E-Leizh/Roud (L8.2)/Coop Breizh / Ride ON Music/2022

Personnel:

Ronan Le Dissez: bombard, pistoñ, flute, vocals

Stéphane Foll: biniou, clarinet, vocals

Yann-Guirec Le Bars: guitars, bass, mandola, banjo, “charley”, voice

Pierre Stephan: violon, tenor violon, mandolin, electronics, voice

Website: http://groupeeleizh.wix.com/eleizh

Sophomore recordings can be tricky. A band’s first recording can be a seminal statement of their core sound, bursting with energy and a cache of great material. For the next one, will the creative well have run dry? Or will they take it farther, develop some aspect of the sound, or perhaps take off on an unexpected tangent, or even do a lateral move and just produce more of the same? A lot of hope and expectation can build up after a promising debut.

E-Leizh, featuring veterans from the 90s group Hastañ joined by bombard luminary Ronan Le Dissez, had a promising debut with L8.1. The new release, Roud (L8.2) is a satisfying recording that builds nicely on the success of the premier effort. That recording, as you may recall, had amazing material with only weakness in production bringing it down to earth a bit.

Roud takes the occasional clouds of electronic effects from Stephan’s violin introduced in the first recording much further, and it also sees a significant expansion in instrumentation from every member of the band, including vocals. The result is a satisfying program that varies the energy level and instrumentation to provide a diverse listening experience. Le Dissez is, of course, one of the best talabarders performing in the mixed-instrument genre of Fest Noz groups and has really come into his own as a tune writer. He is also an excellent flute player and recently added the lower pitched Breton oboe or “piston”, which he uses on one track here. Stéphane Le Foll has a similar stature on the binou and these two organically sync perfectly into each other throughout this recording. On Quand je serai en ménage, which begins with a vocal from an archival recording, he introduces clarinet and the tone they captured for that instrument is just sublime. 

These guys really know how to lay down a driving melody and ride that groove really hard, and build and release tension in just the right way to provide an exhilarating listening experience. 

Yann-Guirec Le Bars, the talented guitarist from Hastañ and Dibenn, has greatly diversified his role on this recording with acoustic and electric guitars, 4 string banjo, octave mandolin, bass, voice, and “charley” or cymbals. I’ve always liked his paying, which is rhythmically driving but also contains melody or counter-melodic lines, and that holds true here. The added bass lines are nice to hear on this recording, and make this listener wonder if a dedicated bass player will be added at some point in the future. (Note; there is now indeed a dedicated bass player!)

Pierre Stephan is one of my favorite Breton violinists. He can really drive a melody line and has an incisive, articulate style with excellent intonation that is a joy to hear. Part of his expansion in roles here is to play mandolin, and his mandolin sound is well suited to this group. Additionally he plays ‘violon ténor’, perhaps the rare octave violin that you see/hear occasionally out in the wild. Another part of this expansion comes in the form of subtle and trippy electronics. 

While Stephan introduced these elements in the previous album, it is taken much further here. Unlike the awful, ham-fisted synth drones and weirdly hollow and sterile keyboard sheen that have ruined countless otherwise acoustic recordings, these effects seem to have more in common with psychedelia and give the distinct impression of being triggered or produced by the group’s instruments. This is a good thing. At best they’re pretty cool sounding and don’t get in the way. At worst, the listener might detect a momentary surreal burbling or gurgling submerged somewhere in the mix and wonder what was going on. The most unusual thing about Stephan’s work on this recording is that he largely goes out of his way to avoid doing what you would expect him to do, which is to straightforwardly play the melody in accompaniment of, or response to the bombard. Instead, he comes up with almost orchestral, syncopated parts (La Stratosphère), plays the mandolin on numerous tracks, uses the violin or octave violin in conjunction with effects to produce swooshes or clouds of sound, and generally fills in around the tunes in unexpected ways. Good for him; it works and it’s pretty unique.

These guys really know how to lay down a driving melody and ride that groove really hard, and build and release tension in just the right way to provide an exhilarating listening experience. We know that, of course, from the first recording and it’s nice to hear that they haven’t abandoned that. 

While this album has no filler material and goes from strength to strength, my favorite section is probably the Loudéac set, tracks 6 through 9. Track 6, Suite Loudéac Première Ronde starts with guitar and mandolin playing two distinct melodies, soon joined by a flute line which is pretty sweet. Then the bombard and biniou kick in like a freight train and the whole thing takes off. This piece reminds me strongly of the group Storvan and their classic second recording An Deizou Kaer from way back in the late 90s. I love it! Track 7, the Baleu section, gives the violin the spotlight with a tender,  melancholy melody. Track 9, the second rond section, enters with a thumping bass and announces itself with an intensely driving bombard line. Suite Loudéac Riquegnée, which closes out the Loudéac set, is especially charming – a gorgeous slow flute melody with mandolin accompaniment.

Here’s a special mention of the strangest tune on the recording, track 12, Satan. It’s all vocals accompanied by some clapping. It’s odd. It’s not bad but it’s not to my taste and I mostly skip over it.

This is a great recording. If you’re not into the surreal electronics don’t worry too much as they’re pretty mixed back and the material here is really just stellar. As for the physical package, I found it quite charming that the graphic design has strong continuity with the first recording. I sure wish i knew what the “L8” references are getting at. Cassettes were “K7” so perhaps CDs are L8?

-Fañch