Progquebec

Maneige along with Harmonium and Flairck were part of Canada's 70's Quebecois prog-folk-classical artists who managed to release a few albums with "Les Porches" standing out as another magical album for consideration. "Les Porches" is a 4 piece suite featuring lush symphonia and a wide arsenal of instrumentation including glockenspiel, contra bass, flutes, saxes, vibes, xylophone, marimba. Unlike some of their other albums this one has vocals (sung in French) which are used sparingly and still work well on the album. Overall sound is quite unique with a lush folk-symphonic charm. A great album for sure!

Ni Vent… Ni Nouvelle (No Wind… No News) is Maneige's first record after the departure of Jérôme Langlois. Although a transitional album in many aspects, it nevertheless clearly indicated the group's new direction. Exit the lush acoustic instrumentations, the music is now mostly electric, with the electric guitar and electric piano taking center stage, but mallet percussion remains an important part of the melodic and harmonic content. Exit the long, intricate suites: the pieces are all short (under six minutes), focused, and driven by catchy melodies. The difference between Ni Vent… Ni Nouvelle and the albums that came after it is that this time, the music works very well. It keeps much of the complexity the group distilled from Gentle Giant (see "La Fin de l'Histoire" or "Le Gros Roux"), but loses a certain pomposity. The FM radio compromises found in Libre Service-Self Service and the clinical sound of the more jazz-rock albums have yet to appear, leaving the music warm, smiley, and inviting.

Maelstrom (previously Way Out) recorded a full album at Le Studio in Morin Heights, owned by André Perry, in 1976… at the height of Quebec's first progressive rock era. After failing to find a record contract back in the day, the master tapes were forgotten… so forgotten, in fact, that even we didn't hear any word about them for over 40 years!
The tapes reveal a quintet at the height of their powers, and musical affinities to Gentle Giant, Yes, and at times even Frank Zappa. Add to the mix hints of King Crimson, Canterbury prog and space rock, with comparable Quebec peers including Et Cetera, Opus 5, Le Match, Maneige and Harmonium. The six francophone pieces stretch out through long instrumental segments, permitting a demonstration of the band members' talents. All in all, this album definitely shines within the Quebec progressive rock canon from the 1970's.

Maneige's first album remains their most daring and their best, the second of these judgments not valid only as the consequence of the first. Yes, the music pushed more toward free improv passages (in "Le Rafiot") and clever dissonances, but these are well wrapped in good melodies elsewhere and never feel gratuitous. No matter how mainstream the group would later attempt to be, the musicians rarely topped the quality of the writing found on this LP. It's tight, rich, and varied, with luscious instrumentation. The production is also excellent, each instrument (close to a dozen at times and mainly acoustic) clearly defined and beautifully recorded. The first side is filled with the 21-minute epic "Le Rafiot" (a decrepit boat), an instrumental tour de force…

Fourth album from their catalogue released in 1978 named Libre Service - Self-Service is almost same in manner of composing with previous one, aswell shorter pieces but full of inventive passages. Overall polished sound, some untraditional instruments here like xylophone, marimba combined with the rest gives a very solid album. Flute again is important as guitar and keyboards, again an instrumental album. Maybe in places is little more accesible then previous album and maybe lighter in aproach but never the less a great album by Maneige that keeps the flag high in those dark years of prog late '70s.

Another great early prog act lost to history and the musical tumult of the early 1970s, Quebec keyboard quartet ExCubus (then known as Incubus, renamed for the 2008 release to avoid confusion with other groups) was one of Canada's best symphonic-era prog bands in the mold of ELP but with a rougher, more dungeon-like edge. In 1974, the organist, drummer, bassist and guitarist recorded four tracks at the legendary Chateau d'Herouville in France which were never released. Thanks to Musique Progres, those compositions along with four newly re-recorded cuts of old material will be released in late 2008 as "Memoires Incubussiennes"…

Imagine a cross between early Chicago and early Santana, with a rougher touch of blues and a dash of progressive jazz, all performed by no less than eight musicians at a time, although that number could climb up to 20. That was the Ville Emard Blues Band, a collective active around Montreal in the early to mid-'70s. The lineup featured lots of active session musicians (with Robert Charlebois and Raôul Duguay, among others) and members of Contraction, Toubabou, and Harmonium (Robert Stanley and Denis Farmer would join the latter to record the epochal L'Heptade). This two-CD set culls all of the group's recordings: its double LP Live à Montréal, its studio LP Ville Emard, and two singles. VEBB's biggest strength is also its biggest weakness: variety. The group could switch from folk-based progressive ballads to scorching blues-rock, from quirky jazz-rock instrumentals to world fusion and experimental jams…

Toubabou was formed in 1974 when percussionist Michel Séguin and vocalist Lise Cousineau, founding members of Ville Emard Blues Band (VEBB), were asked by the Québec government to organize the final concert of the Superfrancofête youth festival, on the Plains of Abraham in Québec City. Séguin and Cousineau had ties to French African musicians with whom they had played in 1973. These same musicians had given Séguin the title "Toubabou-djembe-folla" (bambara expression meaning "stranger playing skins"). They invited several artists from Mali and Senegal (including the renowned Doudou N'Diaye Rose) to join them for a show combining traditional African music with adaptations and original compositions by Toubabou…

Following the success of "Ni Vent… Ni Nouvelle", Maneige records another studio album featuring a similar style of fusion, 1978's "Libre service - Self-service". What results is a logical follow-up to the previous release’s amalgamation of fusion, funk and progressive that characterizes this era in the band's history. This CD reissue contains the 10 original tracks which have been recently remastered, plus bonus live material culled from this same era (featured on the 1979 album “Composite”), as well as a 12-page booklet full of photos.

La Marche des Hommes was released after a three-year hiatus and presented a completely revamped Morse Code. All lyrics are in French and the music is firmly anchored to the British progressive rock bandwagon. Leader Christian Simard wrote most of the music and the group relied on poet Chantal Dussault for words. The topics were kept universal and humanitarian ("La Marche des Hommes" translates to The Walk of Men). The title track stands out: complex like a premium Yes suite, it attempted (and succeeded in) summarizing all the possibilities and talents of the group into one 11-minute song. The utopian "Le Pays d'Or" (The Land of Gold) is strongly influenced by French group Ange, Simard finding the right emotive inflections in Christian Décamps' register…