Friday 24 January 2014

Vortex - Les Cycles De Thanatos (1977)



The second and final studio album from this French avant-garde band.

Vortex may be an unknown band. Both their albums warrants a lot more recognition for these French guys. At least in the avant-garde and jazz scene. And that is where we find this album. Somewhere between Univers Zero and Soft Machine.

The band was an eight piece band on this album. That means a lot of woodwinds, Rhodes organ, bass, drums and percussion. Oboe, saxophone and bassoon springs to mind among the woodwinds. The end result is eclectic and a lot of noise.

The music is very much RIO, avant-garde with a lot of jazz too. It not an all out crossover between jazz and avant-garde though. There is also some clean chamber rock avant-garde pieces here. The jazz stuff has some great melodies. The avant-garde stuff is pretty dark and haunting. Still great though.

The end result is forty minutes with great music. I really like this album a great deal. A hidden gem in the scene and one that deserves a lot more attention.

4 points

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