King Crimson
In The Wake Of Poseidon

Canyons are places of mystery and beauty. The interesting thing is, while they are one of the great wonders in the history of planet earth and attract scientists of all kinds of disciplines, they have also been a popular retreat for artists and musicians. You will have heard of Topanga Canyon, Rickie Lee Jones and Chicago recorded here. Laurel Canyon is even more well known, a mythical place where Crosby, Stills & Nash developed their unique vocal sound while hanging around Mama Cass' place. Or was it in Joni Mitchell's house on Lookout Mountain? Ok, you get the picture. There is something unexplainable, almost magical going on in canyons.Maybe that's why Andy Platts and Shawn Lee were thinking of "Canyons" when they wrote and recorded their third album as Young Gun Silver Fox. With "West End Coast" and "AM Waves" these two very talented musicians, singers, songwriters, arrangers and producers already explored all things Westcoast, AOR, Softrock and Boogie. But - especially if you are a into the golden age of this sound running from circa 1976 to 1984 - you will be aware that there is no return once you started digging these unconditional musical delights with their timeless compositions, untouchable musicianship and refined arrangements. The great albums from that era appeared when punk broke and the musical establishment was shaken to the ground. Today they sound more up to date than ever. Who would have thought back then?On "Canyons" Young Gun Silver Fox turned it up to eleven. They are nothing but "Kids" cruising in the fast lane, totally over the top searching for the "Dream Woman", touching down in Tokyo caught in a "Long Distance Love Affair", imagining the theme for a lost 70s TV series starring "Danny Jamaica", being on the winning side in a "Private Paradise", getting deep and soulful in "Things We Left Unsaid" and wondering how to spread "All This Love". Their bass lines, sound layers, brass arrangements and harmony vocals are immaculate. Everything fits perfectly. Just like this. "Who Needs Words" when everything is crystal clear? Exactly!

Raï is the music of a youth hungover from Algeria's recent independence. It became a space for a liberated, transgressive dialogue that told the social truths of its time -- an up-front yet poetic voice that covers the taboos and frustrations of daily life, expressing emotion without detour. This voice is heard at weddings, cabarets, in the nightclubs of the Oranese coast, and casually on the street... With the boom of the audio cassette, an avalanche of raï tapes were produced in Oran and diffused all over the world. Both women and men sang and listened to the new sound, as raï is intimately tied to parties, alcohol and the night. With the spontaneous improvisation of its singers as the main part of each song, raï keeps reinventing itself. In this style, Cheb Hasni, along with Cheb Nasro, incarnates a second generation of musicians. With the "love raï", or sentimental raï, Hasni sings about love, passion and its setbacks -- moving away from the bittersweet daily chronicles of the first chebs and chebates. Having recorded nearly 150 cassettes, Cheb Hasni remains one of the most prolific and talented raï singers of his generation. Almost thirty years after his death, this three-volume compilation of rare tracks from his cassette releases on the Oriental Music Production label is a tribute to the lasting legacy of Cheb Hasni -- ya raï! The third volume of three is presented here.CHEB HASNIVol 3 Outre National

Seul pour la nuit, il est le dernier homme. A peu près un tiers de ses posts, c'est pour prévenir qu'il a perdu son téléphone, ou cru voir un chien se faire un sandwich.Paul Ramon (Bryan's Magic Tears, la Secte du Futur) a trouvé le temps de finir un deuxième album dans lequel le rare bordel du premier a eu le temps de coaguler. Précédé par une réputation d'ingérabilité Defcon 1 tout en étant visiblement capable de se tenir, on est pas surpris de trouver le même niveau de paradoxe dans "Buvez le poison".Si on fouille à corps le disque, on trouve toute la pharmacopée musicale des quarante dernières années. Ca roule à 30 sur l'autoroute (Hacienda, dub de descente avec basses abusées) et à 90 en ville (les victimes du roi, hallu fantasy-médiévale arpégiée). Pleasure Principle a décidé que le code de la route s'appliquait pas à son véhicule. Chant en français ni beuglé ni chuchoté, guitares tantôt highlife, tantôt caraïbes, synthés 90, moments MTV à la vulgarité étudiée, traces de tout, traces partout. Chanteur par obligation, de son aveu même, il s'exécute en scandant ses textes avec la morgue tête-à-claques du chanteur de Ludwig Von 88 en stage de 3ème à Manchester. Content d'être là, mais il voudrait pas que ça se sache. L'air de pas y toucher, Paul Ramon a tiré la langue pour écrire, et il enchaîne généreusement les one-liners de jeanfoutre : " si tu veux fuir le monde l'élégance est de mise", "c'est dans le déni que je m'épanouis." Autant de rasoirs jetables de qualité NF qu'on a hâte de le voir sortir de ses poches en scène, pour saigner tout le monde (en galérant un peu, forcément).Au mix, Marc Portheau transforme l'essai : ainsi Héliopolis, jam psyché-pop en tunnel plein de delay, se chiade en loucedé pour ajouter choeurs et vents d'autant mieux amenés (Olivier Demeaux, Romain Vasset) qu'ils n'avaient pas prévenu qu'ils passeraient.Une vraie chausse-trappe, cet album. La punition commence : texte en prose, on attend une ambiance de donjon et des aveux fétides, mais finalement ça remue les bras en l'air, en piétinant le cadavre de la dance pop à synthé décérébré, circa 1995. "Frappe le cuir" paye son hommage aux Happy Mondays, on aurait pu s'y attendre vu le pedigree du batteur, mais c'est chanté dans une ambiance Négresses Vertes. Même "Buvez le poison" et "la sieste", campagne de promotion pour les stups en deux temps - un qui claque et un qui chaloupe- qui mérite direct un signalement, contient son antidote pour qui sait écouter. Et dans Rêves, morceau plutôt estival à accords, c'est la guitare solo fuckée à souhait par les effets qui vient foutre le zbeul et donne des indices du degré de déreliction du climat.Alors quand on tombe sur Plein de rancoeur je vis mon meilleur moment, tentative réussie de refaire "Loser" en moins littéral en 2022, on se dit que vraiment, c'est attachiant, mais Pleasure Principle sait très bien ce qu'il fait. C'est pas un collage, on est dans les couleurs non miscibles, de celles qu'on étale pour les regarder se côtoyer lascivement sans jamais se mélanger, en souriant bêtement, le cerveau bien niqué comme il faut.Halory Goerger

Henri Guédon is an artistic legend from Martinique. Musician, painter, sculptor and one of the main architects of modern Caribbean/Antilles music. Taking the music to truly new and progressive territory from the late 1960’s onward. Karma, his 2nd album is one of the holy grails of the Caribbean cosmic Latin/Jazz scene, near impossible to find in this day and age. Released in 1975 on a small Parisian label, La Voix Du Globe, a label releasing Algerian, Moroccan and Egyptian records, the album was an anomalous release in their catalog. Karma was a convincing and unswerving statement following his stunning landmark debut LP (Cosmozouk Percussion).Incorporating African, Latin and West Indies styles (Gwoka, Mazouk, Biguine, Bel-Air, Bomba...) with cosmic synths swirling all over intense roots percussion. The songs are propelled with a spiritual Jazz vibe mixing with deep ethno-folk music from Martinique and Guadeloupe. The LP belongs to the same vein as as Marius Cultier, Louis Xavier or William Onyeabor for its totally original take on a hybrid music.créditsHenri GUEDONKarma (remastered)Outre National