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Reviews

Cyrille Verdeaux / Pascal Menetrey — Ethnicolor's
(Clearlight Music C8M-104, 2001, CD)

by Sean McFee, Published 2000-10-01

Ethnicolor's Cover art

Although not much of it has seen wide distribution, Cyrille Verdeaux has a lengthy body of work after the demise of his band Clearlight. Ethnicolor’s was recorded in 1997 with the help of sampler Pascal Menestreyl but not issued until last year. The album blends sampled sounds (apparently taken from “original recordings of sacred ceremonials and rituals”) from around the world with synthesizer and percussion work. While there is a risk in any such project of taking a condescending or paternalistic approach, this is a more-or-less effective fusing of the component elements, which is to say, the natural and artificial. In addition to sampling voices of tribes and indigenous people from around the world, Menestreyl has captured exotic instruments such as bamboo flute, Colombian pan flute and various ethnic percussion instruments for use here. The pieces are generally constructed by taking the sampled voices and adding a backdrop of synthesized ethnic instrumentation, synthesizer and percussion. Verdeaux’s programmed percussion is steady and tribal, to complement the feel of the samples while giving a decidedly modern feel. While this shouldn’t be seen as “authentic” world music by any stretch, it is an interesting approach with some very enjoyable results. Followers of Verdeaux’s work in Clearlight should definitely give this a try.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 20, 2001 releases

 

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