Miriodor

Miriodor (Cuneiform Rune 14) 1993

MIRIODOR are a four-piece band who sound like a quartet of saxophone, violin, percussives and synth. This is the French-Canadian's 1988 'Miriodor' LP combined with their 1987 cassette 'Tôt ou Tard' - in total a full length CD of inventive quirkiness. Beginning with the more structured 1988 recording, roaming sax and odd time signatures abound, shades of VDGG perhaps? 'Spirale' is a very strong composition with a heavy bias towards the sax. Yet it is an instrumental album, which is far more impro-jazz than Hammillian. In 'Piège' a terrific vamp develops between the sax and piano parts alongside crisp percussive movements. The result is an album that oozes strange progressive rock in equal measure with modern RIO (strongly reminiscent of L'ENSEMBLE RAYE and NIMAL). The earlier work 'Tôt ou Tard' is less absorbing, yet 'Suspicion' evolves via shrill violin grating towards a Zeuhl piano riff that is hypnotically repetitive and intriguing. Another centre of interest is 'Convoi Nocturne' which sounds like a film soundtrack with baleful sax and percussive tinkling. Overall, the more adventurous will find something here of merit, it's Non-Zeuhl, I suppose some might find it a little eccentric, but still highly recommended.

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