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It’s great to come across new CD releases from progressive
rock bands that manage to capture a feeling, a sound, even
a style from the seventies and yet sound every bit modern
and contemporary. That’s very much the case with the new Ex-Vagus
release entitled Ames Vagabondes. ***
This French five-piece group from Grenoble came into
being in 1995 and with this new CD, their fifth counting the
1999 demo have really captured a special sound. Consisting
of Dominique Barboyon (keyboards), Eric Vedovati (vocals),
Thierry Lesaffre (drums), Loic Consolin (bass) and Xavier
Le-Loupp (guitar) their musical sound is very reminiscent
of the great French bands such as Ange, Atoll and Mona Lisa.
And yet as I mentioned earlier they sound very modern. Perhaps
it’s mostly the vocal style that hearkens back to that theatrical
delivery that is most nostalgic, although there are moments
where they manage to reproduce that same keyboard tone that
Ange was famous for. It’s all mixed in with their own technique
making it a hugely satisfying listen. ***
Clocking in at just over an hours worth of music, there
are eight tracks here ranging in length from five-minutes
to a couple a little over eleven-minutes. The music is very
much in the French theatrical symphonic mode, with the various
changes in time and tempo occurring throughout but mostly
it’s the changes in mood that stand out for me, going from
soft and pastoral to angry and aggressive in a heartbeat.
The stylistic shifts are smooth as silk, demonstrating the
experience Ex-Vagus have gained performing together over the
past decade. The disc has the added bonus of having Christian
Decamps (Ange) providing his own brand of harmony vocals on
the track “Le Cheval des Nebuleuses.” ***
If you are a fan of the bands mentioned or others of
this progressive rock style Ex-Vagus will be a welcome addition
to your library. Ames Vagabondes captures the best of the
classic French progressive rock style with an emphasis on
songs that incorporate melody as well as an over-the-top expressiveness.
Songs such as the eleven-minute “Au Domaine des Trois Collines”
display some infectious guitar playing with a very catchy
hook running through the piece. But actually all the compositions
have a perfect balance between keyboards and guitars all backed
up with a great rhythm section. Ex-Vagus gets high-marks for
creating a truly enjoyable listening experience. I’ve been
recommending it to all my prog friends. ***
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