[CP 209 CD] Regrelh; CANTS DEL TROBADORS: «La Doucer D'Un Son Nouvel»

The Ventadoorn label was set up in 1970 & released over 100 LPs & EP's over the following decade, all centered on the Lenga d'Oc / "Old" French language & culture. Some of you may be familiar with the 1980 Henry Fourès / Luc Ferrari "Folclòre Imaginari" set - later reissued on Adda as "Ce Qu'a Vu Le Cers" - as one of the label's final releases, but a year prior they issued this absolute masterpiece of a record, merging Occitan folk forms & instrumentation with extended drone-psych flourish & substantive Synth & Electronic crackle, all expertly framed within a Musique Concrète context.

Spearheaded & led by Gérard Le Vot & Thierry Lancino - if the latter name rings a bell, it's likely due to his mid-90s Wergo "Computer Music Currents" volume, shared with Composer & K & K Musiktheater member (alongside Anestis Logothetis, Günter Schneider, Dieter Kaufmann & Gunda König) Tamas Ungvary - the 5-piece band run through an arsenal of modes, all captured with substantial nuance by Jean-Jacques Palix, in one of his first recording credits. In spots reminiscent of the commune-psych lurch of Algärnäs Trädgärd, others the subtle resonant tweaks of Hans Otte's "On Earth". The frame drum, Rebec, and Vielle parts all give this an unusual signature, with Lancino's Electronic treatments & seamless tape-collage flourishes completing the sonic arsenal. 

A truly fascinating, unusual title, even in a series known for exactly this.