Exposé Online banner

Carpe Diem — Cueille le Jour
(Musea FGBG 4127.AR, 1977/1994, CD)

by Peter Thelen, 1995-07-01:

Cueille le Jour Cover art Unjustifiably overlooked, Cueille de Jour is the follow-up to this quintet's monster debut — and an outstanding representation of the best that France had to offer in the seventies. Their highly melodic sound is powered primarily by keyboards and sax/flute, with solid support from the bottom end. Guitars (and to some extent keys) handle the overall rhythmic structure. Their sound is well balanced with no one instrument dominating the mix, often existing somewhere between a melodic Canterbury sound (However, Happy the Man, Camel) and the ethereal spaciness of Pulsar, with elements of jazz and chamber-rock blended in, even approaching a Soft Machine flavor on "Tramontane." Keyboardist Christian Truchi doubles on lead vocals, which are used sparingly and don't overwhelm the music when they appear — in fact three of the album's original six tracks are entirely instrumental. The album opens with a monster twenty-two minute five-part epic "Couleurs," which would be worth the ticket price alone; five shorter tracks on the back side offer further explorations in this band's unique vision. Interestingly enough, a version of the album with English lyrics was recorded, but never released; one track from the English version is included here as a bonus track. Overall, an outstanding album if not a classic.

by Henry Schneider, 2016-06-23:

A year after their first release Carpe Diem issued their second LP Cueille le Jour. Now we find the band stretching and exploring the jazz territory of Zao and Soft Machine. The CD opens with the epic "Couleurs." Over these 21 minutes Carpe Diem plays music ranging from beautiful acoustic guitar to quiet chamber music. Over the course of the year Carpe Diem honed their skills and produced a more polished release than their debut. This second album demonstrated their extraordinary creative ability with orchestration and melody. They developed a modern chamber music that has since been extended by bands like Universe Zero. Unfortunately for Carpe Diem just as they were hitting their stride, the musical winds of change ushered in punk and the record companies lost interest in this innovative band. Luckily for us Musea took the effort to bring this excellent music to the notice of a wider audience.

Filed under: Reissues , 1994 releases, 1977 releases

Related artist(s): Carpe Diem

More info

Latest news

2019-03-20
Freedom to Spend Unearths June Chikuma's Archives – Jun (June) Chikuma is well known for her video game and anime soundtracks, but she also released an album of experimental electronic music back in 1986 called Divertimento where she indulged the kind of spontaneity that wouldn't work in a soundtrack. RVNG Int'l label Freedom to Spend is bringing this overlooked item to broader attention with a deluxe reissue. » Read more

2019-03-03
Seaprog 2019 Lineup Almost Complete – The Seaprog festival in Seattle is scheduled for June 7-9 this year, and they've announced their lineup of performers. The revitalized Trettioåriga Kriget will cap Friday night, perennial favorites Marbin are on Saturday, and District 97 will finish off the fest on Sunday night. In support, they've booked a stellar variety of artists from the Northwest and around the world, including EchoTest, Markus Reuter and Trey Gunn, and the live debut of the amazing Troot project. » Read more

2019-02-21
You Can Be Part of an Ambient Electronic Project – The Gesture of History is a new electronic project put together by Sam Rosenthal of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Steve Roach, and violist Sam Shadow. The music started as an instrumental track Rosenthal was working on for a Black Tape album, but took on a life of its own and demanded further enhancements. The majority of the funds raised will go to manufacturing costs for LP and CD editions, as well as other items as detailed on the Kickstarter page. » Read more

2019-01-31
Keyboardist Ingo Bischof R.I.P. – Keyboard player Ingo Bischof, best known as the longtime keyboard player of German band Kraan, passed away on January 29th, 2019. Bischof was born January 2, 1951 in Berlin-Kreuzberg and joined Kraan in 1975. » Read more

2019-01-11
Jazz Composer Mark Lomax, II Releases Epic 12CD Set – In addition to being a fine jazz drummer, Dr. Mark Lomax, II is a composer in residence at Ohio State University, where he has been very busy on the compositional front. The year 2019 is the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first ship bringing African slaves to North America, and in commemoration of this, Lomax has produced 400: An Afrikan Epic, a 12 volume set of CDs featuring a variety of different musical ensembles. » Read more

More news

Previously in Exposé...

Zao - Osiris – Zao's second album was recorded in 1974, and originally released on Richard Pinhas' startup Disjuncta label. Despite the minimal resources available to Pinhas, Osiris fared well, surpassing sales of...  (1995) » Read more

Ezra - Songs from Pennsylvania – Ezra is a band happy to take their time with albums, this being only their third since they arrived on the scene in the early 90s. The wait was worth it, though, especially for fans of good melodic...  (2007) » Read more

Various Artists - Psychedelic Underground 8 - 10 – One of the fundamental limitations of mining and other industries that rely upon non-renewable resources is that those resources will eventually run out. You would think the same rule would apply to...  (2005) » Read more

Jenny Scheinman - Twelve Songs – Violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman’s latest CD is a trip down memory lane to the deep bayous of the South, emphasizing lazy 30s jazz. She has enlisted a small ensemble to forge her vision of...  (2006) » Read more

Bellaphon - Firefly – Bellaphon are a four-piece from Japan, consisting of the standard guitar / bass / keys / drums lineup. Their arrangements are heavy on the keyboards, with Camel-like guitar breaks providing the...  (1997) » Read more

Random review

Listen & discover

Amon Düül II on stage

More recommendations
The Seventeenth Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival 2019

Print issues