Rock de chambre folkloriste ou funk progressif? La musique de Rouge Ciel s’inspire de l’instrumentation acoustique et des structures complexes des premiers albums d’Art Zoyd et d’Univers Zero, tout en ajoutant un côté dansant est-européen, un Fender Rhodes groovy et une frénésie qui tient de la danse de Saint-Guy. Après un épisode trio Simon Lapointe, Antonin Provost et le coloré trompettiste-batteur Nemo Venba) pendant que le violoniste Guido del Fabbro roulait sa bosse, le groupe est redevenu quatuor et prépare un nouvel album pour faire suite à solide éponyme.

Malgrado sia stato registrato nel 2001 questo piccolo gioiellino canadese a nome Rouge Ciel si rende reperibile solo attualmente. Il disco, pur affondando le radici nel folk di natura francofona, è un lavoro assai colto, pienamente progressivo, con un tessuto compositivo variegato, influenzato dagli aspetti più positivi dell’avanguardia contemporanea, venato di jazz ed arricchito da una forte attitudine al dialogo strumentale tipica di certa musica cameristica. Se qualcuno di voi ricorda i Conventum, la parentela risulta evidente, ma Rouge Ciel ha molto più peso ritmico ed influenze a 360 gradi.

Brillante, colto ed emozionante, un disco di razza al di sopra di ogni sospetto e gusto personale.

Ed infine ci sembra doveroso ricordare come questo gruppo sia stato portato alla nostra attenzione dai grandi Miriodor (filo elettrico sulle “bolas” bagnate per chi non li conoscesse), nel cui ultimo lavoro troviamo in veste di collaboratore Nemo Venba, cioè il trombettista dei Rouge Ciel.

A buon intenditore poche parole: consigliato.

Il y a un bout de temps que ce disque est paru, mais il n’est jamais trop tard pour bien faire… Voici un quatuor de jeunes musiciens montréalais qui proposent un jazz nerveux qui trempe par moments dans le folk ou le rock. Des constructions solides où la virtuosité se fait légère et qui sentent le plaisir. Le quatuor développe une palette sonore assez large: le trompettiste Némo Venba (Fanfare Pourpour) est aussi un très respectable batteur, le guitariste Antonin Provost est à l’aise à l’électrique comme à l’acoustique, le pianiste Simon Lapointe (Malarafe) se laisse aller à l’occasion à un solo de mélodica et l’excellent violoniste Guido Del Fabbro (aussi de la Fanfare) tripote la table tournante.

On pourrait clarifier la musique de ce quatuor québécois sous des qualificatifs énergétiques tel l’allégresse, l’exaltation, le plaisir ou l’entrain. C’est évidemment ce qui ressort de ce disque. Pour pousser plus loin l’analyse, il faudrait s’asseoir sur le contexte environnemental propre à ces musiques ainsi qu’aux folles envolées en région. En effet, une brève impression nous fait ressentir un contexte distinctif du paysage sonore et social de Québec. Des coupures sur Betteraves dans le vinaigre, un retour aux bases des musiques actuelles sur Heilles! ou Étude dissonante. Un premier album pour Rouge Ciel. Triomphant, par la présence du violon et de percussions qui invitent aux rebondissements; mélodique, par les guitares et la trompette qui se situent non loin des musiques du monde ou des milieux jazz. Un travail qui vaut son pesant d’or pour sa technicité et pour sa diversité.

Le quartet Rouge Ciel signe son premier disque. Nous sommes ici plongés en plein cœur d’un joyeux labyrinthe où il fait bon se perdre et s’abandonner. Douce obsession, arrangements limpides, refus du spectaculaire, diversité et densité des climats, fluidité des harmonies, on pense plus d’une fois à Conventum, à l’Ensemble Rayé et autres combos joyeusement décalés. Un premier disque prometteur.

Rouge Ciel is a Canadian musical ensemble that — thankfully! — has very little in common with Godspeed You Black Emperor. It’s a relief, certainly, for those who’d come to believe that po-faced instrumental thunderstorming was the only kind of music coming out of Quebec; this is a much different kettle of fish.

Rouge Ciel’s sound is open, and almost clownish to a certain extent. Freakout guitars mix with mandolin, melodica, percussion and turntables (amongst others) to create something with a distinct pastoral feel. In the same way that some albums just have the sound of the barn in them — George Winston’s Autumn, for example — this album speaks of nature. Acoustically, it’s organic, but there’s a sort of hale-and-hearty feeling here that sustains the band’s endeavours when they lapse into the formulaic.

The group’s approach to music — two-fisted, occasionally jaunty with rich, leading melody rather than atonal peregrinations — reminds me of some of the Michael Nyman Band’s finer moments: Les Fardeau D’Hier, for instance, sounds like a piece that’s just waiting for a suitably enigmatic Greenaway film to accompany it. There’s that same sense of exuberance, of “here we go!” beginnings and loud concerts that a good ensemble can produce — and it’s this that makes Rouge Ciel’s disc fly. Jumping around like a genteel Mr Bungle, they cover a number of styles in the course of each song — Cétakili covers barrelhouse, jazz and porno-stylings, as well as a good line in tension-guitar — to ensure that interest is held. Certainly, this is freak-out music without the pervading paranoia, though I’d shudder to think what an oft-repeated dose would do to the listener’s perceptivity; this is pretty dense stuff, and it really does take concentration, occasionally, to break out of the world it creates — it’s that immersive. The world evoked by La vigne de Mathilde, for example, sounds like the sort of Goreyesque place you’d rather avoid, if given the choice; the images created instill a distinct sense of discomfort.

