Evohé. 1981 France (archival)

Evohé were a band from Toulouse who were active from the mid 70s until the early 80s. Their brand of music is decidedly right at the heart of the Zeuhl movement. While Magma is credited with the creation of the genre, it wasn't until the late 70s that the followers began to accumulate. Evohé never managed to release anything in their day, and were completely forgotten until recent times. These notes apply to the LP release (CD will be under its own entry). What separates Evohé from just about every other Zeuhl band is that they are entirely instrumental. Vocals are a key ingredient to the genre, and yet they aren't completely missed here. There's quite a bit of guitar soloing which is another departure from the norm. The sound quality is good, but certainly not great and lacks the punch the genre often calls for. In listening to the album I was struggling for comparison, as they don't sound like any of the big names of the genre like Magma, Eskaton, Eider Stellaire, Zao, or Weidorje. And yet there are elements of all the above. The closest I could come to was a wordless Pseu, yet another early 80s archival release from modern times. So high praise indeed. For fans of Zeuhl, this one is an easy recommendation. If looking to venture into this peculiar alien world for the first time, don't start here.

Ownership: LP+CD: 2018 Vapeur Mauve. Oh man, what a mess. This is already the second copy I bought, and it just came out! Why you ask? Well the first one was the US press on Music Research Library. It wasn't until after I purchased the album that I realized there was a French press too. By itself, that's not a problem. But the differences are profound. The US press is a single sleeve, a different cover, with relatively lesser sound, and a single small sheet of recording info. That's it. The French press is a lavish gatefold (incidentally the logo here reminds me some of the first Vortex album) with photos and news clips within the center, the sound is slightly better - and it comes with a 45 minute CD that is entirely different than what is found on the LP proper. It has also come to light that the US issue was not authorized for an LP pressing, but rather strictly for download purposes. Like I said - a mess. I'm going to give my US brethren the benefit of the doubt, as these things can get complicated and miscommunication is common. Forgetting the legalities, the French press is far superior, and I feel duped that I was sold the US one at all. Oh well...

These notes apply to the CD only. See my review in the main entry for context on Evohé's overall sound. What we have here is a 43 minute extended version of what is found on the LP. I heard them back to back and I wasn't even sure they were the same song. I'm sure if I focused tighter, the primary themes would emerge. Or maybe they wouldn't. This is a very interesting document, because it represents a combination I hadn't heard before: Zeuhl meets free rock. Which is something of an oxymoron if you think about it. The rigid martial rhythms juxtaposed against the guitarist who is just wailing in atonal Sonny Sharrock mode here. I'm not even sure the guitarist knows what he's doing, but in some ways it doesn't matter. It's the overall sound that remains fascinating. Definitely makes a great supplement to the LP. But on its own? No.

What a mess, part 2. See comments in Personal Collection above for further detail. In this case, we aim our arrows at the French company. The LP+CD is perfect, so for this they are to be commended. Then one finds out they released the CD on its own - with only the elongated track. What? That makes no sense and lacks context. There's no reason they couldn't have released it all on one CD. There's plenty of time. Or even if they had to shave off a few seconds, no one would notice or miss it. 

Boy did they bungle this all up.

2/1/19