophone pacified by acoustic guitar all the while heavily caffeinated with an incessant tribal percussive drive of the bongos which all somehow transverse and straddle the folk melodic drive with a groovy bass and jittery organ. While RIBEIRO is the star for the album's run, the one-two punch of the tracks "Alpes 1" and "Alpes 2" finds the band in the driver's seat with RIBEIRO supplementing wordless backing vocals instead of her frenetic angst filled outbursts that range from subdued to hysterical.

AME DEBUT has the perfect flow of sensual and aggressive moments with focus shifting from the psychedelic cosmic to more down to Earth folk driven numbers such as the closing "Dingue." As with all RIBEIRO albums, the lyrics are exclusively in the French language so for non-speakers the lyrically content will completely be missing, but even if that's the case, the music on AME DEBOUT is utterly divine as all the elements the band had made their own converge into a sublime display avant-garde originality married with beautifully emotionally driven melodies that transcend language and drift into the soul. While almost all RIBEIRO albums are excellent with rich dynamic content, for me AME DEBUT is the one that achieves sheer perfection where all the elements are in the perfect context and where all the ingredients are mixed into a flawless recipe of accomplishment.

Chanson, folk, symphonic rock in the vein of early Pink Floyd, a hint at Canterbury and arousing political poetry; this album is a truly original record in the classic progressive rock era. Catherine Ribeiro can sing beautifully, but will often to choose to almost 'primal scream' her way through the most intense moments! The gives the album a real sense of authenticity, which is often missing in smaller prog groups of the seventies.

The two shorter tracks in the beginning of the album are highlights, especially the melodic and fierce symphonic folksong 'Jusqu'' Ce Que la Foce de T'Aimer Me Manque'. The album continues to deliver two long symphonic pieces in which the band combines spacey atmospheres, spoken word (or rather political arousal) and gothic vocals. The power lies in the minimalist approach of the group, which creates a warm symphonic bath. Almost like a cleansing ritual for the mind. The music excites by keeping a few musical themes relevant by constantly raising the stakes. Perhaps Ribeiro & Alpes are so flexible because of the few instruments they use; often you'll only hear an organ, a bass guitar and a hand drum. Perhaps a bit like Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom.

The recording of this album is good as long as you listen to it in a room with speakers. This is partly because of the sound and partly because of the ritualistic feel of the music. I don't know whom to recommend this music to, but I myself became quite attached to this record and its predecessor 'Ame Debout'.

As the 60s ceded into the 70s, change was afoot and after an explosion of creativity bursting through the floodgates in 1969, many artist's who had managed to find their own sound were now eking out all the creative potential lurking in every nook and cranny of their imaginations. While much of this was taking place in the English speaking world, other nations were forging their own unique visions of musical liberation and France was certainly not shying away from delivering some of the most original artists of the day. CATHERINE RIBEIRO + 2 BIS released their debut album the same year and had garnered enough interest and intrigue to sally forth and evolve their bizarre psychedelic avant-folk sounds to the next level. As the decade changed so did their name and they dropped the 2 BIS and adopted the new band name CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES which they cited as being an inspiration for aiming high, spreading your winds and flying where no other freaks have flied before.

On their second release with the not so original title NO. 2, RIBEIRO once again joins her musical mentor Patrice Moullet who created his own unique instruments and wrote all the music while RIBEIRO provided all lyrics and vocals. Although they are exclusively in the French language (with the exception of the final track "Ballada Das Aguas" which is in Portuguese), RIBEIRO's emotional wrenching vocal styles nonetheless transcend language barriers and inject their essence directly into the heart. Other than RIBEIRO and Moullet, the band is an entirely new set of characters. On this one Denis Cohen contributes organ and percussion while Portuguese guitar parts are provided by Pires Moliceiro and Robles Monteiro. Moullet outdoes himself again by contributing all classical guitar, organ, vocals and electric lyre. While the instruments are mostly the same, the trumpet has been banished as well as the cosmophone. NO. 2 has a distinctly different sound from album one.

The main difference between NO 2 and album one is the inclusion of lots of Portuguese and classical guitars as heard on the opening "Prélude" but after the short intro the psychedelic folk enters the scene with a jittery organ line and irregular percussive accompaniment with RIBEIRO treating us to her brash vocal bravado as the rhythmic pulse slowly builds. There is virtually no traditional songwriting structures involved and a frenetic rhythmic patterns becomes hypnotic while organs and percussion dance sporadically around the musical palette of rhythmic drive. "15 Août 1970" displays RIBEIRO's sensual side as she delivers a tender vocal performance to a classical guitar accompaniment. "Silen Voy Kathy" is one of the freakier tracks with an incessant electronic lyre going for the emotional jugular while RIBEIRO dishes out more lamenting and lugubrious vocal lines.

