ART ZOYD - Symphonie Pour Le Jour Où Brûleront Les Cités

"In 1976, a self-released LP by Art Zoyd appeared in Belgian record stores. At the time, nobody knew Symphonie Pour Le Jour Où Brûleront Les Cités (trans. Symphony For The Day Cities Will Burn) would be the first of many albums from this strange chamber progressive rock outfit. All the ingredients of Art Zoyds sound for its first decade are here: unusual acoustic instrumentation for a rock band (violin, cello, piano and trumpet, plus guitar, bass, and percussion), dark and mysterious atmospheres recalling Frances Magma and foretelling Univers Zero (formed by Art Zoyd percussionist Daniel Denis), and complex pieces owing as much to contemporary classical as to progressive rock. The line-up for this first offering included Patricia Dallio (piano), Alain Eckert (guitar, vocals), G_ɬ©rard Hourbette (violin), Jean-Pierre Soarez (trumpet, percussion), and Thierry Zabo_ɬØtzeff (bass, cello, vocals). The album is split into two parts. The first is Symphonie Pour Le Jour O_ɬ_ Br_ɬªleront Les Cit_ɬ©s in three parts: an apocalyptic work opening with mad laughter, a vision of the end of the world with percussion clashing, frenetic violin motifs, and the trumpet from Judgment Day. Part one, Brigades Sp_ɬ©ciales, is the most striking moment of the album. Then comes Deux Images De La Cit_ɬ© Imb_ɬ©cile (trans. Two Pictures Of The Stupid City), two movements leaning more towards some warped chamber rock conception of the burlesque, especially on Sc_ɬ®nes De Carnaval. For a first exposition, Symphonie Pour Le Jour O_ɬ_ Br_ɬªleront Les Cit_ɬ©s was as impressive as could be and earned the band an immediate cult following". -John Bush.