Les Comptes de Korsakoff - Nos amers (2019)

The Russian surname in the name of this French ensemble in itself attracts attention to it. But believe me, this team is interesting in and of itself. Octet Les Comptes de Korsakoff operates in the city of Chambery, the capital of the Savoie department - this is the south of France in the Alps. The history of the band dates back to 2010, it began as a duet of bassist and vocalist Joffrey Grange and drummer Quentin Lovey. Together they released their first album in 2011, and Karl, who was very well received by the public and critics, appeared already in 2013 with the participation of cellist and lyrics author Marie-Claude Kondamin. The hero of this album, Karl, suffers from a mental illness associated with memory loss, called “Korsakov syndrome”. It seems that this is where the roots of the unusual name of the band lie. Already in the extended line-up Les Comptes de Korsakoff, two more albums were recorded (the last one - in 2016), and here is our first acquaintance with the musicians on the new album Nos Amers.

The heartbreaking screams of Granger in the starting track with the “gentle” name Le Maudit (“Damned”), along with the whole atmosphere of this composition, make us assume something noisy-metallic in the future. But no - after a short Caroussel with a soothing guitar loss, one of the most attractive, for my taste, album compositions sounds: Terminal with a clear rhythm set by the drums, frontman melodeclamation vocals and a very nice duet of brass and piano. The Murmures à l'oreille des monsters sounds interesting, with a noble, accentuated academic sound of the cello, supported by a piano part, which is suddenly interrupted by the guitar and voice, which again turns into a scream in the code. Les Comptes de Korsakoff in general loves sudden turns of development within his compositions. So, Bateau qui coule at first looks like a purely avant-garde experiment with whispers, breathing and jerky sounds of instruments, but then the experiment suddenly turns into a style resembling a cabaret. So, the French can be quite written into postmodernists: they easily and, I must say, convincingly juggle elements of various stylistics — here you can find rock, and new jazz, and academic music — connecting them, sometimes using musical humor, into quite viable and cute . Nos Amers should listen to those who are open to new and unusual.