Turzi-A

The French may have contributed a lot of great music to the world, but generally one thing they've left little mark on is Rock. Yes yes, once in a while a legitimate rock band comes out of France like Metal Urbain but this is rare. And there are always synths involved. The French are more about dancin' (Daft Punk), beard scratchin' (Jean Michel Jarre) and lovin' (Serge Gainsbourgh) than rockin'. Which leads us to Turrzi. Turzi is described by their label as French Modern Psychedelic Music. They are a real rock band with guitar, bass, and percussion. That being said some of the guitars are synthesized, and there are also keyboards and something called a potentiometer. Don't ask me what that is, i'm not a tech head.

I heard about these guys last year and they seemed mildly interesting. I finally picked up the record and was amazed how really great it is. At first I dismissed the "Psychedelic" tag but it is pretty appropriate. They mix up traditional rock stylings with more Electronic/Avant-Garde bits & pieces. It's a cohesive record and it...well...rocks. Another aspect of their sound is a definite Krautrock motorik-type rhythm straight out of the Neu! songbook. I love how propulsive this makes some of the tracks like A Notre Pere and Atilla Blues. Oh yeah, and all the song titles start with the letter A so i'm sure this is some sort of a concept record. Typical artsy French!

I think I enjoy this record so much because it's Art-Rock but it still has the "oomph" of Trad Rock, which is something a lot of more Avant-Rock forgets. I think this would be a really good record to drive around in late at night. Amadeus just pulses with energy. Throbs really. There's also a definite Kraftwerk influence as well, but that can be said about 99% of the last thirty years of Electronic music. So check Turzi out, this is a band who mixes Art, Dance, Rock, Pscyh, Krautrock and more into a really compelling listenable record. I can't wait for B.