09/02/2014
Alambig Elektrik/Vorlenn’s Stomp/Coop Breizh/2014
Personnel:
Lors Landat : kan / chant
Gaël Runigo : akordeoñ, programmiñ / accordéon diatonique, programmation
Roland Conq : gitar / guitare
Par Pereira : trompilh / trompette
Ronan Le Jossec : enrolliñ ha meskiñ / son et mixage
Invités :
Philippe Janvier : bombard, biniou / bombarde, biniou
Youenn Le Cam : biniou
Eric Menneteau : kan / chant
Mathieu Sérot : bombard / bombarde
Pierrick Tardivel : gitar boud / basse
Julien Boussamba : remix
Alambig Electrik made a splash in 2010 with their first recording, the humorously titled Disadorn Noz Fever (Saturday Night Fever). The veteran lineup featured Gaël Runigo on accordion, Youenn Le Cam on trumpet and MIDI samples, and Roland Conq on guitar – joined by a few talented invités such as Pierrick Tardivel (bass) and Lors Landat (vocals). Their unique approach combined ambitious, layered arrangements augmented with sampled sounds (programmation), high-energy material and a good dose of humor. The group performed in loud, over-the-top “crew vintage” seventies lounge and disco wear and sported matching oversized sideburns. Drawing heavily on traditional material, the jazz influence, trumpet and electro-world percussion all combined to create a pleasing whole that also appealed to pop sensibilities.
Now a second recording, Vorlenn’s Stomp, has burst upon the scene with a mild reshuffling of personnel and a corresponding slight change to the band’s name, now Alambig Elektrik (with a k). While Disadorn was an intriguing and entertaining debut, the group has struck pure gold with Vorlenn’s, easily one of the best Breton recordings of the year. Vorlenn’s Stomp takes all of the charming elements that made their first recording so likable and bumps them up a notch, while scaling back the use of the sometimes distracting exotic sampled sounds such as lengthy vocal and percussion loops from Africa and Asia. This is due to two key changes in personnel.
The first change is the promotion of vocalist Lors Landat from invité to not only full group member, but charismatic frontman. Landat had been a standout if sporadic presence on the first recording, and here his warm tenor takes front and center stage on the majority of the tracks. This strong vocal presence negates the need to rely on extended stretches of sampled “Deep Forest” style world-music vocals and sounds, which is a relief, and is the perfect focal point around which the group builds complex arrangements of instrumentation. “I have assumed the role of the ‘soloist instrument’, allowing Gaël and Pat to devote themselves to harmonies and rhythm” Landat said recently in an interview with Musique Bretonne magazine. Whereas the first recording was primarily instrumental with a scattering of vocal pieces, Vorlenn’s reverses the formula and has only a couple instrumentals.
The second change is the departure of trumpet player Youenn Le Cam, who bowed out to focus on his new high-concept project, the group N’diaz. This left accordionist Gaël Runigo to take up the ‘machines’, considered to be integral to the group’s sound and identity. Runigo’s take on programmation is, for the most part, significantly more subtle and nuanced than that found on the first recording.
Obviously a replacement trumpet was needed as well and here is the other standout presence of this recording, new group member Patrick Pereira. Pereira, who comes from a jazz background, has created trumpet parts that are incredibly listenable: always fresh, engaging, changing, innovative, and full of exciting musical ideas. Says Landat of Pereira, “Youenn knew how to play a phrase on the trumpet like a bombard or biniou because he has played those instruments for many years. Pat approaches the instrument differently. He uses another logic, he speaks another musical language. But it is all part of the richness of the group!”.
Vorlenn’s Stomp is a heady cocktail of influences, beautifully recorded and presented with gorgeous graphics in a full packet design. It simultaneously succeeds both as traditional Fest Noz music and as pop music. It is lighthearted and fun, but the material is complex and can be listened to at great length. The only piece of music on Vorlenn’s that is not, strictly speaking, part of the traditional dance repertoire is the delicious, pop-inflected number “Redadeg 2014”. This song and the accompanying video were contributed to the very popular “Redadeg” relay race (and concert) across Brittany which annually raises funds for Breton language education. The accompanying video is incredibly charming and funny and expresses a lot of what makes this recording and group so impressive.
Exciting melodies, deep arrangements, a distinct sense of fun and an eclectic palette of mood and feel all add up to a unique and unforgettable sound. Many groups show promise on an initial recording that the sophomore effort fails to keep, but here we find a second recording that not only builds upon what came before, but transcends it.
All quotes are from the article “Alambig Elektrik”, Musique Bretonne magazine, N 239, translation mine.
-Fañch
