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 Marc Moulin Placebo Sessions 1971-1974 1xCD 2xLP CounterPoint 1999 |
Marc Moulin started his career as a pianist in jazz bands during the late 60s. Later he also began playing keyboards and producing records with artists such as
Philip Catherine. In the early 70s he formed the group called "Placebo". Inspired by the work of contemporary artists, like Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, Marc Moulin experimented with combining jazz-funk and electronic instruments. That resulted in 3 albums, released between 1971 and 1974. Being obscure and rare, luckily all 3 have now been re-issued on one CD and double LP. Fifteen instrumental tracks bringing together numerous different styles. Like the lounge-jazz with bass guitar experiments on "Showbiz Suite". The great rare-groove of "Aria" with melancholic guitars and trumpets. "Balek" is one weird breakbeat trip with basslines that sound like a didgeridoo but probably come from a completely different instrument. On top of that funky horns and entrancing moog melodies, now that's eclectisicm! A phat bassline freaky synths and an excellent sax make "Stomp" sound like VERY early 80s synth funk. This track also contains the sound of a spraycan that's being shaked, something that only Dr.Rockit could have come up with, the only thing is that Placebo did it some 25 years earlier! Atmospheric is the keyword for "N.W." with it's dark bass guitar, bluesy piano and slowly building funk-rhythm that doesn't get to a climax until about 15 secs before the end. "Dag Madam Merci" is another one of those lounge-grooves with pshychedelic synths by Marc Moulin and "S.U.S" would be a perfect fit alongside today's future-jazz releases. More on the up-tempo side are the piano jazz-grooves of "Only Nineteen", the percussive latin freak out track "Bosso" and the super funky "Temse" with moogs added! And then there's also "Plotseling", this must be the weirdest track of them all: starting of as a downtempo jazz-break, then adding melodic guitar, distorted trumpets, a 2 min drum-solo and getting back to the jazz-side of things in the end. phew! Note that Marc Moulin is from Belgium (that explains why some track titles are in Dutch) and later formed another legendary band called "Telex". They made Kraftwerk-like music in the 80s and their work has been remixed by famous Electro and House producers like Carl Craig, I:Cube, Glenn Underground, Stacey Pullen, ... Say Vegin may 2000 |