And now we come to the one band of my top seven about whom I had not previously done a recommendations post, an oversight I shall now be correcting with great pleasure. Because, O Internets, it’s now time for me to enthuse about Genticorum!
You’ve seen me post about these boys already, how I got a flute lesson from Alexandre and then got to see them perform live and then got to go to a house party they were at. You’ve seen me review their new live album. And if you’ve been reading my various tunes posts, you know I’ve got several Genticorum instrumentals queued up on the list of Stuff I Want to Learn How to Play.
Because yeah, I love me some fiddle players and all, but Genticorum? They’ve got the flute player. The one who makes the noises I can actually best try to make myself. The one who’s personally taught me tunes. They’ve also got the guitar player who contributed to my Kickstarter! These things are Important and means I can attest that not only are these guys all great musicians, they’re great people as well and you should buy every one of their albums. 😀
Wait, you want me to get specific? Okaaaaaaay fine. As you might guess from my review link I adore the new live album and do heartily recommend it, if nothing else for the KILL ANNA DED WITH HARMONY wonderfulness that is “La rouillette”, which is not currently available on any of the studio albums they’ve put out. But if you want to go studio, go Nagez Rameurs. Partly because not all of Genticorum’s discography is easily available to US customers–only the last three albums are available for MP3 purchase on iTunes and Amazon. But partly also because Nagez Rameurs has some assistance in the credits from none other than Le Vent du Nord’s Olivier Demers, and if you’ve been paying attention to my blog for more than five minutes running, you know that particular gentleman has already won from me the title of Best Fiddle Player Ever. So I have to endorse purchase of anything he had any involvement in whatsoever. (My musical favoritism, let me show you it!)
ETA: All this said, I listened to La bibournoise on the way home tonight and there’s a lot of strong stuff on that album, too. So if you like Nagez rameurs, by all means, get this one too! My preference for Nagez rameurs is only in degrees of awesome–because trust me, both these albums are highly enjoyable.
Favorite Genticorum tracks, off the top of my head:
“La rouilette”: As previously mentioned, for KILL ANNA DED WITH HARMONY wonderfulness. Note: the Genticorum boys skew higher on their ranges, so they’ve got tight, sweet harmony rather than thunder-rumbling low harmony, but that’s absolutely okay as far as I’m concerned
“La chasse”: Big lively number on the live album, also has a strong studio version on their first album, Le Galarneau (but that one’s hard to find, so if you want to hear this song, get the live album)
“Genticorum”: Self-titled song, also from Le Galarneau, but which has some great harmony and call and response in it
“Turlutte Hirsute”: On Nagez Rameurs, fun juxtaposition of turluttes and instrumentals
“Valse de Poeles”: Also on Nagez Rameurs, a slower instrumental. I can play this one! 😀 The backstory on this one in concert is fun, as the boys tell the story of how this one was written when they had to move some stoves
“Violon Guerisseur”: Yet again, on Nagez Rameurs, an excellent instrumental set
And here, have some videos so you can actually see and hear these boys in action! The La rouilette goodness (can’t embed this one, so I’m linking to it)! And here, here’s “Brandy culotte”, which appears on the album La Bibournoise:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnjxIAmdhw8?hl=en_US&version=3&w=560&h=315]
ETA: This just in–here’s another video, straight from Genticorum themselves! This is the first of three from the same concert that Enregistré Live is from, the tune “La Finno Gaspésienne”, which is definitely one of my repeat tracks from the album.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjdipdT_Mv8?version=3&hl=en_US&w=420&h=315]
Lastly, I must give a shoutout to Alexandre’s other musical project, which is the band Mélisande, led by his wife, and who I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing perform. Mélisande is a splendid singer and she and Alexandre are assembling what promises to be a good strong band on the new album they’re putting together. They’ve got a bit more contemporary feel going on with their music, so do consider checking them out too!