Malicorne

About

This band plays very traditional folk music, and rock elements appear only in occasional amplified bass and guitar lines. The drums are neither played in rock style, but they are merely simple bass drums and percussions beating the rhythm. The main instruments here are guitars, violins, voices of both male and female singers plus some wind instruments. There are also some bagpipes been used on track “Réveillez-Vous Belle Endormie”. The arrangements of simple melodies are done professionally and often under the surface of basic themes one can found many interesting patterns and details. The values of beautifulness are presented here in a way which pleased me, that being romantic minor key approach, track “La Pernette” representing these qualities most perfectly. If you like medieval oriented folk music, this band brings a nice addition to the league of British folk groups, though the cultural heritages of these two countries aren’t very far from each other, when compared to folk music of non-Western countries. For example the style of the melodic patterns of singing on these songs is familiar to me from lullabies I heard as a child myself, the human cultures are not so much about vast differences but impressive similarity in my own observing. The only negative side in this record is that it isn’t very powerful from dramatic power except for few tracks. Many of these songs are pleasant to listen, and some of them are real gems, but also many of them aren’t very memorable, and they don’t create a desire to listen the whole album trough over again and again. But it’s a nice addition to any collection of prog folk music. Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Zither (Épinette Des Vosges), Vocals – Gabriel Yacoub Arranged By – Malicorne (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to B6) Artwork By – Martine Deschamps Dulcimer, Bouzouki, Hurdy Gurdy, Vocals – Marie Yacoub Electric Guitar, Bass, Crumhorn, Percussion, Vocals – Hughes De Courson Layout – Albert Riou Photography – Irina Ionesco Recorded By – Clément Ziegler, Nic Kinsey Violin, Viola, Bouzouki, Psaltery (Bowed), Harmonium, Mandolin, Vocals – Laurent Vercambre Written By – Traditional (tracks: A1 to B6) Label: Hexagone/883002, LEAF 8001 Release year: 1974 Genre: Progressive-Folk.

via Last.fm