It’s a bit of a cop-out to refer to music as filmic, but Rouge Ciel’s sound is filmic, only not in that Morricone canyons-and-the-stranger kind of way. This music is music of action; music for people, not Grand Places. It verges on Koyaanisqatsi-era Glass in terms of frenetic appeal, only at a hoe-down.

Three new cd’s on Ambiances Magnétiques and new sublabel Monsieur Fauteux…. Most of the time releases on this label have the newest output from well known artists like Derome, Lussier, Duchesne and others. Although this are often releases of considerable quality, I’m happy that this time we have three new cds from groups of the ‘next generation’.

What new talents do we have here? In general the most striking difference with the first generation is that these bands are more rock-orientated. This is also the the case for Papa Boa (1999). Especially with Interférence Sardines and Rouge Ciel we enter a new chapter in the kind of art-rock that Henry Cow developed in the 70s. This kind of rock music flourished in the first half of the 80s with bands like Univers Zero, Samla, Debile Menthol, and many others. But creativity came to end and boring music like that of Art Zoyd was what was left. Since then I have been waiting for new bands to pick up were many ended in the 80s. But listening to Interférence Sardines it became clear to me that we have a new creative outburst here. Let me present the bands in more detail. Interférence Sardines is a quintet: Andrée Bilodeau (violin, alto, voice), Sébastien Doré (electric bass, clap, voice), Marc Gagnon (violin, electric violin, voice), Fréderic Lebrasseur (drums, percussion, piano, voice) and Philippe Venne (guitar, piano, voice). Assisted by four guests. Most pieces are composed by Philippe Venne. Their second cd Zucchini is a very nice piece of work. Their music can be compared in a way with that of Debile Menthol, a famous swiss group from the 80s. Complex art-rock mixing rock, jazz and contemporary in a nice blend of composition and improvisation. The music is full of surprises. The playing is very tight and convincing.

Rouge Ciel is a quartet: Guido del Fabbro (violin, mandoline, pick ups), Simon Lapointe (piano, claviers, melodica), Antonin Provost (acustic and electric guitar) and Nemo Venda (trumpet, drums, percussion). They debute here with a fresh mix of rock and improvisation. They do not reach the creative level of Interférence Sardines, but it still is very good music. Both bands I can recommend to anyone who like — I don’t know a better name — art-rock bands like Curlew, 5uu’s, etc. L’hotel du Bout de la Terre is the more conventional one of these three bands. No new territories here. This group was started in 1995 by Lou Babin (accordeon, voice ), Marie-Hélène Montpetit (voice), Pierre St-Jak (piano), and Norman Guilbeault. On this cd they are assisted by guests like Claude Fradette (guitar) and Pierre Tanguay (drums, perc. ). They present a collection of 12 songs composed by St. Jak and Montpetit. Melancholic and impressionistic songs. Texts written and sung by Montpetit. Although this may be a relatively new group someone like pianist Pierre St-Jak is a veteran of the Montréal jazz scene. Personally I never liked his piano playing very much which can also be heard on this one.

Having already established itself as the premier source of recordings from Montréal, DAME sought to branch out into new and different areas through its imprint Monsieur Fauteux, m’entendez-vous? This eponymous debut is the third release on that sub-label. Featuring stringed instruments from violin to guitars (electric and acoustic), percussion from piano to kit drums and trumpet, this is an exciting blend of folksy free jazz and written chamber jazz. Some reference points for this crazy collage include Conventum and Fanfare Pourpour.

Rouge Ciel est un groupe de musiciens iconoclastes et libres, adeptes d’une musique éclatée ou, comme ils la définissent eux-mêmes, d’un amalgame de «rock-jazz-free-folklorique-actuelle-contemporaine-romantique-classique-libre-groove-présente-de chanvre». Fondé en 1996 par le guitariste Antonin Provost et le violoniste Guido Del Fabro, Rouge Ciel s’est rapidement transformé en quatuor avec l’arrivée du trompettiste-percussionniste Nemo Venba et du claviériste Simon Lapointe. Fortement impliqués ou sein de la scène actuelle-expérimentale montréalaise, les quatre jeunes bricoleurs s’apprêtent à faire paraître leur premier album, tout simplement intitulé Rouge Ciel, sous l’étiquette locale Monsieur Fauteux m’entendez-vous?

It’s seems to be a rarity these days, that we get someone truly original in the field we call RIO. Most of what we hear are different rehashed ideas from the 70’s. So, it’s a real treat to hear the debut from this new Canadian quartet. Okay, “Red Sky” do draw a little on past pioneers, like Maneige, Miriodor and Conventum, but they wrap it all up into a fiery mix that gives a whole new angle on it all.

The star soloist is on Guido Del Fabbro, a deft violinist if there ever was one. He brings a slight glance of Stormy Six into the sound, yet his playing also has a Celtic flair, and vitality that is quite original. Simon Lapointe (piano, keyboards, melodica) seems to take cues from Lars Holimer, but also has a classical feel to his playing. Then we have the guitar and drums, who seem to be left-over from some post-rock band intent on trying to a jazz-folk hybrid. It is this concaction of paradoxes that make Rouge Ciel a unique band.

Of course, stylistic paradoxes make for an album, although instantly recognisable as excellent, that is also a grower, and a great repeat listener to get into.