Marc Hollander, Aksak Maboul – Onze Danses Pour Combattre La Migraine

...an absolutly classic of recommended records (rec rec) finally on cd. a
guide and heartopener for so much that would follow: for example fred frith
with "gravity" or the whole developement of pascal comelade. cedric vuille
of debile menthol & ensemble raye told me twice on the phone, how happy he
is to give this album away again as a present. the multi colored influences
on this album let my father predict in april 79, while "downloading" this
album for his cassette collection: "that's the music of the future!" - this
music did not impresse through virtuosity like f.e. henry cow with "in
praise of learning", but with incredible charme. erik satie was celebrating
a wedding with nino rota ("milano per caso"), duke ellington met for the
first time a drum machine ("mooche"), hatfield & the north had a flirt with
frank zappa ("son of l'idiot"), terry riley found an old fender rhodes on a
turkish bazar ("mastoul alakefak"). the "blue print" of all that would
follow on the belgian crammed label...

I bought this for £4.79 from the Virgin Megastore, Oxford St London in 1979. Quite a lot of money in those days, but it was an import.
Great album of timeless and daring experimental keyboards and percussion. Actually there's a lot more instrumentation going on.... some tracks are fairly straightforwardly minimal and repetitive, some are more leftfield and abstract pieces.
Difficult album to pigeonhole. Its not really jazz or rock.... but that grey area at which the Europeans really excel.
This wasn't really like anything else around at the time - and come to think of it - there's not much around like it today.
The second album 'Un Peu De L'Âme Des Bandits' had a different, expanded line-up and was a bit more tricksy, more fully arranged and played. Definitely worth a go.
This is much more more minimal, stripped-down. A light and airy record, fully accessible but also demanding.

It's time for a repress..