The true gem on this wild album comes in the form of the 18 minute and 34 second long "Poème Non Épique" which which is about the painful lament of a young women in the middle of being left by her significant other and as the electronic lyre, rumbling percussion and ominous organs slowly portend the emotional breakdown to come, the track ratchets up the intensity incrementally before being joined by RIBEIRO's vibrantly passionate vocals that offer a the whole gamut of emotions that verge on the insane. As the music churns its no wave type of musical developments, RIBEIRO's vocal antics become more and more intense to the point where she completely breaks down as if we are listening to some bizarre occult ritual that placates the spiritual world supplicating a vengeful outcome. The album ends with a beautiful little Portuguese Fado cover by José Afonso and then it ends leaving you what in the world you just listened to! Although NO 2 doesn't seem as cohesive as the following "Paix" and "Ame Debout" it is certainly an entertaining listen that mixes and melds the avant-folk with the truly lysergic and psychedelic weaving in healthy doses of an early no wave song structure approach and the most unique French chanson techniques ever recorded. NO 2 is simply an excellent sophomore album that the adventurous musical freaks will devour like finger sandwiches at cocktail parties.

As the 60s marched closer towards the 70s, musicians became braver and more daring with each year finding ever stranger forms of music evolving and splintering off into distinct new sub genres of rock and folk music. 1969 was one of those years where the floodgates opened and it seemed that any old experimental approach and musical development were fair game. In addition to the mainstream pop and rock of the day were a whole array of discursive bands that created new music for a new era. Bands like East of Eden and King Crimson sparked a new complexity in the evolving world of progressive rock, Black Sabbath formed and took darkness and heaviness in music to new levels and folk music was ever furthering itself from its roots with artists like Tim Buckley taking the music of the people into far more turgid arenas. Unbeknownst to the mainly English speaking world where these developments originated were many other musical entities around the world catching the wave and creating their own new music for a new era only in their native tongues and lands. CATHERINE RIBEIRO was one such artist who has been called the French version of Nico, the successor to Edith Piaf and also as a prog rock sorceress who cast enchanting spells to summon revolution.

The unique style of CATHERINE RIBEIRO was a product of her traumatic upbringing. Born in Lyon, France in 1941, not only did she suffer from the early traumas of WW2 with a constant barrage of bombings as the daughter of newly established immigrants from Portugal, but she also experienced such traumas as her baby brother dying at a young age as well as mental instability which landed her into psychiatric wards where she was subjected to intense sessions of electro shock therapy. The culmination of these incidents would be expressed through her various artistic endeavors. Although she started out as an actor, by the mid-60s she began to take interest in music and once she met Patrice Moullet, the chemistry immediately clicked and together they would synergize their talents to create a totally new kind of freaky psychotomimetic musical creation that even to the present day stands out as quite unique. Despite members coming and going throughout their eleven year run, RIBEIRO and Moullet would remain together for the entire run. The band better known as CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES starting on album "No. 2" initially began under the CATHERINE RIBEIRO + 2BIS moniker which on their eponymous debut album cover proudly presents the "Pop Free" stamp of approval.

From the very first sounds experienced, it's obvious that this was out of left field for the time and to this day remains so. With RIBEIRO blasting out her declamatory style of semi-sung, semi-spoken lyrical content completely in the French language we are instantly transported to another musical world where pain and disdain of the injustices of the world are suddenly transmogrified into musical majesty. "Lumiere Écarlate" (Scarlet Light) begins with the avant-garde instrumental sounds of Moullet's hypnotic self-invented cosmophone along with tribal drumming and RIBEIRO's spectral passion-fueled chants that sound as if they are supplicating the universe for some kind of healing ritual or some other occult scene. While "S?ur De Race" (Pedigree Sister) is less haunting it continues the lugubriousness as RIBEIRO seduces the listener with her soft sensual vocal style that belies the following track "Les Fées Carabosses" (The Wicked Fairies) where shows how versatile RIBEIRO is and displays her full bravado in bombastic rants and moody guffaws where she can create intricate melodies only to shatter them in a fit of rage in a full-voiced madwoman ebullition followed by screams, hysterical laughs and other vocal madness.

