EMILE A LA CAMPAGNE

As the title subtly tells (it contracts the album's two titles), this is a compilation of Debile Menthol's two albums with a few bonus tracks added. This two-disc set is all you need to find out about the first chapter of Momo Rossel and JV Huguenin's multi-story rocket musical adventures. Debile Menthol was the craziest Avant Prog group coming from Romandie (the French-speaking Switzerland), since being caught up by Thonk and Steamboat Switzerland (both RIO trio taking ELP as a base), but Debile Menthol turned into the weaker L'Ensemble Rayé and then into the energetic Nimal.

See the separate album reviews for the majority of the contents, but the two bonus tracks on the first album are well in the spirit of this Avant Prog, often approaching the grotesque and absurd. The release's booklet contains a number of image & text collages, which apparently have no link with the original albums, but reinforce the absurd and nonsensical side of their music.

Most likely, this is the only Debile Menthol CD release (it says the vinyls are still available) that is still available in the second half of the 00's, but it always better than nothing. If you enjoy weird Dadaist European folkloric music, this release is really aimed at you.