CARPE DIEM — Circonvolutions (2015) Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

The final album from this now-prior run of The List! Very exciting for me. Now, I have ~30 more bands/albums to listen to this current time around: ~430 artists. Wish me luck. As a note after listening: Such a thrill to finish this run with this album. Cheers!

The album released after their reforming in 2014, Circonvolutions (2015) is the band's first release in nearly 40 years! I hope they stay together for long and continue to release more material. This is worth a listen.

From the get-go with "Along the Great Wall", very electronica(?)-forward. But herein is really so much more. Very interesting reeds work. Toward the end is this horn that is so compressed and morphed, I thought it was a keyboard. I honestly love this sound. Reminds me of old PC games from my childhood. Regardless of how they made it all, it's a pretty infectious opener.

A winner from its get-go, "Conte de saxs" is fun and upbeat. Sort of reminds me of latter-day '70s Daevid Allen Gong. Don't know how not to love.

Despite sounding a bit like tired Synth-Pop at times, "Tibetan Monument" still has some charms, especially toward the end. This band has strengths in its rhythm section, no doubt about it, but the reeds work is most lovely.

And then, the title track, "Circonvolutions" [DO NOT MISS THIS], at first a scurrying, spacy number with soft, pillowy instrumentation. Nearing minute 2, the beat comes in. What I assume to be synth, though it sounds like sped up lead-bass melody(?!), scurries along in this upbeat, positive way. Pretty darn unique sound. Then the horns... sheesh... So nice. I'm very impressed. Compositional knack out the wazoo. All falls away near the midpoint. Then what sounds like a modernist church organ comes in around minute 5. Things rise and fall together. Cloudy and beautiful and quietly epic. I had no clue what to expect from this album, but it wasn't this.

I wouldn't say that I'm such a fan of the so-called 'Progressive Electronic' idiom, but they are using elements from it throughout this album in such a way that I'm just so drawn. "L'imagerie fantastique", quiet and soft at first, is such a lush use of space. And then wow! What occurs around 3:00... indescribable. Things pick up, some guitar lead over epic, grandiose keyboards and classic rhythm section. Gee whizz haha. "Fantastic Imagery" indeed! I'm pretty speechless. A goddamn blessing, this'n! hahaha.

"Namire" is a beautiful acoustic guitar solo interlude. A lovely and appropriate breaking-up of the norm.

Then, the queer, almost Gothic(?) "Wedding Day". Again, sonic choices that could have sprouted out of early-80s Synth-Pop, though this is clearly more a 'Post-Progressive' thing. The vocalist has a nice voice, but it doesn't do a whole lot for me. Brought the album down a hair, for sure.

Finally, "Jardin de verre", another lush use of space, this time featuring soft violin lead over ethereal, sort of baroque (to my ears) accompaniment. Then very modern-sounding (ya know, post-1990) drums enter. The performance is very cool and slowly ramps up with duel synth-guitar (and eventually reeds) leads. Real nice. Once more reminiscent to me of the work of Didier Malherbe (of Gong).

Those tracks that are not only bolded, but are italicized as well, are essential listens in my book. Good god, I'm so impressed! progarchives
Tracklist :
1    Along The Great Wall 5:32
Music By, Lyrics By – Christian Truchi
2    Conte De Saxs 3:22
Music By – Christian Truchi
3    Tibetan Monument 5:12
Lyrics By – Julien Bocchi
Music By – Christian Truchi
4    Circonvolutions 7:51
Music By – Christian Truchi, Gilbert Abbenanti
5    L'imagerie Fantastique 10:58
Lyrics By – Alain Faraut
Music By – Christian Truchi, Georges Ferrero
6    Namire 2:37
Music By – Gérald Macia
7    Wedding Day 3:36
Lyrics By – Rolland Baldelli
Music By – Christian Truchi
8    Jardin De Verre 10:27
Music By – Christian Truchi, Claude Marius David
Credits :
Bass, Vocals, Guitar – Georges Ferrero
Guest, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute – Manu Di Costanzo (pistas: 1 to 4)
Guest, Snare [Snare Drums] – Mélodie Truchi (pistas: 7)
Guest, Soprano Saxophone, Flute [Flutes] – David Amar (3) (pistas: 2, 4, 7)
Guest, Vocals [Vocal] – Mélodie Truchi (pistas: 1, 3, 7)
Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Violin – Gérald Macia
Guitar, E-Bow [Ebow] – Gilbert Abbenanti
Illustration [Original Drawings], Drums, Percussion [Percussions] – Alain Faraut
Piano, Keyboards, Lead Vocals [Lead Vocal], Producer [Music Producer], Design [Record Sleeve Design], Engineer [Sound Engineer] – Christian Truchi
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Percussion [Percussions] – Marius David (pistas: 5, 8)

