Sub Rosa 
Wild Classical Music Ensemble : Musics in the margin (B,2009)***°'
I need to mention this rather special release from this band with artistic mentor Damien Magnette (drums, bass, flute, licambe) playing together with 4-6 mentally retarded musicians (on guitar, sampler, trombone, violin, keyboards, melodica, trumpet, vacuum cleaner pipe didgeridoo and vocals). I have noticed before that with the right mentor and provided circumstances that make a certain concentration possible, mentally retarted people are able to make artistically strong visual art to start with, from a much more “real” level compared to pop art for instance, and more arranged than any Dadaism or noism. This release shows that it seems that also in music format their outsider’s constructive spontaneity, of created patterns, sounds, melodies, harmonies and expressions aren’t too different from any other honest and well concentrated artist or band : the same sort of elements build up in layers and sections together, honestly and with full awareness and with no note too much. Also nowhere is there blurriness or any repetition. The style switches from concentrated sound-sensitive avant-garde, meditative at times, free music over heavier near-punkrock elements (with great rhythms of course, structuring the spontaneity), of nearly (outsider’s) psychedelica, to new classical polyphony in vocals (!!!), adding strange lyrics (with an occasional “rien de rien” from Brel in an honest, convincing but absolutely odd voice-as-an-instrument version). The music remains well constructed the whole time and thrills even, after the first few tracks, from start to finish.
A great one ! Fans of avant-psych : you will be amazed.
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