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Edredon Sensible — Vloute Panthère
(Bandcamp Productions Vendredi no#, 2021, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2021-11-29

Vloute Panthère Cover art

Edredon Sensible is a French quartet with a very unusual lineup: two saxes and two drums. The saxes are a tenor (Jean Lacarrière) and a baritone (Tristan Charles-Alfred), and the bari, of course functions as the bass of the band, providing riffs and tonality while the tenor plays melodies or solos. In addition, the bari seems to be augmented by some kind of effects to beef up the low end. Both drummers (Antoine Perdriolle and Mathias Bayle) also contribute various percussion, so often one will be at the kit while the other is banging on other objects. The rhythmic patterns are informed by music from around the world rather than being wholly rock or jazz based, and sometimes I would swear there have to be more than two guys involved. I suppose overdubs are a possibility, but watching videos of them playing live, one has a minimal kit (kick, snare, hi-hat with tambourine, cowbell, woodblock) while the other has a setup featuring two floor toms and a cowbell. In the strangely-titled “Blirprulre” there’s a propulsive part on the kit involving nice use of toms, combined with a busy pattern involving a variety of metal sounds kind of like different-sized cowbells, and there’s also what sounds like a shaker of some kind in there. No matter how they manage it, the result is a fascinating groove to back what the saxes are doing, which in this case does not involve riffs or melodies, but droning notes punctuated with sections of noisemaking. On a compositional level, it’s almost certainly like nothing you’ve ever encountered. Other tracks are somewhat more conventional, with the bari playing a bass line and the tenor playing melodic lines while the drums and percussion support. Vloute Panthère is a shining example of what can be done without guitars or keyboards when conventions are thrown out the window and musicians are willing to take creative risks. It’s also a lot of fun.

Filed under: New releases, 2021 releases

Related artist(s): Edredon Sensible

More info
http://edredonsensible.bandcamp.com/album/vloute-panth-re

 

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