Sunday, February 18, 2007

V/A - Audiologie 5et6 - Ethniques Urbaines Cassette (VoxMan/Ladd-Frith) 1988




This cassette compilation was released on Vox Man records out of France in 1988. The case is packed with a larger printed booklet housed in a ziploc bag. It predominantly contains members of Vox Populi in one form or another as well as Laurent Pernice.

Vox Populi have long been one of my favorite groups from this entire era, so it comes as no surprise that this was one of my first choices to archive digitally. I don't believe any of their vinyl or cassettes are in print or available on CD today - a shame.


Some of my favorite cuts are:

Vox Populi - 'A Cup of Tea': Reverb-laden hand percussion & vocals.

ABOL & VOX - 'Ganja Musique': 8+ minute slow-burner that could be grouped with the psychedelic folk scene today.

Vox Populi - 'Micro Climax': VP presents a different side to their sound - drum machine, minimal chirps & pings, keyboards and a hypnotic bass-line that reminds of early slower Mouse on Mars. This was released just a few years too soon to capitalize on the peak of ambient dub.

Vox Populi - 'A Cup of Tea for Suzuki': More hippie-folk music with heavily strummed acoustic guitar and hand percussion. Halfway through, the mix is filtered tot he point of hearing just a distant breeze oth aural haze that had built up. Soon, near-clarity is resumed, only to fade back & out again.

Jacki Moreau - 'Knossos': I'll let the title describe this one; a beautiful piece.

Enjoy.