In rock terms, 1976 is sometimes synopsized as the year before sweet musical hell broke loose, but in more progressive realms plentiful events were transpiring. For one example, there’s the debut album by the French duo ZNR. Notable for the use of synthesizers, multilingual and theatrical vocals, and borrowings from classical, jazz, rock, and the avant-garde, it’s a lovely thing to hear, and part of its appeal is that it isn’t easily pinned down. An enticing facet is the illustration in the gatefold design by Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart); Barricade 3 is available now on LP through Superior Viaduct.
Preceding ZNR, Hector Zazou and Joseph Racaille were in Barricade, a group formed in the latter portion of the 1960s. Based on the tracks I’ve heard Barricade was a potent mix of psychedelia, experimentation, and heaviness; a tad similar to Amon Düül II, Beefheart was also an influence. The 2005 CD Le Rire Des Camisoles on Futura compiles performance output from ’69 to ’74, but it doesn’t appear easy to find these days.
The subsequent activity of Zazou and Racaille (or ZNR for short) is much easier to hear, in part due to ZNR’s inclusion on the deservedly ballyhooed Nurse with Wound list, an assembly of names inserted in copies of Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella, Nurse with Wound’s ’79 debut; expanded lists were placed in To the Quiet Men from a Tiny Girl, their follow-up from 1980.
Compiling an avalanche of outsider sound in an era when tracking down many of the entries was a certifiable pain in the ass, a few were so obscure it was wrongly assumed (and mischievously fabricated by Nurse with Wound’s Steven Stapleton) that some were indeed fake. The list has long served as a buyer’s guide/checklist for a diligent subset of discerning experimental/underground collector.
Zazou and Racaille’s core is augmented by a handful of contributors as Barricade 3 (initially on the Isadora label) is noted for the use of the analogue VCS 3 and ARP 2600 synths. “Droumier Assai Per S’Amourousis D’Un Moustre” quickly validates the influence of French pianist-composer Erik Satie, the first of the cut’s succinct halves unfurling quietly; if a demanding (though not especially difficult) listen, the LP is only intermittently disruptive, even when Patrick Portella’s clarinet and André Jaume’s soprano sax enter for the second part.
Brevity informs much of Barricade 3; deflating the stereotype of experimental excess, “Trop De Douceur Ou Les Trois Soueurs: 2e Soeur” elapses in less than a minute, just enough time to establish a Modernist classical aura through Portella’s bass clarinet and David Rueff’s alto viola. Adding a wrinkle is “L’Armoire,” which opens with Zazou on VCS 3 in combo with a sprightly piano and voice miniature by Racaille.
The VCS 3 sticks around for “Le Grand Compositeur Vu De Dos” a lengthier segmented piece with Zazou’s interjections in French (Spanish and English also arise throughout the platter) as Racaille offers copious piano; Portella’s rough-edged bass clarinet lends a touch of skronk. It sets the stage for “La Pointe De Tes Seins Est Comme Un Petale De Pavot,” the nine minute suite unwinding near-pop-hued electric keyboard interlaced with Jaume’s soprano and culminating with an attractive guitar excursion courtesy of ex-Barricade cohort Harvey Néneux.
Featuring bass, Fernand D’Arles’ drums, keyboard, Gilly Bell’s ARP 2600 and an arrangement by Louise Alcazar, “Solo Un Dia” strikes these ears a bit like a French version of the unit responsible for God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It; in other words, a total treat. Then Portella and Jaume return to help end the side with the wily avant-prog-jazz merger of “La Vieio Mostro: Part II.”
The flip begins with “Espelisoun D’Uno Ribambello D’Evenimen Espetaclous Valentin Bilot,” a concise trio for piano, VCS 3, and raucous splatter outbursts of Jaume’s tenor. From there, the use of both synths offsets the regality of Zazou’s writing and Racaille’s arrangement during “Armistice Couronne De Feullages.”
The distinct tone of the electric keys on “Le Grand Compositeur Vu De Face” can’t help conjuring thoughts of a smoky, near deserted mid-‘70s lounge, but it gradually gathers an avant shade through the ARP and bass clarinet. Next is the sterling artiness of “Seynete,” the serrated edge of Zazou’s vocodered voice reminiscent of the computer in Jean-Luc Godard’s sci-fi masterpiece of ’65 Alphaville.
With just ARP, violin, and piano, the slow drift of “Editioun Especialo D’Uno Grino De Jardin” delivers Barricade 3 its prettiest moments. The album then shifts into low gear as it presents a pair of solo spots, first Racaille’s piano, vocals, and synths on the introspective (even with a language barrier) “Annie La Telie,” and secondly the resonating electronics and keyboard of “Naive Description De La Formation.” Closing the LP is the wiggly retro-futuristic fanfare of “Avril En Suede,” a composition by Gilly Bell; she also recorded the set in her studio.
Albeit on the fringes, ZNR exists as an exponent of a ‘70s Euro scene that spawned such major figures as Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers, and as stated in Superior Viaduct’s promo text Barricade 3 is even fleetingly comparable to the Soft Machine vets. And through the employment of early tech, the work of Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley receives a wholly appropriate mention.
Just as importantly, ZNR foreshadowed interesting developments to come. Specifically, I hear similarities to the Los Angeles Free Music Society; furthermore, there’s the late-‘70s emergence of Rock in Opposition and by extension much of the discography shaping Recommended Records. Unsurprisingly, ZNR and the label founded in ’78 by Chris Cutler of RIO bands Henry Cow and Art Bears have prior history. In fact, Barricade 3 is available digitally from RēR Megacorp as of this writing.
In ’83 Racaille issued Les Flots Bleus, a split record with Portella for Recommended. Aside from a selection on the 2CD anniversary edition of The Recommended Sampler 1982, the 45 RPM LP seems to be out of print. Racaille released other material post-ZNR (the duo’s second effort Traité De Mécanique Populaire came out on Scopa Invisible in ’79) but Zazou (who passed in 2008) was the far more prolific of the two.
A glorious mess of music bears his name as composer including a bunch of stuff on Crammed Discs; along the way he collaborated with Harold Budd, Barbara Gogan, Mark Isham, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Björk, and many others. However, Barricade 3 is more than a mere cultish footnote to a long, distinguished career; playful but not mannered, eccentric yet organic, ZNR’s debut is damned good listening.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
