When I think of the names of the French progressive rock scene that had an impact on me, I think of; Magma, Ange, Atoll, Shylock, Mona Lisa, Pulsar, and Arachnoid. These bands were like the glue that kept the flow and ebb between the British and German bands in which you have to keep those energy juice’s flowing well like electrical voltages, spiriting inside your veins.
Whether its symphonic, heavy, in your face, chamber, experimental, avant-garde, or what is known as the Rock in Opposition movement, you know things can really crawl up your spine, very quickly. When it comes to the world of Clearlight, you know that you are about to embark on this incredible journey through the mind of pianist and composer Cyrille Veredeaux.
Born in Paris, France on July 31st, 1949, he started to study music sixty-one years ago with composition, harmony, and piano at the French National Conservatory of Music in where he won first place in student composition for three years from 1966 to 1968. However, when the 1968 riots in Paris happened in May of that year due to the student frustrations with archaic, overcrowded universities, and societal discontent, tempers boiling due to president Charles de Gaulle’s strict, conservative rules and authoritarian leadership, Veredeaux was dismissed because of his revolutionary activities.
He then attended the Nice Conservatory which he earned a Masters Diploma. Once returning back to his home country, he formed the group Babylone with guitarist Christian Boule from 1971 to 1973. But it wasn’t until he signed a record deal with Richard Branson’s label Virgin Records which had been home to albums such as Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, Tangerine Dream’s Phaedra, Gong’s You, Robert Wyatt’s Rock Bottom, and Henry Cow’s Unrest to name a few.
Thus, Clearlight was born. This 5-CD set released on the Cherry Red sub-label Esoteric Recordings tackles the band’s five studio albums. Starting with Clearlight Symphony, Forever Blowing Bubbles (two were originally released on the Virgin label), followed by Les Contes Du Singe Fou (Tales of the Mad Monkey) on the Isadora label, Visions on the Celluloid Label, and ending with 2014’s Impressionist Symphony on Gonzo Multimedia.
From the who’s who on this set ranging from King Crimson’s David Cross, The Muffins’ Paul Sears, Lard Free’s Gilbert Artman, Gong’s Tim Blake, Steve Hillage, and Didier Malherbe, Magma’s Didier Lockwood, Zoo’s Ian Bellamy, and Oxygene8’s Linda Cushma to name a few, this set covers the wonders, ambient, surrealism, and out of this world adventures Clearlight has given listeners its mystical voyages upon us.
Listening to this music is like going through a painting brought to life, or set as an alternate soundtrack to Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers. You feel as if you are a part of this incredible journey Verdeaux is taking the listener on its voyage throughout these five albums from the classical concerto-like pianos, into the synths and mellotron in all of its spiritual guidance.
When I think of the other bands and artists who carry the wave of electronic music I think immediately of Pink Floyd (in their early years before Dark Side in the Post-Barrett era when they were an underground band), Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Cluster, CAN, Harmonia, Brian Eno, and NEU. For Clearlight, they fit right underneath that bill and take on a whole other meaning of electronic, ambient, and symphonic structures that would make you want to add this collection in your library.
Don’t take it the wrong way, I admire the work the bands and artists I have mentioned. And I don’t want to forget Steven Wilson, Ultravox, and Devo on that list as well. There’s so much wonders to discover, and let’s face it, Clearlight’s sound embellishes the prog culture and jazz fusion approach that is often under the radar.
Speaking of jazz fusion, the 1978 album Visions was Cyrille’s nod to The Mahavishnu Orchestra. According to the liner notes for this box set on how he described to make the sound of the Visions album; “I wanted this album to bring the music of East and West together more intimately”. It came through not just his love of the band, but to show how he wanted to take it a step further and venturing into the sound of world music.
Going through this set and its centrepieces throughout its listening compositions, you feel as if he’s making his own imaginative movie, brought to life on the silver screen, honoring not just the new Hollywood-era, but his own vision of an adult-animated movie which is quite exuberating and hypnotic in its true form between the worlds of Heavy Metal and Fantastic Planet.
From the classical orientations by revealing the swans, floating into the river on ‘Time is Monet’ to its crazy wackiness of synths going hay-wire for the second movement on Clearlight Symphony which turns into a planetary wonder of mystery with synth birds floating into the blue skies coming across the landscape. But it’s the smoky turned beautiful wonders of the heart of France with its epic boom throughout ‘Renoir En Couleur’ where he shows a vision on the city of love in all of its glory.
When you listen to Lockwood’s violin work behind tracks such as ‘Solilouqe’, ‘Spiral D’Amour’, ‘Messe Caline’, and ‘A Trip to Orient’ on the albums Les Contes and Visions, you get a sense that Didier wants to prove to himself that he was more than just a member of Magma. But on those two albums, he had to find his own independence and gain his own ground to go beyond the Zeuhl sound.
When I think of ‘Et Pendant Ce Temps La’, I immediately thought of Italian maestros Goblin, straight away. Clearlight goes in for the kill, channeling their own approach making their own film scores to the Italian Giallo films in the 1970s while ‘Narcisse et Goldmund’ featuring the wonderful vocals of Brigitte Roy, the Northettes, and David Cross’ violin work sends us into the heavens with its angelic concertos to the spiraling skies.
Whether it moves you or not, you can’t deny that Cyrille is like a filmmaker in disguise when he plays his music and gives us the imaginative structure of his own stories brought to life on the Clearlight albums that is brought to you in its orchestral form. And that’s what he enjoys, bringing the sound in its true nature.
So, sit back in your couch, bed, or bean bag, put on your Sennheiser headphones, plug in into your phone, CD player, or iPod Touch, and let Clearlight’s music speak for itself.
