Member:
Tsevir Leirbag
Date:
7/22/2010
Very few people know about this band whose music is a blend of classical, chamber music with jazz and (sometimes) rock.
ZNR was founded in the mid seventies by Hector Zazou, who was soon rejoined by Joseph Racaille. They could be qualified as the core of the band, as they played the most important role in the compositional process of ZNR's albums, even if they were helped by André Jaume on saxophones, David Rueff on violin and Patrick Portella on clarinets. Louize Alcazar, herself, took care of all the arrangements. ZNR's music, often wrongly labeled as avant-garde even if it should appeal to admirers of the genre, is one of the most accessible band defined as such. Traité de mécanique populaire was released in 1980 on Scopa Invisible label. Pretty much in the same vein as its predecessor, but lead more by classical instruments played by Hector Zazou and Joseph Racaille, this album consists of a collection of short pieces, all of which are directly related to each other.
Zazou and Racaille were both clearly influenced by modern composers, notably Ravel, Debussy and Satie. The impressive compositional level of ZNR's music, often based on counterpoints, polyphony, modality and dissonance contributed to make it as renowned to the lovers of chamber rock as it is. ZNR always achieves to rouse the listener with the touching melancholy of its music. Traité de mécanique populaire is recommended to anyone who likes progressive music with a classical sensibility and a tad bit of jazz thrown in it.
Review written by Gabriel Rivest
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