La Theorie Des Cordes is a jazz-, rock- and prog-group from France. They have been around since 2010 and nowadays consist of Mathieu Torres (guitars), Stephanie Arnaud (piano), Julien Langlois (saxophone), Fah Pigny (drums) and Alexandre Henri (bass). Singes Electriques is their second album after their debut Premières Vibrations (see review) was released in 2001. This new release was recorded live and is a concept album about electric monkeys (Singes Electriques), about what they're about, their culture, their sentiments, their ideology, their evolution, but also their messages. At first, hearing the music reminds me of Gong and especially of the period after Daevid Allen's departure from the band. Steve Hillage, Pierre Moerlen and Didier Malherbe kept the ship afloat for a while, releasing the albums Shamal (1975) and Gazeuse! (1976) and Expresso II (1978). The music of La Theorie Des Cordes is entirely instrumental. One by one the electric guitar, the piano and the saxophone take the lead, challenging each other, having a conversation, taking the music into different directions. The musicians are skilled and clearly must have played together a lot. Alas their strength is also their weakness; sometimes they lose themselves in their technique and perfection, and forget that music is also about adding a soul. *** Erik Gibbels (edited by Esther Ladiges) Where to buy? |
