4/3 De Trio - Faiblesse

Year of Release: 1999
Label: Musea Records
Catalog Number: FGBG 4275.AR
Format: CD
Total Time: 68:07:00

The typical British humour, which for a long time has been patented by the likes of Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan and has been introduced into the song titles of Soft Machine, National Health and Caravan, has now also found its way into France. I mean, how could one otherwise describe a band name like 4/3 De Trio for a mainly instrumental foursome?

Avant-garde-grunge would be a nice label even if the 13 songs cover a wide spectrum. Title song "Faiblesse" is a nice example of how 4/3 De Trio's music will find its way through 68 minutes of originality. The analogue recording technique has enabled the track "Il Fut Un Temps" to really explore the stereo field because you constantly hear one guitarist through the left channel whilst the other has to do with "mister" right. There's the obligatory mellotron, but it is only used as a fierce contrast to the grungy guitars. In "Os" a fragile female voice comes to extra emphasize the contrast with the "hard" guitars. Whilst all of the songs have been written by guitarist Guillaume Fenoy, the nice instrumental "Queen Wilson" is a true showcase for bass and drums, served in a way only Liquid Tension Experiment could do before them.

The few lyrics alternate between English and French, the music plays at fives between hard and soft passages, between pure rock and fusion. As long as you like digesting the wonderful likes of NeBeLNeST, Liquid Tension Experiment, bAG, Somnambulist, Damn the Machine and even a slight pinch of Tangle Edge, then 4/3 De Trio is definitely for you. The lyrical naivete during the eastern sounding "The Taste Of You" (? "I adore your back and your tits" ?) we will for once pretend we haven't heard. But for the rest this album certainly is a winner!

Tracklisting:
Faiblesse (6:33) / Os (4:46) / Queen Wilson (5:06) / Marie J. (5:05) / Vicious Heart (6:26) / En Depit (5:52) / Spare Yourself The Pain (2:00) / The Taste Of You (7:54) / Ma Devise (3:06) / Loe (9:26) / Acore (2:44) / Ile (1:30) / Dying For Religion (7:39)

Musicians:
S?bastien Grammond - electric guitar (right), mellotron, Hammond, analogue
??? synths, djemb?
Didier Pegeron - drums, acoustic guitar (right), timbales, bongos, triangle
Romain Gayral - bass
Guillaume Fenoy - electric guitar (left), acoustic guitars (left), vocals

Discography:
Faiblesse (1999)
Ersatz (2004)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin FR

Added: February 1st 2000
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Hits: 3167
Language: english