"While weaving through different time signatures and musical tapestries, Talisma creates new soundscapes that are at once structured yet free"
This quote was taken from those practical promo letters we get with each release we receive to review.It's as if we're being sent the Teacher's Edition of the disc in order to educate the reader about the band under review. " Today's band hails from Quebec, boys and girls. Can anybody in the class point Quebec out on the map ? "
Anytime I'm sent one of these homegrown harvests, I get a little excited and nervous. Will the home crop stand up against the stuff I pay top dollar for and which sometimes leaves me without a buzz ? The answer( as is usually the case) is a resounding: YES!!
Talisma is primarily a trio made up of Donald Fleurent (6,7, and 12-string basses, fretless bass, 12-string guitar, mandolin, synthesizers, and guitar synths),Martin Vanier (electric guitar, 12-string guitar, and Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer), Mark Di Claudio ( drums and percussions) and featuring Nathalie Renault who delivers some fantastic scat vocals on "Freezone"and " Samba Tapping."
Led by the virtuoso bass playing of Donald Fleurent, this Quebecois fusion trio creates an extremely melodic yet bold and adventuresome musical tapestry. Talisma skims the boundaries between progressive and fusion while remaining in a territory all their own. The above-mentionned 'scat' numbers give the band a scaled-down Canterbury-ish sound mixed in with a truly bopping jazz beat. In contrast, tracks like "Corpus II" veer the band in more Djam Karet-like avenues of bleaker soundscapes , while the fast-paced "Mr Twitts" has the band exploring calypso-styled beats in a high-octane musical ride. Throughout the venture, the listener is left smiling satisfactorily.
I can be accused of being a 'homer' here but I'll let the music do the talking in my defense. Quebec has ,and is still putting out on the progressive market, some of the finest ,exciting, and unique music to be heard anywhere. Where the '70's seemed to be the domain of symphonic and pastoral rock, the '90's and beyond are showing the world that RIO and fusion are also part of the Quebecois musical language. Unicorn Records are slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with as they consistently are finding good solid acts to add to their catalogue.This offering has me hitting repeat everytime I put it on. Highly recommended.
Track Listing:
- Crisis (3:38)
- L'Empale (3:34)
- Corpus (2:35)
- Satanusky (3:46)
- Le Druide (1:08)
- Samba Tapping ( 2:31)
- Gavotte En Rondeau (1:06)
- Step Flange ( 4:05)
- Freezone (3:09)
- Interlude (1:33)
- Corpus II (3:18)
- Untitled 5/8 (3:12)
- D Double U (4:07)
- Mr Twitts (3:29)
- Mandoly ( 1:29)
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
