Jean-Claude Vannier - La bête noire/Paris n'existe pas '2022

Tracks list

       From deep in the vaults of the Parisian composer who arguably created the
stylistic blueprint for decades of orchestral French funk and symphonic
psychedelia, “the arranger’s arranger” Jean-Claude Vannier
(Histoire de Melody Nelson/L’enfant assassin des mouches) finally
liberates two previously unreleased and fabled film soundtracks that mark
significant milestones in the career of this legendary composer and his close
connection to the French free jazz scene. Comprised on this one vinyl disc you
will find the only existing original historic recordings to his first ever 1968
collaboration with serge Gainsbourg as well as the entire lost musical score for
Vannier’s first major star-studded solo film commission which followed
the Gainsbourg years and a fruitful decade as one of France’s most
in-demand arrangers and songwriters. These two scores, for Vannier’s oft
type-cast commissions for “drugsploitation” dramas (Cannabis, La
horse), are further united by their inclusion of sax player Philippe Maté and
the early formation of Vannier’s own Insolitudes ensemble. As long-time
custodians Finders Keepers Records are proud to present both the hallucinogenic
orchestral music to Robert Benayoun’s Paris n’existe pas and the
rhythmic onslaught and cyclic waltzes from Patrick Chaput’s La bête
noire complete with an extensive booklet of essays, interviews, secrets and rare
images from both of these mythical cinematic obscurities.

LA BÊTE NOIRE

From the furious pen of controversial author Jean-Pierre Bastid (Let The Corpses
Tan/Massacre Of Pleasure) and directed by one-time realisateur Patrick Chaput
the gritty street crime thriller precedes the likes of La haine. Revealing
itself to be one of Jean-Claude Vannier’s most unique scores these
previously unreleased studio master tapes capture self-styled batucadas and
furious rhythm tracks next to frenzied carousel waltzes free from the stylistic
time-stamp of their 1983 recording date. Having spent four decades trapped in
muddy memories (and condemned to the phantom zone of a run of ultra-rare VHS
cassettes) these experimental recordings remain independent from the pop and
rock idiom and are both timeless as well as ground-breaking due to the
deployment of key players from the French free jazz scene and the reunion of
Vannier’s long standing Insolitudes (a unit that to some degree bears
comparison to that of Ennio Morricone’s Gruppo D’Improvvisazione
Nuova Consonanza). Showcasing a crack team of Palm/Futura/Actuel/Saravah label
regulars such as saxophonist Philippe Maté (Acting
Trio/Maté-Vallancien/Tacet) alongside drummer Bernard Lubat (Mad Ducks),
legendary Arpadys/Voyage rhythm masters Marc Chantereau and Pierre-Alain Dahan
(La Horse/Brutus Drums) and session legend Michel Zanlonghi (Ensemble De
Percussion De Paris) this thunderous, tumultuous, four-headed rhythm hydra
bridges an authentic gap between The Jef Gilson Group and France’s
signature “cosmic” revolution. Naturally these previously unheard
compositions, rhythms and sound design experiments are spearheaded by lead
pianist and composer Vannier providing devotees of his 1972 concept album
L’enfant assassin des mouches with much to admire and cross-reference.

PARIS N’EXISTE PAS

Previously the subject of biographical rock history, archival documentaries and
cruel bootlegging opportunity, the official mastertapes to Jean-Claude
Vannier’s first ever studio date with Serge Gainsbourg poetically mirrors
the title of the film… They didn’t exist, until now. Culled from
reference recordings, rehearsals, playback tapes and work-in-progress TV
magazine features, all found in the darkest corners of Vannier’s tightly
guarded sound library, Finders Keepers in close collaboration with Jean-Claude
finally presents the genuine hallucinogenic orchestral and experimental sound
design recordings that appeared on the 1968 film Paris n’existe pas. The
darker experimental tones within the film’s (overly) cautionary tale
(complete with ghost story eeriness) would require a future-proofed soundtrack
to span the plot’s apparitional time-shifts. The brooding orchestrations
and experimental music found on this record comes complete with interjections of
modern jazz courtesy of French free jazz mainstays Philippe Maté (Jef
Gilson/Acting Trio) and Jean-Louis Chautemps (Jef Gilson Group/Janko
Nilovic’s Giant). With the help of an esteemed string ensemble Vannier
also lays down an early orchestral blueprint for his own
“approximately-Orient” signature sound in its earliest naked form
just three years before Histoire de Melody Nelson would cause widespread
controversy on its release. Complete with well documented forays into sound
design as a young Jean Claude and Serge “explore” the carcass of a
piano with screwdrivers and cigarette lighters this album captures the exact
“eureka” moment that cemented this seminal partnership thus forcing
an important kink in the natural course of European music for decades to come. 

Tracklist:

La bête noire
1 01. Jean-Claude Vannier - La bête noire (Intro) (00:33)
1 02. Jean-Claude Vannier - Chasser la bête noire (02:36)
1 03. Jean-Claude Vannier - Histoire de Daniel (01:28)
1 04. Jean-Claude Vannier - The Black Beast (Effets Cords) (00:45)
1 05. Jean-Claude Vannier - Rythme de la bête noire (02:46)
1 06. Jean-Claude Vannier - Danse de la bête noire (03:32)
1 07. Jean-Claude Vannier - Le dealer (01:42)
1 08. Jean-Claude Vannier - Karen/Antonia (00:59)
1 09. Jean-Claude Vannier - The Black Beast 2 (Effets Cords) (00:25)
1 10. Jean-Claude Vannier - The Writer/Yves (01:14)
1 11. Jean-Claude Vannier - Chasser bête noire (Revenir) (01:16)
1 12. Jean-Claude Vannier - The Juvenile Judge (01:04)
1 13. Jean-Claude Vannier - La bête noire (Generique) (03:44)

Paris n'existe pas
1 01. Jean-Claude Vannier - Paris n'existe pas (Opening Titles) (02:09)
1 02. Jean-Claude Vannier - Angela en ambré (01:33)
1 03. Jean-Claude Vannier - Télékinésie en turquoise (00:38)
1 04. Jean-Claude Vannier - Simon Slips (01:00)
1 05. Jean-Claude Vannier - La chambre rose (01:43)
1 06. Jean-Claude Vannier - Fantôme félicienne (02:40)
1 07. Jean-Claude Vannier - Le feu (00:59)
1 08. Jean-Claude Vannier - La tête (00:18)
1 09. Jean-Claude Vannier - Les chemins n'existent pas (01:01)
1 10. Jean-Claude Vannier - Fantôme soirée (01:09)
1 11. Jean-Claude Vannier - Le temps passe (00:56)
1 12. Jean-Claude Vannier - Flipbook (00:58)
1 13. Jean-Claude Vannier - Fantôme soiree (Outtake) (01:11)
1 14. Jean-Claude Vannier - Flipbook (Outtake) (01:19) 

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