Porches

Personnel: Raôul Duguay (vocals, trumpet); Jerome Langlois (guitar, clarinet, keyboards); Denis Lapierre (guitar); Peter Schenkman, Albert Pratz, Walter Babiak, Bill Richards (violin); Alain Bergeron (flute, saxophone, keyboards); Vincent Langlois (keyboards, percussion); Gilles Schetagne (drums, percussion); Paul Picard (percussion).
While Maneige's first LP was largely the work of Jérôme Langlois, Les Porches, released only a few month later, sees flutist/saxophonist Alain Bergeron providing most of the writing. Less successful artistically speaking, it takes the good ideas from the previous effort and turns them into excesses. The free/avant-garde vein has been toned down (except for a free coloratura passage in one section of "Les Aventures de Saxinette et Clarophone") and the symphonic blown out of proportion thanks to the addition of a string section. "Les Porches de Notre-Dame" is a 20-minute suite in six parts, all of them featuring virtuoso playing inspired by Bach and Haydn, but lacking in excitement and immediacy. Only the conclusion stands out, turning into a jazz-rock build-up with guest Raôul Duguay (ex-L'Infonie) providing some trademark vocals -- the sole inclusion of such on a Maneige album -- and trumpet. Still, solos are too long and self-indulging. "Les Aventures de Saxinette et Clarophone" (a mix-up between saxophone and clarinet, the main instruments of co-writers Bergeron and Langlois) is better written but lingers on nonetheless. It shows the influence of L'Infonie's "Paix" in its harmonic and rhythmic material. The prize-winning track on this weaker album is "Chromo," an intricate piece of music blending Gentle Giant's arrangements with Henry Cow's challenging harmonies. Here Langlois' playing seems to announce Ambiances Magnétiques' Robert Marcel Lepage; bringing the album to a close, it became the group's last piece to show leanings toward contemporary music. ~ François Couture