Lost legendary work from Guy Skornik – a heady set from early 70s France, and proof that there's a hell of a lot of greatness to discover on that scene! The album's got a blend of psych fuzz and deeper ideas that's not that far from Serge Gainsbourg – although the overall presentation is more cerebral, and influenced by the ideas of GI Gurdjieff, carried out by Skornik in this sublime blend of acoustic elements and larger orchestrations directed by jazzman Ivan Jullien! Like some of the best French work of this time, the album has a wonderful balance between the personal and professional – the intimate and the ambitious – which really makes things exciting and fresh, and very different than anything you might have been digging on this side of the Atlantic at the time. Titles include "Realite", "L'Ile De Paques", "Fulcanni", "Je Vois Ce Que Je Crois", "Quest Ce Que Le Dream", and "Je Ne Sais Pas Je Ne Sais Plus Rien". CD

Really beautiful electronics from the enigmatic Guy Skornik – an artist that we mostly know for his quirky concept record Pour Pauwels, but who sounds here like some of the best electronicians of the German scene of the 70s! All tracks are long and spun out – electronic, but with acoustic elements in the mix – maybe in a mode that's similar to the 70s soundtrack creations of Popol Vuh, Tangerine Dream, or Vangelis – but darker, too – most likely because the music was composed for an obscure film by Alexander Jodorowsky! Yet the music here hardly needs images on a screen – as Skornik's created these wonderfully evocative passages, created with some help from Steve Hillage and members of Cossi Anatz. Titles include "Elise & Tusk Reunited", "Poo Lorn 1", "Elise Liberates Tusk", "Poo Lorn 2", "Goodnight Ram Baba", "Elise On The Run", and "Crossing The River". LP, Vinyl record album

The group name's got "opera" in the middle, but the set is way more than that – and way more than the usual "rock opera" modes in which the rare album is frequently cited! Instead, the whole thing's a freewheeling bit of French psych – very much tied to the trippier corners of the world that included music of Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Paul Vannier, but with some freakier elements around the edges! The arrangements and production are wonderful – very different than some of the looser hippie modes that would come on the French scene in the early 70s – with sonic energy that keeps things nicely intense throughout, even when things are going wild! The project is the brainchild of mad rockers Francois Wertheimer, Guy Skornik, William Sheller, and Dominic Perrier – and also features sitar from Serge Franklin, orchestrations from sound library maestro Paul Piot, and jams from the group Alice. The whole thing is fantastic – and the reissue features a great booklet of notes and information on this very unique record! LP, Vinyl record album