Thursday, April 15, 2010

MARC MOULIN-SAM SUFFY, LP, 1975, BELGIUM


The musical metamorphosis of Belgian keyboardist Marc Moulin (who sadly died a few years back) is certainly a dramatic enough story, having managed over the course of the 70's to completely transform himself from stalwart jazz rock icon via his sublime Canterbury-derived work in Placebo to progenitor of Belgium's Man Machine future via his work as half of Kraftwerk-ian technopop avatars Telex. Outside of Placebo, Sam Suffy was Moulin's prime contribution to the jazz rock canon and also a final hurrah for the form he was soon to abandon in favor of a candy colored synthetic future. Awash in the sorta hazy rhodes and string synth flows that marked his work in Placebo, side A is mostly absent the Nucleus-derived horns that defined so much of that band's vibe, the focus instead being directed toward Moulin's keys, with some of the vamping here taking a decided turn toward the greasily funky. The significantly larger horn factor on the side-long Tohu-Bohu suite that occupies side B (in the person of ex-Placebo member Richard Rousselet) briefly corrals this back into more familiar zone, but this track quickly zig-zags into it's own distinct territory, as extended washes of vaporous keys intermix with outbursts of intensive Miles-like trumpet work, location recordings and sound effects for a supremely heady brew.

Get it via Rapidshare here

4 comments:

dfbm said...

hello, I am searching for a tape from around 1995 by Mount Elephant.
Maybe this was a german project but I am not sure.
Find here 2 tracks I got on a mixtape. Hope someone can help me. Thanks!

senor pocopico said...

Nice guy - Placebo were so cool. Last decade he was a litlle mediocore, playing Nu-jazz. thanx for the post Νάσαι καλά για όλη την δουλειά

Théo Equis said...

hey, hi.
i just downloaded this. but it says track 6 is damaged (?)

Hanimex 3000 said...

Glad to see this blog is still active, after all these posts...

Though non-virtuoso, Moulin had spectacularly improved his playing on 'Sam Suffy' compared to the very first Placebo record. Standout track here : "le beau galop", with its insane groovy synth-bassline. Stuck in my head forever I think.

Also, it's always a pleasure to read such well-crafted chronicles. May other bloggers find their inspiration by wandering here

NewBell