15 October 2005

VISITORS "Visitors" France 1974



Anyone ever notice how their opening sender, 'Dies Irae(and exactly how many versions of this are there anyhow),' begins with themes straight outta' “YS” just like Ice-Cube was straight outta' Compton when his E was -Easy and the prune juice was free...

..what a great album! I am spinning it again and it hits in so many shining spots that its really nice. Dual chorus vocals here reminiscent of Electric Prunes' Mass in F Minor on more acid and extended mayhem also including a female vocalist. Some Italian style delivery in French on the second cut with a Spanish prog stance musical backdrop, driving with dreamy then french-sounding French coming in before soaring off in the Bretonesque equivalent of a lofty jig that ends up lampooning as a troll medley into a certainly possessed territory with a gaggle of voices, doctored male bruhaha and back to the main delivery this time like a proper french mode of the period.

The third track is nuts. A wild outer-space tribal excursion with rag-tag ongoing drumming propelling electronic warbles and voice-treats over synth washes later to be followed by mutilated squonks.

On side two we get treated to the crackle of a thunderstorm beginning a dirge of a loping gong-esque melody replete with silly Daevid Allen stylings speaking of space happenings 'in the air he floated with fingers of flame ... green eyes, bronze face, so the story was told' aahhh-ahh.. female voices carroling around in and out of two modes of male vox. Electronic bounciness of the highest order abounds with a nice finger-picked guitar in the background on the end.

Continuing a little at the beginning of this cut with the vibe we are treated to arpeggios that would not be out of place somewhere between Steve Hillage's "Fish Rising" and "L" albums, but with a crazy twist of Jean Luc Ponty flavor on the strings then a moment out of your favorite Picchio Dal Pozzo with a few choruses of light male vocalising totally like they were doing Battiato lyrics. Blammo, then it stretches out syncopating and polymorphous like Darryl Way crossed with David Grisman on a full fledged heavy prog rock spectacular background to fade. If there is one downfall to this album is that the songs do not continue, they all have the capacity to jam 5 more minutes!

Spacey, dark, dirty and gritty, this takes over the room like a New Trolls album adding a viol that won't quit with well calculated swings of enchanting musical madness, let's just go and see who this is*, shall we? Dueling with a piano comping and winning right about now.. the bass comes in on a gang-up and some altered voice chant ripping it up. Ever victorious, the violin comes back in with the sheer power and overwhelming terroristic ability to tear the mother up and close it.

*Bah, I had forgotten, figures the Lockwood brothers were involved!

The last cut is anthemic and holds to the progression of most epics. Is this what Jacula and Antonius Rex are supposed to sound like? Dang, the devilish tones coming out in the first verse growl score!

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