Replica

Frédéric Leoz - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Michel Gervasoni - guitar
Pierre Choirier - drums
Christian Gendry - bass

Acanthe was a progressive rock band with some psychedelic florishes from the Grenoble region of France. Despite the fact that they toured a lot between 1973 and 1977, when they disbanded, they never released anything during their lifetime!

“Acanthe is one of many lost forgotten prog bands from mid to late '70s who for sure needed a far more recognition and.

“ANUBIS comes within this new trend in French rock influenced at the same time by the "old" French school represented by ANGE, ATOLL, MONA LISA and by current French rock and songs. The group offers a music based on carefully selected vocal harmonies, the singer's high voice and the energetic straightforward themes during which the guitarist plays some very good, original and elaborate solos.”-La Discographie du Rock Français

“Late entry of the classic French Prog movement.Mainly guitar-driven...

"Well written (and very french) symph rock. For this album Booz was helped by three Alice members, bassist Alain Suzan, drummer Alain "Doudou" Weiss and guitarist Paul Semama along with ex-Zoo violin/sax player Michel Ripoche with also Michel Coeuriot on keyboards and William Sheller on piano and arrangements. Starting with a spoken monologue by Booz, the short second track will give an idea for what is going to come with its Zeuhl-ish pounding bass, the dark choirs and the orchestral strings. From this...

A legendary French group that never released an lp in their lifetime, although they recorded a not released album for Tapioca, and whose leader, Dominique Grimaud, later collaborated with Guigou Chenevier of Etron Fou and then founded Video-Aventures!
This recently found tape was recorded live during summer 1975. The formation of the band is different on this tape than their usual 'rock band' lineup, as during this period Camizole were a duo who played only electronic music in the same vein as Klaus...

Reasonably well known and well thought of 'proto-progressive' French album originally recorded in early 1972.

"Ergo Sum is a French progressive rock band based in Aix-En-Provence, led by singer Lionel Ledissez and flute player Jean Guerin. The unique (and highly sought after) album issued by this line-up, "Mexico" (1972), is now reissued and accompanied by a complete biography and bonus tracks. It's still full of the energy and youthfulness of the early Seventies. This music is based on tortured...

Bernard Matthieu (saxes, vocals)
Jo Thirion (organ, piano, trumpet, vocals)
Ferdinand Richard (bass, vocals)
Guigou Chenevier (drums, vocals)

Etron Fou were one of the premier French avant/progressive bands from 1974-1986, & a founding member of Rock In Opposition (R.I.O.). This reissues the Etron's 4th album on vinyl for the first time and their first as a quartet.
This was their first album recorded under really professional conditions with production and guest musical...

This is Etron Fou Leloublan about 9 months after I saw them open up for Henry Cow, performing the material of their soon to be released fantastic 2nd album, Les Trois Fous, at the legendary, first RIO festival, along with Henry Cow, Stormy Six, Univers Zero and Samla Mammas Manna! A slice of history and an amazing performance by Ferdinand Richard (bass, vocals), Guigou Chenevier (drums, vocals) and Francis Grand (sax, vocals). Plus you can finally hear what I heard when I saw them, which is Ferdinand's...

Jean Lars (bass)
Marc Millon (drums, percussion, vibraphone)
Jean-Michel Philippe (acoustic guitar, electric guitar)
Jacques Lars (electric guitar)
René-Marc Bini (keyboards)
Jean-Loup Marlaud (saxophone, clarinet, flute)
Alain Labarsouque (viola)

Ex Vitae were a avant-leaning, experimental, jazz/rock band, who veered between tightly composed sections and synamic group improvisation and who self-released this one album in 1978. The original album is quite rare (I’ve ne

“Originally released in France, in 1978, a unique LP by keyboardist and composer Joël Fajerman (in collaboration with Jan Yrssen) sees its first reissue.
Some of these songs were featured on the soundtrack of 'L'Aventure Des Plantes', one of the first ecological programs on French TV. This is an astonishing album filled with ambient moods, abstract moves, melancholia and beauty.”

“Very nice electronic-prog french release. If you're into Prophet sequences, Korg and Harp Odissey...old electro..

Third & final of the original three Lard Free albums. Lard Free, led by Gilbert Artman, were a legendary, early progressive/avant/electronic instrumental group. Along with Heldon this is as close as the French came to "krautrock". This is probably my personal favorite of all of them, & I like all of them a lot! A classic!

"Chaotic heavy sound like as early German Rock. The original LP was released on Cobra in 1977. Featuring: Gilbert Artman (orgue, piano, arp synthetiseur, vibraphone, drums...

Classic, great, early and wild experimental avant/progressive rock band, led by drummer/composer Gilbert Artman, before he formed Urban Sax. This one has Richard Pinhas on (part of it? all of it? never been quite certain) and there is overlap with the material HE was doing simultaneously with It's Always Rock 'n' Roll. A classic. Beautiful reproduction, including the gatefold sleeve.

