DURE-MÈRE

First of all, this is a free download, and if you like me are turning tricks just to get a cup of coffee these days- this is just beautiful and a very much appreciated piece of mana from the heavens. I in return thought I´d turn some of you guys out there onto a very interesting and dare I say original newcomer.

Ever seen the weird and wonderful Terry Gilliam movie called 12 Monkeys? If you have, you probably recall the crazy French harmonica playing that accompanies the story of an invincible secret simian army, that most likely doesn´t even exist at all!?! This harmonica is actually called a Bandonéon and stems from Argentina. It´s used a lot in tango if you must know, but to me the 12 Monkeys is the only point of reference - and when this incredible instrument starts honking back and forth like an energizer bunny on Viagra - it paints a picture of a gypsy carnival showered in colors complete with orangutans smoking cigarettes, sword-swallowers and bearded women with mystical psychic powers. Hey I just gave away the sound and feel of Dure-Mère, without even thinking about!

We have three guys playing RIO with a few nods to Henry Cow and Samla Mammas Manna, but with that Bandonéon leading the parade - Dure-Mère surely hits a niche of their own, and a very welcome one at that. This album sounds fantastic! The thing that first hit me was how much these guys enjoy playing music. It´s like the aforementioned Swedes, where the music sounds like it´s been recorded from inside a bouncy castle after a good night on the town - with ten girls in your pocket and a wombat in charge of the light show. They are having a blast - no doubt about it!! The music can jump carefree between insanely fast paced runs with the music resembling a hard hitting rock cacophony in a French diner, but yet very enticing - to damn near romantic Disney´s Lady & The Tramp eating pasta under a full moon -sections. BUT the way these two outer extremes of Dure-Mère´s music are connected - just blows me away. There is a brilliant flow to these guys.

They´ve got a jazzy drummer with lots of uummph and general weird outbursts that sprinkle the madness of the overall sound perfectly. I do get the feel of a toddler banging away on mom´s cookware and that´s just fine by me. The guitarist is a lurker, meaning he works very much like a bassist would. He steadies the HIHO Silver and away-ship music I´m sailing on, and man I really don´t need a bass... From time to time he steps in and lays down some riffs - that then goes into some fiddling, and then what usually happens here is, Mr. Harmonica jumps right on board, and we´ve got ourselves a genuine jazz chase - and Swiiish were off to the French madness! Then again it´s not all crazy yo-yo´s and baguettes, as Mr Harmonica also whips out some good ol´ synths on the last track, and sends us toward Krautrock land a la Kluster with some desolate electronic surfaces.

On the other hand - sometimes I feel a punk early noise ska thing happening on Sangre. A ferocity and driving force I normally would associate with The Cardiacs, although these artists doesn´t really sound anything like each other. Confused yet? Don´t worry, just let the monkeys loose inside your head, and then we´ll all meet up at my place for some bananas.