CARPE DIEM — En Regardant Passer le Temps (1978-2017) RM | SHM-CD | Mini LP | Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

This album has really grown on me big time. This has got to be one of the greatest prog albums I have bought in a long time. This group, as far as French prog bands are concerned gets mentioned up there with the likes of PULSAR, ATOLL, MAGMA, ANGE, etc. and without good reason. The band consisted of keyboardist/vocalist Christian Truchi, guitarist Gilbert Abbenanti, bassist Alain Berge, drummer Alain Faraut, and saxist/flutist Claude-Marius David (who unfortunately died in 1993, according to the booklet included in the Musea CD reissue, but unfortunately no mention of cause of death).

"En Regardant Passer Le Temps" is the first of only two albums and is generally regarded as the better of the two. This is one of the very few prog rock albums I've found where I can't find any flaws. Many times I have problems with bad production, bad vocals (or a band singing in poor English if they're from a non-English speaking country), an album getting hampered by a sappy ballad or two, awful synth sound, poor lyrics, or whatever, but none of that's to be found here. Christian Truchi decides to sing in his native French, and he has one of the more pleasant voices in French prog (a refreshing change, when you're accustomed to harsh French vocals, like that of ANGE).

The band has one of the more unique keyboard sounds I've heard, rather than the usual Hammond organ, Mini Moog, and Mellotron, Truchi used a Farfisa electric piano, an unidentifiable synth, and a string synth. So many times you see this band compared with GONG, or CAMEL, or SOFT MACHINE. Don't buy in to that at all, this has got to be one of the more original mid '70s prog albums. For one thing, the music is way more sophisticated than what GONG did. There are plenty of jazzy passages because of the presence of sax, but plenty of spacy symphonic passages. The band is often placed under the "space fusion" category with the likes of GONG and even OZRIC TENTACLES, which is a bit strange, given CARPE DIEM was quite a bit more sophisticated. Expect more of a symphonic space prog album.
The album consists of only four cuts, but all are of the same quality, so it's really difficult picking out the best cut. Plus you can't beat the cover, which is very much in the style of M.C. Escher (done by Hubert Pattieu). Truly an essential album, as far as I'm concerned. progarchives 

Tracklist :
1 Voyage Du Non-Retour 3:45
2 Réincarnation 12:50
3 Jeux Du Siècle 9:00
4 Publiphobie 10:50
Credits :
Bass – Alain Berge
Drums, Percussion – Alain Faraut
Guitar – Gilbert Abbenanti
Keyboards, Vocals – Christian Truchi
Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Percussion – Claude M. David 

CARPE DIEM — Cueille Le Jour (1976-1994) Three Version | Mp3 + FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

French progressive rock band active during the 1970's. They originated in Nice, first as Deis Corpus (a Jethro Tull and King Crimson cover band), transmuting into Carpe Diem "Seize the day!" By 1973 they had an entirely self-penned repertoire, with a music that cross-bred many progressive rock influences, with jazz and classical touches, but it took a further two years to get a record contract, thanks to support from Jean-Pierre Massiera. Carpe Diem recorded two albums during their lifetime, and split-up in 1979.
Couleurs    (21:38)
1a    Premiers Pas    
1b    La Traversée Des Sables    
1c    Dernier Village... Premières Neiges    
1d    Rencontre    
1e    Les Portes Du Silence    
2    Naissance    3:23
3    Le Miracle De La Saint-Gaston    3:38
4    Laure    2:44
5    Tramontane    3:37
6    Divertimento    3:56
7    Rencontre (Excerpt From Couleurs - English Version)    3:22
Credits :
Bass – Alain Bergé
Drums, Percussion – Alain Faraut
Guitar [Guitars] – Gilbert Abbenanti
Lyrics By [English Lyrics], Photography By – Gilles Bertho
Lyrics By [French Lyrics] – Yves Leu
Organ, Synthesizer [String-ensemble], Piano, Lead Vocals, – Christian Truchi
Soprano Saxophone [Soprano Sax], Flute, Percussion – Claude-Marius David