Les Cinq Saisons [Import]

This somewhat obscure 1975 album by Harmonium certainly ranks very highly amongst proggers. In fact, the ProgArchives website places Si on avait Besoin du'une Cinquieme Saison (If one needed a fifth season) fairly high up on the list of the 100 most popular prog albums (as designated on their website). This album is simply wonderful and presents a nice blend of folk, progressive rock, some jazz, and even a tiny hint of bluegrass - it has inspired me to explore the Quebec scene further; a scene I should be a bit more familiar with than I am.

The lineup on this album includes Serge Fiori (6 and 12 string acoustic guitars; flute; mandolin; zither harp; percussion; vocals); Michael Normandeau (6 string acoustic guitar; accordion; dulcimer; and vocals); Luis Valois (Rickenbacker electric bass guitar; electric piano; and vocals); Pierre Daigneault (flute; piccolo; soprano saxophone; clarinet; bass clarinet; and Serge Locat (grand piano; electric piano; mellotron; synthesizers). Supporting musicians include Judy Richard (vocalese on on Histoires sans Paroles); and Marie Bernard (martenot on En Pleine Face). The martenot was a new instrument for me so I dug up a few internet factoids and found that it is an early electronic instrument with a keyboard and slide, which was invented in 1928 (by Maurice Martenot). The sound is very similar to that of the Theremin - as it is used on this album, the instrument produces some supremely eerie, oscillating tones at the introduction to En Pleine Face. Conspicuous in its absence on this album is the drum kit - a welcome change of pace in my opinion. The effect (for me at any rate) was to make me focus more on the dense arrangements and lush cushion of warm tone colors generated with the acoustic guitar and mellotron (with string setting). The vocals (in French) are very, very nice and work well with the material.

The five tracks on this album range in length from 3:26 to the epic, 17:12 Histoires sans Paroles suite and all exhibit soft acoustic textures with an almost folky ambiance - in fact, it is only the bass guitar that lends a "rock" element to this music. These guys really spent a lot of time on arrangements, melodies, and harmonies and trust me, it shows. There is a surprisingly wide range of musical influences on this album, ranging from the softer, folkier end of progressive rock in the style of the quieter moments of Renaissance, PFM, and also Anthony Phillips, to tiny snippets of bluegrass inflected jams reminding me somewhat of the collaborations between David Grisman and the late Jerry Garcia, and even some traditional folk music. High points of the album for me include the haunting melodies and the brooding mellotron passages - this is a very emotional album and the music evokes images of bare trees and windswept, snow-covered fields.

This reissued album by Polydor is pretty nice and features the original album art along with the lyrics. The sound quality is good.

All in all, this album is very highly recommended. Other albums in a similar vein include The Geese and the Ghost (Anthony Phillips, 1977); and Turn of the Cards (Renaissance, 1974).

It's too bad that not much music from Quebec is known here in America. Down here we associate that province with Celine Dion who inflicted us through the years with mush (had she not decided to sing in English by 1990, us Americans would have been spared from her). As a prog rock fan, I am so glad to discover in the 1970s that the province had much to offer in the way of prog rock. Getting albums from the likes of Pollen, Et Cetera, Opus 5 and Sloche only proves that (I also discovered the members of Et Cetera and Pollen had later played for Celine Dion)!

Harmonium is regarded as one of Quebec's finest in the world of prog. But like England's Strawbs, they had folk origins (not that Harmonium sounds anything like The Strawbs, just that both started as folk groups that later became prog acts). Their self-entitled 1974 debut was pretty much a straight-ahead folk-rock album with drums on several cuts. Basically one of those good albums that will only demonstrate better things to come (which they delivered). That album became popular in Quebec. It's with their second album, Si On Avait Besoin D'une 5ième Saison, (or Les Cinq Saisons for short), released in 1975 on the Célébration label, where the band got serious on prog rock. The drums were dropped entirely for this album (it's their only album without drums). They included a keyboardist, Serge Locat who included some majestic Mellotron work on the album's two key cuts. The album was inspired by the seasons including that fictional "fifth season". But they hadn't abandoned their folk roots either as it's still quite obvious throughout the album, a prime example going to "En Pleine Face". "Vert" is that album's opening cut, I really dig the use of electric piano and sax in this piece. "Dixie" is the band's odd exploration into Dixieland complete with clarinet, but with that folky acoustic feel. Then there "Depuis L'Automne" is the album's first epic. It still starts off rather folky, but then this piece includes some really stunning Mellotron passages sure to please any fan of this instrument! "En Pleine Face" is a more straight-up folk number with a strong French feel, especially the use of accordion. Have you wondered what that eerie sound that starts this piece? Well it's Marie Bernard Pagé (who only guests here) and her Ondes Martenot. If you're as familiar with Quebecois prog as me, her name might seem familiar, it's because she was a member of Et Cetera where she also handled lead vocals as well as the Odnes Martenot (Et Cetera is much closer to Gentle Giant in sound than Harmonium). Then you have the side-length "Histoire Sans Paroles". It's an epic piece, it starts off rather lightweight, but the tone gets darker and Serge Locat really delivers some fantastic Mellotron work. There's some wordless voices from Judy Richard, who only guested on this piece.

While I seen Harmonium get compared to the likes of Celeste (the Italian band), probably because the group's more pastoral approach to prog rock, as well as Mellotron, they pretty much have a sound all their own. While many other Quebecois prog rock band got influenced by Gentle Giant one way or another (like Pollen, Sloche, Opus 5, Maneige and especially Et Cetera), Harmonium did not. Regardless, like Sloche's J'un Oeil and Stadacone, the one and only albums from Et Cetera and Pollen, Opus 5's Contre Courant, and all the Maneige albums up to Self-Service, I really think Harmonium's Les Cinq Saisons is simply one of the greats to come out of Quebec and a great place to start if you want to know what prog was like in that province!

Second album from the band, which blend music style from the first and the third album, this one is really between two worlds, between folk (Harmonium, their debut album) and progressive (L'Heptade, their third release. This album and the other two are really part of our history here in the Province of Québec, in Canada. Worth the discovery. Try it !