Laurent
THIBAULT was MAGMA's first bassist before he became the director of THELEME
records, the original French progressive label that issued albums by UNIWERÏA
ZEKT and ERGO SUM. Later he became a famous sound engineer, working at his Château
d'Hérouville studio with David Bowie, T Rex and even the Bee Gees....
In 1978, he decided to compose and record his own solo album with friends from MAGMA like Francis MOZE on bass, Richard RAUX on sax, Lisa BOIS (who he met while recording 'Attahk') on vocals. Additional musicians featured included his wife Jacqueline on keyboards, Dominique BOUVIER and David ROSE (both ex TRANSIT EXPRESS) on drums and violin respectively. Other vocalists were Lionel LEDDISSEZ (from UNIWERÏA ZEKT and ERGO SUM) and Amanda PARSONS (from HATFIELD & THE NORTH).
The result is a concept-album based on the paintings of Le Douanier Rousseau, which show the difference between dreams, art and reality. So, his album is divided into four tracks, each with a different climate. On 'Orée' it is dreamy-progressive similar to a lot of the quieter pieces on MAGMA's first 'Kobaïan' double album - for example 'Naü Ektila' is brought to mind immediately. I was also reminded of a few peaceful songs by ANGE from the mid-seventies. This first track is serene, very beautiful and delicate with a marvellous female choir. 'Aquadingen' starts in a similar light vein but soon breaks into a darker and more anguished style with some bizarre frantic passages. Laurent used many found recordings of animals in the final mix, with what sounds like Cicadas, Toads and all manner of creatures clicking and croaking throughout this piece. The drumming by Bouvier is fairly basic but overall it's an interesting soundscape.
'La caravane de l'oubli' begins with an exotic theme, again with a strong flavour of the first MAGMA album but to which is added Rose's fluid violin and an Arabic droning instrument. This is meant to illustrate the march of a caravan through the desert. The theme is energetic and repetitive gradually building into a stronger "Moroccan" flavour as the Arabic vocal samples are added. Abruptly this stops and another pastiche of found recordings, this time of children playing, begins. The reality aspect replaces the pleasant bass / guitar theme and the dream state is banished by more forceful drumming on the title track 'Mais on ne peut pas rêver tout le temps'. Noises of war and cries of horror break through and the whole work ends in Laurent's disturbing shrill laughter.
The booklet supplied with this CD has a wealth of historical information on the early years of MAGMA and touches on the formation by Rene Garber of the MAGMA offshoot: UNIWERÏA ZEKT and Christian Vander's early seventies jazz combo: TRANSITION. There is a lot of it which I have never seen in English before and for the MAGMA collector / fetishist this booklet is vital; of course you also need the booklet that comes with the WEIDORJE CD too. Keep up the good work Musea! Now, how about those ZAO albums....
So, Laurent Thibault is a musical painter and his paintings are exquisite, full of finesse and nuance. His album is certainly one of the most beautiful and impressionist and suggestive albums, with a strong Zeuhl influence too. If you like the spirit of Early MAGMA, or the dreamlike qualities of the more skilful and creative progressive rock groups from the seventies, then this is definitely a worthy purchase.
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