Amonite - 1979 - Première (full album)

Folk Rock band, for which little is known. Amonite came from France and consisted of Dominique Meslier on flutes, guitars and voices, Didier Dubreuil on guitars, psaltery and drums, Thierry Chatry on metallophone and Jean-Pierre Sandillon on piano, organ, and flute. They recorded their debut ''Premiere-Folk evolutif'' somewhere in Poitiers, but apparently no date was printed on the album.This was a private release, which some critics place it around 1979, with a fifth member appearing on the front cover, reputedly it was the band's producer Michel Demily.Soundwise this rare LP is deeply grounded in Folk Rock territories with a strange, fairytale atmosphere and lots of sensitive, romantic passages with poetic French lyrics.However the album has little to do with Breton Folk movement, having often a singer/singwriter atmosphere, based on acoustic guitars, piano and an intense lyricism.The few narrations, surrounded by drums and piano often remind the folkier and more emotional side of Ange.The lack of significant electric passages though grounds Amonite's album strongly on the Folk fields.While the mood is quite sensitive, the music is very much laid-back with no true dynamics and the pastoral passages often sound too minimalistic.The longer cut ''Elles?'' is definitely an accomplished composition, featuring Ange-like dramatic organs with a smooth electric solo after the middle, while the constant presence of Psych-tinged drumming and the deep voice of Meslier make this one a beautiful piece of Progressive Folk Rock.Unfortunately the rest of the album is good but not fully convincing with a few adventurous and captivating moments.There is no need to say this was the only release of Amonite, moreover all of the members are yet to be indicated in any further music developments.Their producer Michel Demily appeared many years later as the sound engineer of Taal on their ''Mister Green'' album.

Musicians
Didier Dubreuil - guitars, psaltery and drums
Thierry Chatry - metallophone
Jean-Pierre Sandillon - piano, organ, and flute

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