Komintern ‎– Le Bal Du Rat Mort (1971, LP, France)

Tracklist:
Bal Pour Un Rat Vivant (16:34)
Featuring:
A1. Bandiera Rossa
A2. Los Cuatros Generales
A3. Elle Était Belle. Elle Aimait Bach Et Chopin. Et Les Beatles. Elle Était Très Intelligente. Et Mois Aussi
Le Bal Du Rat Mort (16:57)
B1. Hommage Au Maire De Tours (Hymne Pour Le Front De Libération Des Scatophages) (2:10)
B2. Petite Musique Pour Un Blockhaus (5:06)
B3. Pongistes De Tous Les Pays... D'après "La Ligue Anti-Prussienne" (2:22)
B4. Fou, Roi, Pantin - Suivi De: Pour Le Front De Libération Des Kiosques À Musique (7:02)

Line-up / Musicians
Francis Lemonnier / saxophone, vocals
Serge Catalano / drums, percussions
Michel Musac / guitar
Olivier Zdrzalik / bass, vocals, organ, piano
Pascal Chassin / guitar

Guest musicians:
Raymond Katarzynski / trombone
Pierre Thibaud / trumpet
Fred Gérard / trumpet
Joss Baselli / accordion
Jeanne de Valène / vocals
Important historical French underground from the early 1970's. The original band was established in May 1970 by Serge Catalano (drums), Francis Lemonnier (sax, vocals) both from Red Noise, along with Michel Musac (guitar), Olivier Zdralik (bass, vocal, keys) and Pascal Chassin (guitar). Numerous musicians passed through the band, including: Richard Aubert (violin) and drummers: Gilbert Artman and Michel Bourgheix.
Komintern were close in style to the early Maajun (Mahjun), and many other French Zappa inspired bands, with hints of East Of Eden, old folk and protest songs, satire and wicked invention, all in an extremely progressive concoction.
Historically seminal too, with Gilbert Artman forming Lard Free, Richard Aubert going on to Atoll and Kool Gool, and Olivier Zdralik becoming a key member of Malicorne.

Komintern biography
This French band was founded by Francis Lemonnier (sax and vocals) and Serge Catalano (drums and percussions) in May 1970 after they left Red Noise due to musical and political disagreements. The name chosen gives you a clear indication as to their political views. The band released one album called "Le Bal Du Rat Mort" in 1971 and one single "Fou, roi, pantin" and were active until 1975. The musicians that joined them were Michel Musac (guitar), Olivier Zdrzalik (bass, vocals, organ and piano) and Pascal Chassin (guitar). At first they were less focused on composing only music but more on mixing it along with satiric theater - a sort of "cabaret satirique", in order to express their extreme left views. They used their music to enhance their message, and they did it in a manner that mixed several styles of music that would fit their show and the message to be passed on to the crowd/listeners. They were related to extreme left movements such as the "Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire" and they toured in the summer of 1970 in, among other places, universities and factories that were in strike.

In July 1971 they manage to get into a recording studio of Pathé Marconi with the help and influence of Philippe Constantin et Etienne Rodagil. They are joined by guests musicians such as the Quintette de Cuivres lead by trombonist Raymond Katarzynski, trumpet players Pierre Thibaud et Fred Gérard, Joss Baselli on accordion and vocalist Jeanne de Valène. The producer Philippe Constantin does some editing of their texts and leaves out two texts that were recited without any music and replaces the booklet which featured originally a painting by Diego Ribeira.

Le Bal Du Rat Mort (The Dead Rat's Ball) is released in December 1971 and 2000 copies are sold. This release did not exhibit the true face of the band, but it did however show their talent as musicians and as composers and ability to combine different influences. This album is a mixture of rock, free-jazz, fusion, folk, oldies tunes, chanson Francaise and a general theatrical and quirky approach to composing. The overall result is a well-done mixture of styles and atmospheres. This may not be groundbreaking but it is different than the average output of French bands at that time and can be seen as avant-garde in their musical approach in this album.

In 1972 Komintern forms "Front de Libération de la Rock-Music" along with
Lard Free, Barricade I and Barricade II, Herbe Rouge, Robert Wood's Tarot and Alpha du Centaure. This movement published a manifest in a journal and their general message was that of anti-bourgeois culture. They tried to spread their word through journals, leaflets, concerts, all arranged by Gilles Yéprémian which was the manager and producer of Lard Free and Komintern. However this movement eventually dissolved.

