I can't really claim that I've met many people in my life who can appreciate both harder music and classical music. It almost seems as if the already well-known "music racism" (like: "My music is way better than yours, dude!") has taken on unimaginable dimensions and is conquering the world in a storm.
"It will be different for me," I thought to myself somewhat aloud and decided to also engage a bit with other directions. It should be crowned with success: I have already stumbled upon one or two gems outside my favorite genres... but I also had to deal with some less enjoyable pieces. Where will the artist Dominique Pifarély fall, who also lies outside my usual musical framework?
At this point, it should not go unmentioned that not only the mentioned artist but also nine other musicians are involved under the name "Ensemble Dedales".
Music virtuosos or students can rejoice at this point: The combo hailing from France serves the listener a substantial chunk that can primarily be defined as classical or jazz: uneven time signatures, a multitude of different instruments, and a structure that is almost impossible to discern characterize "Time Geography". That in itself would not be a problem, were it not for a small issue: The pieces are partly damn long. The songs range between at least 6 and a maximum of 19 (!) minutes and are sometimes more hectic than a huge department store during Christmas time. This overload of instruments, various playing styles, and odd time signatures leads the previously inclined listener to suspect that one has set their own offspring to work and pressed the "record" button. One can thus look forward to a kind of "mash" that mixes everything together and does not allow for clear thoughts on the matter. One is therefore more occupied with just trying to "keep up" rather than enjoying the output.
Musically aesthetic is thus something different, but in its own way still very fascinating. However, the fascination dies after just a few minutes, which, given the aforementioned runtime, almost seems like a predetermined fate. It's a shame, as the brevity could have really added spice, because the music itself is not bad. I can really imagine that the instrumental music backdrop would have fit very well with films or series that have plenty of drama and emotion.
The first song "Ordinary Chaos," for example, would have fit very well in a kind of crime story, while the beginning of "Per Angusta" would wonderfully authentically suit a classic horror flick. One can see: The essence of the artists from France gives ample reason to assume that we are dealing with a beautiful piece of music that, unfortunately, in its elaboration and length, misses out on quite a bit of potential.
However, those who are patient and can imagine nothing better than odd time signatures and "everything at once" should be floating in paradise here. For me personally, though - and this, despite the fact that I actually like to have something to "nibble" on - it is too much.