It's not only RIBEIRO's vocal antics that stand out and demand the listener's attention. The otherworldly sounds of Patrice Moullet's homemade instruments are equally wild. While RIBEIRO handles all lyrics and vocals throughout the band's existence, it was Moullet who wrote all the music and invented several instruments such as the percuphone, cosmophone and orgolia that give this music the most unique and unparalleled sound in the progressive music scene. This one / two punch guarantees the listener will be taken somewhere they never knew existed: a strange new world where the psychedelic and avant-folk meet in the lysergic renegade poetic wilderness. Along with the experimental instrumentation and larger than life vocal contributions, the album is also filled with all kinds of psychedelic techniques much used by other acts of the era including backmasking, tribal drumming and hypnotic folk guitar sequences. Some of the tracks are sweet and sensual and others come completely unhinged however the music always remains in a rhythmic harmony of some sort while RIBEIRO herself is the one who dishes out the bouts with chaos and mental instability. CATHERINE RIBEIRO + 2 BIS is a very interesting late 60s release that showed all of the band's strengths from the beginning, however they were just getting started and as good as this debut album is, it's not as well accomplished as some of the albums to come. Album number one is certainly an entertaining musical trip that not only delivered ample amounts of originality but managed to boil the avant-garde ingredients into a digestible stew that sounds like a completely mature product.

This sounds like a cross between Acid Folk and Psychedelic music, there's very much a hippyish vibe here especially on the first two tracks. The highlights though are the final two songs that clock in at over 15 1/2 minutes and 24 1/2 minutes respectively. Man Catherine is a beautiful woman, just a unique and gorgeous face while her voice is strong and deep.

"Roc Alpin" opens with guitar, bass and drums as vocal melodies come and go. An upbeat tune with keyboard-like sounds that come and go. This one's fairly straightforward and there's a 60' vibe with the vocals. "Jusqu'a Ce Que La Force De T'aimer Me Manque" opens with strummed guitar and vocals as the organ floats in. Keyboard-like sounds come and go too. Vocal melodies follow then back to vocals. The Psych/ Folk flavour to this one is strong. "Paix" has a sparse beginning with percussion-like sounds and atmosphere. The organ becomes more prominent then it's fuzzed out before 4 minutes. Nice! Catherine starts to speak before 6 minutes as the guitar melodies come and go while the bass, drums and organ continue. This is trippy yet her words seem serious. She starts to get more theatrical before 10 minutes and the music also turns more powerful. Love the fuzzed out organ that returns. Some almost avant sounding guitar around 11 1/2 minutes. Vocal melodies are back at 13 minutes. A psychedelic beauty right there, almost perfect and my favourite song on here.

"Un Jour... La Mort" is spacey with trippy guitar sounds to start. Vocal melodies and a change in sound after 4 minutes as bass and strummed guitar help out as well. Love the organ-like sounds after 5 minutes and also a minute after that. Vocals arrive just before 7 1/2 minutes and there's lots of depth instrumentally as she sings so beautifully. She starts to sing with more passion at 8 1/2 minutes. The vocals then stop as the music winds down until there's silence after 10 1/2 minutes. Then it kicks in with percussion, vocals, organ and more. Intense and determined is the sound here. Suddenly they seem to jam as the vocals stop. Organ and drums stand out here. The vocals are almost drugged-out sounding around 15 minutes, then she sings normally and man this all sounds so amazing. Silence before 18 1/2 minutes then solo picked guitar takes over. Strummed guitar and vocals follow. Bass and organ also join in. Some deranged vocal yells come and go over the last few minutes.

This is such an enjoyable album and it's often adventerous both vocally and instrumentally. A solid 4 stars and well worth tracking down.

I'm prolonging my stay in France for the next couple of reviews (and of course for the fragrant opium cheeses) this fabulously outrageous album called Paix came out in 1972, and believe you me when I say that it's formed in the hands of a group you've never heard the likes of in your life. With the progressive folk scene frolicking in all kinds of constellations - the vibe coming out of Germany felt particularly hippiyish - let's all get together and sit on the lawn, while a good deal of the music coming from the British isles suddenly had changed - fast becoming more introvert and "ugly" in its expression - epitomized by the likes of Comus, Jan Dukes de Grey and Tea & Symphony. Catherine Ribeirou belongs to these mad cats, and with her band Alpes - formerly known as 2+bis - the music coming out of your speakers when you hopefully decide to take the plunge - sounds like a haunted and slow motion catatonic version of Edith Piaf eroding through the music like pouring acid of sand.

The entire album revolves around simple, yet obnoxiously brilliant guitar patterns that chuff along like a decisively more edgy acoustic Keith Richards. Even the finger play is spot on! Hurling in a sea of mist - the psychedelic and often luminous fizzing organs snake effortlessly underneath, above and right in front of the guitar - creating an image of a wild frenzied kid haphazardly in circles with a guitar on his back - swooping about the stoic submersible rugs of furry glistening sound being hurled your way from those organs.

The focal point of everything here is the terrorising vocals of Ribeirou. Man, I'll tell you - sometimes she sounds like an androgynous Gestapo interrogator with big booming demonic obsessions darting out of her like fountains of beautiful darkness. These are the sort of vocals that echo Edith Piaf standing on top a skyscraper summoning a dangerous and desperately edgy vibe.