In 1975 Serge Catalano et Pascal Chassin left Kominern. Catalano is replaced by two drummers: Gilbert Artman de Lard Free and Michel Bourgheix. The group goes on a bit with some shows but eventually breaks up. Catalano continues with his activity in the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire. Francis Lemonnier becomes a music teacher. Richard Aubert would play with Atoll and Kool Gool. Olivier Zdrzalik would play with Malicorne and along with Michel Muzac in the Lapins bleus des îles. (progarchive)

Ma Banlieue Flasque ‎– Ma Banlieue Flasque (1979, LP, France)

Side A
A1. 13'20 D'happiness (10:12)
A2. NSK (5:05)
Side B

B1. HBHV (7:51)
B2. Aller Retour Les Grésillons (6:35)
B3. Un Soir (4:52)

Line-up / Musicians
Philippe Botta / flute, saxophone
Christian "Chypo" Cheype / drums, vocals
Loic Gautier / bass
Marc Ledevedec / guitar
Philippe Maugars / guitar, vocals

A French quintet playing varied music reminiscent of Zappa's humoristic style, Moving Gelatine Plates and Komintern and genres such as fusion, Canterbury, with a dash of craziness and fooling around. The mix end result makes this a very enjoyable listen. This is why this will appeal to fans of jazz-rock, RIO, Canterbury and to those who like their music to travel between all those.

The lineup consists of Philippe Maugars on guitar and vocals, Marc Ledevedec on guitar, Loic Gautier on bass, Christian "Chypo" Cheype on drumms and vocals, and Philippe Botta on flute and saxophone. The vocals themselves are sometimes sang and sometimes more in a narrative style and always playful or with good mood.
They only released one s/t album in 1979 and there were rumors of Musea re-issuing it in 2005, but nothing came out of it, but it is worth to be on the lookout for it. (progarchive)

Ennio Morricone Orchestra ‎– Dedicato Al Mare Egeo (1979, LP, Italy)

Dedicato al mare Egeo is a forgotten and bizarre co-production produced between Italy and Japan from 1979, starring the famous Italian porn star Illona Staller (Cicciolina) and directed by the famous Japanese pinter, printmaker and novelist Masuo Ikeda (1934–1997) from his own script based on his novel “Ege-kai ni sasagu”, for which he won the Akutagawa Prize, the most prestigious literary award in Japan. Ikeda’s vigorous artistic activity even included screenplay writing and film directing. With this movie, Masuo Ikeda has undoubtedly left his mark on the ’70s Italian skin cinema.

The awesome, full melodic score composed, orchestrated and conducted by Ennio Morricone for this film was made available for listening on a Japanese LP (Columbia Records LX-7062) soon after the film came out in 1979. The album contained a selection of 11 tracks, and quickly became one of the most sought after items among collectors. The only CD reissue (SLCS-7119) of the score was produced in Japan in the label SLC in 1992. Apart from the original album content the CD also featured a cover version song of the main theme, arranged by Walter Rizzati and performed by Ruggero Gatti. The SLC CD was sold out very quickly and has been out of print for several years by now. Due to its extreme rarity and great artistic value, a new reissue of this score has been highly demanded by collectors. Quartet Records was fortunate enough to locate the original publisher and owner of both the music and movie rights, and kindly offered to realize a long awaited special re-issue of the score.

Raul Lovisoni ‎– La Gnôve Lune (1980, LP, Italy)

Lato A
A1. Rôs Di Buinore (3:20)
A2. La Gnôve Lune (3:20)
A3. Misteri Dal Fuc (3:32)
A4. Nadir (6:15)
A5. In Che Gnot Lis Stelis (5:02)
Lato B
B1. Atlantide 1 (3:02)
B2. Atlantide 2 (3:02)
B3. Tu Vivâras! (6:27)

Formazione:

Raul Lovisoni - Voce, chitarra acustica, pianoforte, effetti speciali, glasspiel, flauto e flauto britto, cori, salterio, percussioni, sintetizzatore, campane tubolari, chitarra con archetto, tastiere e glockenspiel
Paolo Bergamo - Piano elettrico, organo, fisarmonica, mellotron, tastiere
Marco Blasig - Voce, cori, basso, chitarra corde, effetti, sintetizzatore
Fabio Cascioli - Chitarra classica
Fabio Sambo - Oboi, corno inglese
Gianpaolo Vatta - Clarinetti
Armando Battiston - Pianoforte, organo
Patrizia Tassini - Arpa
Flavio Zaina - Chitarra elettrica ed acustica
Ario Comelli - Batteria, percussioni
Enzo Mitidieri - Chitarra acustica, classica ed elettrica
Ester Sallai - Voce
Antonella Fonda - Soprano
Checo Comelli, Paola Pauluzzi, coro "Amici di San Giorgio" - Cori

«Un progetto inusuale per i tempi che introduce la lingua friulana in un contesto sostanzialmente "progressive" raffinato e complesso. Il suo "La gnove Lune" rimane a tutt'oggi un disco visionario,appartato e per molti ancora incompreso» (Luigi Gregoris)

National Health - Maasluis (1979)

National Health Maasluis, Netherlands from March ’79

This is a very tight mic recording close to the stage in a fairly acoustically dead venue. Buzzing and occasionally drop-outs notwithstanding the balance is excellent.

The Alan Gowen line up of National Health was a somewhat looser affair than the Dave Stewart led version. Phil and Alan’s compositions still had enough twists and turns to keep all the musicians in a constant state of insomnia inducing, buttock-clenching anxiety (I’d have thought) but the blowing sections are noticeably more liquid and jazzier in feel. These are my personal highlights…

National Health - Live in Breda, Netherlands (28/04/1979)

1. National Health live in Breda (1:42.47)