Alco Frisbass - Alco Frisbass - 2015
“This record is dedicated to Denis Longo, who left us too early”
intro
Alco Frisbass is a French musical project, initiated by two musicians out of the progressive scene. Their stage names are Chfab and Paskinel. Those nicknames are standing for Fabrice Chouette and Patrick Dufour. On this album they get some assistance by Thierry Payssan (Minimum Vital), Jacob Holm Lupo (White Willow) and Archimede De Martini (Stormy Six). The album has been released on the Fading Records label of AltrOck Productions.
line-up
Fabrice “Chfab” Chouette - keyboards, guitars, voice, recorder, whistling, percussion; Patrick “Paskinel” Dufour - Fender Rhodes, keyboards, all drum programming, chimes
Special guests:
Thierry Payssan - Sigma solos and Mellotron (final) in “Judith Coupeuse De Tête”; Jacob Holm Lupo - guitars in “La Suspension Ethéréenne” and “Judith Coupeuse De Tête”; Archimede De Martini - violin solos in “La Suspension Ethéréenne”, “Pas A Pas” and Escamotage"
review
For me this instrumental album came as a complete surprise. A very positive surprise, simply because it is a brilliant piece of music in the vein of the Canterbury Scene. Fans of bands like Hatfield And The North and National Health will love this album. This could be my review; ... Brilliant album for the open minded music lover ... period.
On the album you can find the following 6 compositions; “La Suspension Ethéréenne”, “Pas A Pas”, “Induction Magnetique”, “La Danse du Pantin”, “Escamotage” and “Judith Coupeuse de Tête”.
The opener “La Suspension Ethéréenne” with a duration of more than ten minutes, has a relaxed intro with Fender Rhodes, synths and a delicate violin part before the music gets more rhythm. The slow melodic romantic parts are just flowing into the more aggressive and up tempo parts. Fabrice Chouette and Patrick Dufour are using all kinds of keyboards on this album. You can find beautiful keyboard strings in this piece that gives the music a sort of Symphonic Canterbury sound. The guitars are played by White Willow man Jacob Holm Lupo. The violin parts are played by Archimede De Martini. It is a great opener. Only for this piece I would buy the album.
“Pas A Pas” has loads of delicious keyboard and synth parts and a beautiful violin solo. At one point I had to think of the music of the American band A Triggering Myth that you can find on The Laser's Edge label. This has to do with the sounds of the many keyboards that are used on this album. That label has also a connection to the Norwegian White Willow of Jacob Holm Lupo ... Is that a coincidence? ... Probably. In the third track “Induction Magnetique”, Fabrice is using his voice as an instrument. This gives a Caravan and Hatfield and the North atmosphere. Most of the time the music of this piece is very relaxed. You will find some delicious keyboard solo's and some guitar parts in this nice track.
Next is “La Danse Du Pantin”, a more up tempo piece with some jazz fusion elements. Halfway the music slows down and we can enjoy beautiful melodic guitars parts before the music becomes again more up tempo. And I love the synth with the Dave Stewart sound. “Escamotage” is with more than twelve minutes the longest composition of the album. Layered on top of hypnotic drum programming and keyboard strings you will find beautiful violin, guitar and synth parts. Patrick did a good job on the drum programming. But this counts for the whole album.
The album closes with a track called “Judith Coupeuse De Tête”. In this piece Thierry Payssan plays the Sigma solos and the Mellotron in the final part. The acoustic guitar work is from Jacob Holm Lupo and Fabrice plays the recorder in this piece. Together with the opening track this is one of my favorite pieces because the keyboard strings are great and you can find the most beautiful melodies on this track. The piece has also delicious synth solos.
conclusion
What a pleasant surprise. The debut album of the Alco Frisbass project is a wonderful piece of music in the vein of the Canterbury Scene. The music has a kind of lightness ... I would describe the sound as Symphonic Cantebury. Fans of bands like Hatfield And The North and National Health will love this album. As I mentioned before this is a brilliant album for the open minded music lover. Highly recommended by progVisions.