From: ptt00@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (  179  Peter Thelen)
Newsgroups: alt.music.progressive,alt.music.alternative
Subject: Re: Meeks' Review #2 - Minimum Vital
Date: 29 Sep 92 17:45:50 GMT
Reply-To: ptt00@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

In article <1992Sep28.210047.60949@uvmark.uucp> davem@uvmark.uucp (Dave Meeks) writes:
>I picked up "Envol Triangles" and "Les Saisons Marines" on a single CD.
>These are their first two albums.  The first is from 1985 and the other 
>from 1987.  The first album featured:

Keep in mind that some songs aren't on the CD release. I have the vinyl
of _Les Saisons Marines_ and there is a killer 8th track (4 1/2 minutes)
titled "La Scala". There may also be stuff left off from _Envol_ as well,
I don't know for sure, I never had the cassette.

<< review of 5 tracks from _Envol Triangles_ >>

>Overall, this first album is excellent.  Very guitar/flute oriented.  Drums
>are nothing special, and mainly seem to keep the beat with lots of cymbal work.
>Bass is ok, again not exceptional.  Guitar work is very, very good, and very
>clean.  Not a lot of distortion, fuzz, feedback, hammer-ons, or any of that
>jazz.  Just exceptional guitar work.   Flute is very well done on this album
>and is part of the highlight, if you like flute, and still nice if you don't.
>The keyboards are also very well done, if not for the fact that it is the same
>sound throughout, for the most part.

As far as musical styling goes (which IMHO is what really makes MV shine)
I think this first album has equal parts Magma school influence and
Canterbury Jazz-rock influence a la Caravan, Soft Machine, Camel. MV's
strong classical influence is not as evident here as on the later albums.

<< Song by song review of _Les Saisons Marines_ >>

>5) Les Saisons Marines (4:22)
>	Strange song.  Mainly clav.  Not a lot about this song that I like, 
>	though it isn't necessarily bad.  Just kind of blah...

Different Judgements for different ears. The song is  D A R K , esp. in
the opening minutes; The searing guitar kicks in and this song becomes
one of the album's finest, nice complex rhythms and counter-rhythms, but
at a slower tempo than most of the other tracks.

>Overall, this band compares very favorably against bands like Djam Karet, or
>possibly even Robert Fripp in a strange way.  They tend to combine elements
>of JazzFusion with Progressive music.  Someone called them "Symphonic" rock,

I agree. These guys are * NOT * symphonic, but ARE heavily clasically
influenced in the way that Sky was, in fact some of the tracks here bear
some resemblance to some of Sky's more upbeat moments. listen to "Hotta"
followed by "La Tour Haute", yet MV delivers far more rhythmic complexity,
albeit in a very subtle way. There's a break in "La Tour Haute" a few
minutes into the song where the keyboards take over alone while the other
instruments break - whatever he's doing is remarkably complex, yet very
low key without a lot of flash. Then the other instruments kick in again
and the song gets back on track.

>Anyway, thus ends my second review.  I apologize as this album was much harder
>to review.  This is an album that does not have a lot of immediately 
>remarkable things to talk about, but is a great album none the less.  Truly
>an example of the sum is greater than the individual parts.  This one is 
>a definite must for fans of great music.

I think the remarkable thing to talk about here is the excellent material
written by les freres Payssan, and the incredible cohesion of the band.
I maintain that MV is THE best instrumental band on the planet, convince
me otherwise ! (OK, maybe Djam K, Ozrics, and Xaal deserve the title as
well. Let's just say these four are in the top 5 !)

And thanks, David, for a great review. Keep 'em coming. Who's next ?


peter (ptt00@duts.ccc.amdahl.com)  "The Lighthouse Keeper"
Newsgroups: alt.music.progressive