01/02/2007

Malicorne - Almanach (1976)

Almanach is one of the highest achievements in Malicorne and leader Gabriel Yacoub’s career. A wonderful album that even now, more than thirty years after its first release, sounds fresh, captivating and truly surprising, also for the highly innovative and beautiful arrangements of traditional tunes and lore. A sparkling gem. Here’s a sample review:

«The band’s third album expanded their musical strengths with a conceptually linked set of pieces entitled Almanach, earning the quartet a gold record. The original LP was ornately decorated, inlayed with a lyric booklet arranged as an antique almanac in keeping with the album’s 12-month conception. This album was the first evolution in the band’s style, incorporating an almost classical/baroque feel at times. The two longest pieces also deliver a slightly more epic feel. The near eight-minute L’Ecolier Assassin is a mesmerizing, melancholy ballad as well, but mostly takes its time in telling a story rather than hopping through styles. Again, the diversity here is impressive with highlights like the gorgeous Le Luneaux (a piece sung by Marie), the extremely Gryphon-like Branle de la Haie (with more crumhorn) and the Christmas celebration Noel est Arrivé. It all makes for the band’s second classic in a row, a brilliance perhaps only approached by that of Stivell himself.» (gnosis2000)

Link in comments

9 comments:

DJ Radu said...

http://rapidshare.com/files/14374130/MalicAlm.rar.html

Anonymous said...

If you have "la balançoire en feu" I would have the whole Malicorne Collection !!!.

so ;) :D :P

DJ Radu said...

Unfortunately, that's the only missing Malicorne album in my collection too, I'm sorry (:

Anonymous said...

I search a french band called IMAGO have you ,in your boxes, a lp named FOLLE AVOINE. THANKS FOR your treasure!

Anonymous said...

Luckily my parents had this one on vinyl along with a couple other Malicorne albums, which are all great, but this one is my favorite

Anonymous said...

Ciao Radu!
Tengo muy buenos recuerdos de la "vecchia Italia". Te escribo de Chile, esa gran nación de escritores y poetas.
La música, debo decirte que he encontrado de mucha sensibilidad y delicadeza, los 4 primeros albumes de Malicorne. Tengo que agregar que muchos grupos de folk francés me han dado más de alguna agradable sorpresa; por nombrar un par: Tri Yann (orientado como Malicorne al folk-celta-medieval) y Gwendal (folk-celta).
Nada que hacer y decir: la música sigue uniendo naciones.
¡Gracias por compartir tan buena música!

Fran Solo

DJ Radu said...

Alternative Link:

http://sharebee.com/e3bbe40c

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Gabriel Yacoub and Marie Yacoub formed Malicorne on 5 September 1973[citation needed] (possibly naming it after the town of Malicorne in north-western France, famous for its porcelain and faience). Since several of their albums are called simply Malicorne it had become the custom to refer to them by number, even though no number appears on the cover. Malicorne 1 consisted of the Yacoubs, Laurent Vercambre and Hughes de Courson. The combination of electric guitar, violin, dulcimer, bouzouki and female vocalist immediately brings to mind Steeleye Span, their English equivalent, thus placing them squarely in the electric folk genre. These four musicians were, between them, masters of twelve instruments. Their first four albums consisted of mostly traditional French folk songs, with one or two songs by Gabriel Yacoub and one or two instrumentals per album. Again like Steeleye Span, they occasionally sang group harmonies a cappella. On Malicorne 4 they were joined by Olivier Zdrzalik on bass, percussion and vocals. The exuberant art-work on the album sleeves, featuring elves and dragons, makes them collectors pieces.

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Malicorne was a French electric folk group that flourished in the 1970s.

Once they had gained a reputation in France, Malicorne toured in French-speaking Canada. The album En Public (1978), recorded live in Montreal, makes it clear that they were more than a studio band. They toured over 800 venues in Canada, America, and Europe. In 1990 Gabriel and Marie appeared as a duo in a low-key event in London. All of Malicorne's songs were in French, apart from a few words of English on their final album. At their concerts they made some announcements in broken English. Gabriel and Marie continue to record, but their CDs are only occasionally in print. The three compilation albums Quintessence, Legende and Vox show the range of Malicorne's work. A compilation of Malicorne tracks, featuring only those sung by Marie, was issued in 2005, Marie de Malicorne. Malicorne reunited in 2010 for an appearance at the Festival des Francofolies, Grand Théâtre de La Coursive, La Rochelle, France. A CD and DVD of the performance was released in March 2011.