Alco Frisbass is a band from Rennes in France. Most readers of our website probably haven't heard anything from this band. Therefore a little bit of extra info about them. Until now they have released three albums. Alco Frisbass (2015), Le Bateleur (2018) and Le Mystère du Gué Pucelle (2021).The band consists of Patrick "Paskinel" Dufour (keyboards & synths, drums programming), Fabrice "Chfab" Chouette (keyboards & synths, electric guitars) and Frédéric "Tourneriff" Chaput (bass, electric & acoustic guitars, keyboards, synths & Modular, percussion). They fuse jazz, Canterbury, and symphonic elements on their released albums. And now two years after their last release one of their members comes up with a solo album. Maraude Automnale is the first solo album produced under the name of Paskinel by Patrick Paskinel Dufour. On this release he is accompanied by Frédéric Tourneriff Chaput. So this means that 2/3 of the group Alco Frisbass is present on his first solo effort. Furthermore they had some help from Jacques Bon on bassoon (5 and 7), Dag-Z on flute (2), Franck Dehaut on electric guitar and lapsteel (1). Also help from Mickael Fellmann on saxophone (1), Jun Gui Kwon on violin (7) and Fabrice Chouette on organ (1). The last and third member of Alco Frisbass. Chaput was responsible for the mixing. The mastering was in the hands of Thierry Payssan from Minimum Vital. Maraude Automnale is dominated by instrumental music on which you can hear influences taken from jazz rock, Canterbury and progressive rock. Overall the music is very keyboard orientated throughout most of the album. Only on the final track the guitar gets a bit of a leading role. When you hear the eight compositions it is not easy to compare them with well known names from the genre they are influenced by. I guess you might say there are times you might think you hear something from bands such as Hatfield And The North, King Crimson, Shylock, National Health, Minimum Vital, Caravan and Gentle Giant. All in all the songs on this album are of a rather good quality but it doesn't mean everybody who enjoys progressive rock will get into them. It takes a couple of listening sessions to get into them. Most of the tracks sound as if the music is improvised during long jam sessions. However they never get too freaky or boring to listen to. And that's of course a good thing. If you like Alco Frisbass and the earlier mentioned acts you might enjoy Maraude Automnale. Even more if you like music which is a fuse between jazz rock and Canterbury with symphonic rock elements this might be your album! *** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
