Douze Alfonso - Claude Monet Vol. 1

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Douze Alfonso - Claude Monet Vol. 1

Artist:	Douze Alfonso
Title:	Claude Monet Vol. 1
Label:	Musea FGBG 4397.AR
Length(s):	64 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2002
Month of review:	[09/2002]

Line up

Laure Oltra - lyrics
Francois Claerhout - lyrics, synths, acoustic guitar, percussion
Philippe Claerhout - guitars, oud, lute, harmonicas, keyboards, glockenspiel, gongs, percussion
Michael Geyre - keyboards, hammond, piano
Thierry Moreno - backing vocals, whistle, percussion
with guests
Catherine Alcover - vocals on 8, 13
Bevinda - vocals on 2, 15, 16
Anne-Laure Meladeck - harp on 13, 15
Claude Aufaure - narrator on 1, 3, 4, 6, 11, 14
Ian Bairnson - prs electric guitar on 14
Joon Claudio - bamboo flute
Stéphane Rolland - fender electric guitar on 1, 5, 16
Jean-Luc Trentenaere - prs electric guitar on 5
Pistolet - backing vocals on 16
Claire Guiral - graphic design
Philippe Poirier - graphic design

Tracks

1)	Chemins Dans Les Falaises	3.47
2)	Je Vous Écrivais	3.53
3)	Giverny	4.02
4)	Un Jardin Qui Ne Ressemble A Rien	3.10
5)	Des Saisons Sur Les Toiles	2.26
6)	L'Echappée Belle	4.35
7)	Conflits	2.59
8)	Les Beaux Jours De Giverney	3.06
9)	La Fanfare Rouge	3.10
10)	La Fantôme De L'île Aux Orties	4.11
11)	Les Cathédrales Immergées	5.05
12)	L'Oeil Cannibale	1.37
13)	Antibes	4.32
14)	Les Arcanes De L'Air Bleu	6.34
15)	Errances	3.37
16)	L'Âme De L'Hiver	7.00

Summary

Covering the years 1885 to 1889, this is the first part of Douze Alfonso's (XII Alfonso on earlier albums) biography of the painter Claude Monet. The artwork is great, with a 52 page booklet and the like. Now, for the music.

The music

The album opens in very French fashion with a mellow accordion. Added to this are twinkling acoustic guitar and a narrator. Then we get piano, a bit more pace while the music continues to be agreeable and melodic. On the second track, the female vocals are high and ehm jazzy. Anyway, the vocals are meant to sound from earlier times, and she overdoes it a bit to my feeling. Or maybe I simply do not like this kind of vocal. This is not progressive by a long shot. It does contain a big dose of accordion again. The third track is better, with cello, piano, acoustic guitar and later some more spaceous guitar as well. A very moody track. On the next one, the band delves into romantic David Lanz type material with sensitive piano playing.

L'Echappée Belle is a bit more complex: classical and somewhat fragmentary in outset, a moody and spooky chamber orchestra with French influences becuase of the ever present (it seems) accordion. After the shortish, again somewhat classical, Conflits, we come to something akin to a chanson. Here again the band goes over from the prog path into something which is a bit too straightforward. Bleepy keys and dark thematic brooding themes we find on the next one, while romance returns on track ten.

A question and answer game betwee naccordion and percussion makes for a playful piece with bagpipes. Quite an exciting track this, featuring some gurgling keyboards. The vocal jazz is back on track twelve, think Astrud Gilberto here. Les Arcanes De L'Air Blue has both a bluesy feel in the guitar as well as an organ and a jazz vibe. After the open guitar sound on the penultimate track we get some melody revisiting on the final one.

The conclusion: I have given a quick rundown above of the tracks. What stays in my mind is that this is not really a progressive album at all. Most of the music is simply too laid back, or one might say too determined to be in the vein of being about something dating over a hundred years back. This leads to a kind of romantic music with only a few tracks being more progressive and demanding. It is all quite pleasant to listen to (except maybe the old style vocals on a few tracks), because the band does all this in a professional way throughout. On the whole though, there is too little that really grabs you.