The first track Roc Alpin immediately gives you the impression that you're going to hear a folk rock album with somewhat strange fittings glued onto various other musical surfaces you didn't catch the first time around - but then again the first time you hear this record, it'll stop you dead in your tracks - just because the vocals appear in the room like small splintered knives.

This is however not how it all starts. Paix begins like a proper album and serves to you perhaps not the most accessible tune, but at least it sorta rocks. Feels something like a being led through a green faerie wonderland with a large and merry sailor's wife going LALAAAAAHHLAALAAHHH LALAAAAH!!! Then the organs turn up and the moods get twirling murky and soaring. Small guitar figurines leads it gently to the door as it doses off into silence.

Then an extremely French ballad comes in the form of laid back guitar strumming, and the most raging vibrato I've ever heard applied to a female rock performer. Short and very French piece - sending you along Parisienne Walkways straight onwards into the sadness of the gutter. Melancholic sweetness haunts this tune from start to finish.

At this point, you've pretty much accepted that you've acquired a progressive avantguarde cabaret album, but then something funny happens - the mood changes for the more airy and porous, and I could swear we were suddenly somewhere along the ridges of NEU! - and finally the pieces fall together, when the odd electronic string instrument called the percuphone emerges and starts emulating the well familiar two stroke rhythm of a sequencer. Additionally the music veers into dark hedges and demented yet most befitting organ runs mimic the sort of free association you'd hear from a guy like Ray Manzerak when he played live gigs with The Doors. Right there and then Ribeiro steps in and speaks out on behalf of the mad country and focuses the spotlight on all the fabulous midnight lurkers of everyday life - sporting distinct left field convictions. The track goes back and forth between these two outer extremes - feeding off the powerful back swing it gets from either side of the fence - and then slowly coming to a halt with the electronics fading smoothly out, and you get the sense that the upcoming storm is awaiting brewing round the bend. She then sings out in the most angelic voice, and the skies rip apart like new born butterflies. This is effectively only a percuphone, a light decor of atmospheric guitar riff raff, some keys and vocals, but with this title piece it feels as if the world is on the verge of becoming a speaker and everything around turns alive with sound. It's a real trip man! Ford I love this thing.

The final piece instigates with a Cluster like elegance - like a feather caught on the up-draft - refusing to land anywhere. It's as insubstantial as it is pretty - and moreover, the soothing lapping watery music from the previous track now comes to the fore and you effectively get lured out into the slippery end, where everything seems like it's melting. When Ribeiro returns to song, all of the locked away emotions seep right through under the crackling of her menacing soaring vocal lines. Oh yes, there's buckets of beauty in here as well. The final bewildering whisper/effervescent rodeo flute always sends me off chasing mice in my skull. This is like having an alluring and terrifying conversation with the incarnation of Medusa's ancient bloodline...

I've loved this thing the past 15 years, and it never ceases to amaze me just how wild and out there this album really is, and that's with the simplest of instrumentation conceivable. Sometimes less is more. So true. So very true 4.5 stars.

What if Hawkwind or Gong went folk, with Nico on lead vocals? Perhaps they would have ended up with a sound a bit like the one exhibited by Catherine Ribeiro's backing group Alpes on this release. Sputtering hazily between psychedelic space rock vistas and hippy folk chants and songs, this bizarre release combines adventurous musical experimentation with capable and diverse vocals on the part of Catherine herself, which have a resonance and a boldness to them matched by very few. There aren't many groups who can count themselves as having a truly unique sound, but Alpes might just be one of them.

From 1970 - the year in which I was born - appears the mighty Ribeiro and Alpes' second offering which heaps on layers of doom over the beauty of Catherine's voice. At times she'll remind you of Diamanda Galas when she was at her peak in the mid eighties.

N˚2, however, is more cerebral and raw, with far fewer effects over her vocals. To be honest she doesn't really need them - her range is incredible, sounding like a more aggressive Edith Piaf. Despite owning a scratchy old record of this, I still like it a lot.

'15 aout 1970' displays moments of beauty with vocals and guitar that will be utilised in future, better recordings.

N˚2 is sometimes tuneless but always strangely alluring, particularly on the completely mental side 2, which sounds to me like some weird sacrificial ritual in a derelict graveyard.

'Poème non épique' in its 18 mins duration has many similarities in its beginning with parts of Floyd's 'Saucerful of Secrets' with very 'Nick Masony' drums and 'Gilmour' effect laden electric guitar. Ribeiro's, almost possessed by Satan wailings and vocal ululating will leave you thinking that she was a hideous old hag rather than the beautiful woman she actually was.

The start of an unbroken run of 8 good albums in a row. Only 3 stars here because it's SO in your face that I can't really find the place to listen to this madness without getting irritated. This is Ribeiro and Alpes stripped to the bone, raw, and all the better for it on this one album.