Delired Cameleon Family - "Delired Cameleon Family " {FRA} [1974] @160 (Spaced-Out Tour de Force)

ATTENTION FANS OF CYRILLE VERDEAUX, CLEARLIGHT & FAMILY.

I'm really excited to post this album, i discovered this album a little time ago and I can't imagine why i haven't met before. It's like hearing Legendary Pink Dots in 1974, truly amazing.

Jerry Kranitz described this album:

"In 1975 Cyrille Verdeaux composed and recorded the musical score to the film Visa De Censure # X by directory Pierre Clementi, and the soundtrack album was released by EMI Records as Delired Cameleon Family. (In an earlier interview Verdeaux described the film as "an Andy Warhol type of weird movie".) The album a lineup of over a dozen musicians, among them Boulé, Blake, and bassist Joël Dugrenot (Zao). I'm unfamiliar with the others but a quote from Verdeaux in the liner notes helps to explain not only the expanded number of musicians but the resulting music as well:

"The record was done in 4 days of improvisation and spontaneous happenings, because the studio was packed with musicians mainly loaded with Hashish and LSD. Most of them were not invited but spontaneously went to the studio because they had heard the street Tam-tam say that a very unusual and free-based jam session was happening in Pathe Marconi's studios".

Psychedelia is the order of the day as the album begins with "Raganesh", which includes Eastern tabla percussion, droning sitar sounds, and trippy dual guitar leads that jam in a freeform paisley colored stew. Space synths soar about like a meteor shower, raining cosmic chaos on the ensemble. On "Weird Ceremony", Verdeaux's piano leads with a slow melody as the space synths spread ocean waves across the backdrop and howling choral vocals lend an eerie feel to the atmosphere. "La Fin Du Début" is an odd track. It's basically a duet of Verdeaux on piano and a female vocalist singing a folk-like tune. But the space synths are apparent in the background so as not to lose the cosmic element that's been built on the prior tracks.

But the strongest music is yet to come. "Le Boeuf" is a psychedelic fusion jam, somewhat reminiscent of the 2nd Movement on Clearlight Symphony. Piano and drums set the pace as guitar and sax trade licks. And the later part of the track gives strong impressions of Soft Machine. "Novavanna" is even more fusion á la Soft Machine, but more on the trippy side. The guitar solos along setting a nice groove against which the full band slowly starts to build in volume and intensity. The song is 13 minutes in length but is essentially two tracks as the first clearly comes to an end after 5 minutes. The next segment is still firmly in jazz territory but aggressive drumming and a pounding bass on this part give the music a heavier edge and a more solid groove that expands nicely on the first section of the song. The feel is even more freeform as Verdeaux's piano becomes quite manic and the synths are equally so, though giving a playful Sun Ra feel to the music. For the last couple minutes a gruff but soulful male vocalist demands tea and tequila. "Ananta" winds up the set, bearing strong similarities to a potent Gong space jam, but includes traces of Magma bass-heavy intensity.

For a recording of 'improvisation and spontaneous happenings' that included uninvited musicians these last three tracks in particular are remarkably inspired. Together with Clearlight Symphony, Delired Cameleon Family provides varied insights into Cyrille Verdeaux's world, a world which calls for further investigation into music that is sure to please a variety of fans of early 70's progressive rock, fusion, and psychedelia."

I would like to know your opinions, go ahead... is DCF better than the regular Clearlight Records, or is just a Verdeaux sideproject with no truly importance?

Keep Listening!

Links in comments

Delired Cameleon Family-Raganesh