"Lard Free's second LP, I'm Around About Midnight, was recorded in Paris in a three day session and released in...

Classic, great, early and wild experimental avant/progressive rock band, led by drummer/composer Gilbert Artman, before he formed Urban Sax. Beautiful reproduction, including the gatefold sleeve.

"The first album by Lard Free, simply titled Gilbert Artman's Lard Free, is released in 1973 on the Vamp label. It has been recorded and mixed in April that year, the recording session taking place for only 36 hours in a London studio. But that's enough time for the band to showcase the adventurous...

"Unnamed is a collection of 1971/1972 Lard Free 'lost' recordings that documents an interesting, primitive period of the band and shows Artman & Co. moving freely in different directions : jazz, noise and the most radical musical improvisation."

Contains a bonus 7" (tracks: A1. "Cuve Perpetuelle"; B1: "A Chacun Son Boulez").

"An excellent album of previously unreleased music from 1971 and 1972. It mixes free jazz and typical early 70's "French freaky-rock to great effect, it's quite...

Denis Barbier – flutes
Pierre-Jean Gidon – tenor & soprano sax
Olivier Hutman – piano, electric piano
Jean-Marie Laumonnier – double bass, electric bass
Jean-Philippe Lobrot – drums
Mino Cinelu – percussion

This is the first time that this one-and-done French jazz rock rarity has ever been reissued in any form!
This is Euro-styled progressive electric jazz; perhaps a bit comparable to Missus Beastly.

“Originally released in 1976, Moravagine (including 3 membe

Claude Menetrier - organ, Moog, Elka string ensemble, piano
Michel Roy - drums, backing vocals
Gerald Reuz - electric & acoustic guitars, lead vocals
Richard Treiber - bass, acoustic guitar

This was the 1975 release by this ‘one and done’ French prog rock band whose release was produced by Ange’s Christian Decamps.
Originally released only in France in 1975. This is its first-ever vinyl reissue since that time!

“The music of Pentacle was theatrical and poetic...

Beautiful, legitimate and fully licensed reissue of a stone classic of wacky, early 80s electro-wave with the fantastic Mark Beyer cover!

Ptose were a great, some Residents inspired electro-band from France in the 70s. This was their only...

One and done progressive rock band from 1978, originally on the Balloon Noir label by a band from Brittany.
This is its first-ever vinyl reissue since that time!
"Ripaille (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards-vocals & keyboards) plays an elaborate progressive rock music, mixing rock, folk and medieval influences. In combinating those styles, the band established an obvious link to both Ange and Gentle Giant. Here you'll find vocal perfection and complexity, truly fine arrangements, and the...

George Jinda - drums
Yochk’o Seffer - wind instruments
Jean-Luis Bucchi - electric piano
Janik Top – electric bass
Shiroc - percussion
+ strings

“Understated French fusion LP that hits all the requisite pleasure centers, once you are already deeply acquainted with the scene.
Side one is an invigorating mix of early Magma and Zao with Janik Top on bass, and in gloriously compressed (i.e. "French") sound. Side Two is more esoteric and atmospheric for most of its length,

“French jazz-rock with a wonderfully laid-back feel to it, some fine strings and lead guitar accompaniment. Weird and groovy music with a difference!
Certainly the most obscure album on the Pole label. I hadn't even heard of it until recently. Featuring a crude black and white cover, it's exactly the sort of album you would expect to find on the FLVM label a few years later. This pre-Falstaff outfit mixed complex progressive rock in the Memoriance / Pulsar vein, along with jazz rock sections and...

Bernard Weber (bass, guitar, sitar)
Anne Gouraud (double bass, vocals)
Xavier Baulleret (guitar)
F. Robert Lloyd (guitar)
Jac Berrocal (trumpet, vocals)
Emiko Ota (percussion, harmonium)
Ménaka de Mahodaya (tambura, dancer)
Frédéric Acquaviva (clarinet, saxophone)

“Another evolution of Urban Sax concept, composed and directed by the visionary composer Gilbert Artman, conceived as a double quintet of talented multi-instrumentalists (featuring Jac Berrocal, Bernard

“Verto (aka Vertø) was chiefly the project of Toulouse (France) based guitarist Jean-Pierre Grasset circa 1974 to '79. Verto involved members of Potemkine in the early days, playing a hybrid of rock fusions close the Zeuhl style. Often Verto would be Monsieur Grasset alone, doing live multi-track work on his guitar with delay/foldback in the vein of Manuel Göttsching or Steve Hillage. Other members included Benoît Widemann (from Magma) and Jean-Pierre Fouquey (from Forgas and later in Magma).”

...

A "Zeuhl supergroup" of sorts, this combined musicians from Magma & Heldon into a heavy progressive band that drew it's initial inspiration from Magma, but had their own sound.

Big names here include Bernard Paganotti, Patrick Gauthier, Michel Ettori, & Jean-Philippe Goude. This 1978 release was sort of the last gasp of first generation French zeuhl, but a great swansong it is!