Christian Vander

A tous les enfants...(Seventh A XIV) 1994

Not one of those beastly Magma records, instead Christian offers us a wonderfully enchanting collection of songs that should appeal to all the family. After several years of hesitancy over this, the results greatly exceed my expectations. I thought Christian's opening announcement was a bit frightening for the little ones, but the next few songs flow into a magical sequence before the first piece that I recognised; 'J'ai du bon tabac' with its haunting melody. The jolly 'Mr Vent', 'Le ballet de sorcières' and the superb 'Ronde de Nuit' are more tunes that will fix themselves in your head, I find myself recalling these simple melodies unexpectedly at the oddest moments. It is a shame that this recording of 'Ronde de Nuit' is taken directly from Stella Vander's solo album, but in fact this whole concept has a strong affinity with Stella's CD and at times reminds me of the spiritual intensity of 'To Love' - an album that is shamefully ignored by some fans yet I feel is possibly Vander's finest achievement. As expected there are a few appearances by the children but it is not a record by children, or solely for children. It is a work of love, seemingly intended to recall the joys of youth and good health. Christian says that the prime intention of the record is to liberate your consciousness. The disc slips into the back of what is effectively a small hardback book. The book contains all the lyrics and some poignant messages from Christian. The book is a splendid work by UZ Grafik, and features a lovely shot of Christian visiting Father Christmas in 1951. Towards the end of the album come two tunes that I suppose one must recall from the presentations in Le Plessis Robinson and at the Bataclan, 'A la clare fontane' and 'Dodo l'enfant do', both magical interpretations, far removed from Christian's previous records but just as spellbinding. Your enjoyment of the whole package would be increased if you can read French, but even if you can't understand a word of it, the pure joy shines through. Unless you are totally blinkered, you really should check this out.