Jazz Archives

James once again made an acurate description of the music and maybe the difference in rating might be due to the french singing on this album. Actually quite different than other Quebecois band but just as incisive in contents ( lyrics ) , here the singing is of crystal- clear French without the typically local accent and it is refreshing, but it does take some mastering of the languages to fully grasp how good this album is . Those texts on top of it are politically engaged , mind-challenging , thought-provoking , environementally-conscious and socially oriented . The music is accompanying such superb vocals and texts is in the same vein : Food for thoughts. Just like your cereal breakfast (and just as indispensible as that first meal ) it just crackles , snaps and rocks (it does not pop ) and will nourish your body and feed your brains so well that even your asshole boss cannot screw-up your day. If I must point out to other band , I would say fellow Quebecois Maneige with vocals , and sometimes G Giant and also Canterbury.
In short , this is another real gem from that part of the world , up there with Harmonium , Et Cetera , Sloche and Maneige. Mosts of the numbers present long instrumental passages only slightly interrupted by very on-the-dot lyrics ( Les Saigneurs instead of Seigneurs). The title says it all Contre Courant - against the flow (mainstream).

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

Opus-5 - Contre Courant (1974)

1. Le temps des Pissenlits (9:09)
2. Il etait Magicien (11:44)
3. Les Saigneurs (9:22)
4. Le Bal (5:41)
5. Contre Courant (3:54)

Credits
- Olivier Duplessis / keyboards, vocals
- Luc Gauthier / guitar, vocals
- Serge Nolet / flute, vocals
- Christian Leon Racine / bass, vocals
- Jean-Pierre Racicot / vocals, percussion