In the imaginary and iconoclastic jungle of these four completely off-the-wall Lions from Angers, an electric resonator guitar, saxophone, trombone and percussions (dhol, tasha) take centre stage, mixing with the yelling and yowling cries sounding something a bit like Luis Mariano, Purcell, Tom Waits, Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, Mozart and King Krule. Somewhere in between where brass band, street theatre, rock, and simple free jazz meet the motley world music, the quartet fires off tribal music with strong trance potential.
With their carefully crafted look, they could almost be mistaken for common criminals, and their well-arranged harmonies, between tub-thumping rants and musical close-ups, electric blues and psychedelic afro-beat, raw pop and sufi groove, show that these “Lions for lions” seem open to any musical blend. Constant veering back and forth between different contrasts and opposites, between bombastic ranting and nursery rhyming, punk improvisation and fierce rhythmic pounding create a tribal and tripping world.
The eleven powerful and incantatory songs on their frenetic first album, Derviche Safari (from Maaula Records), shows just one facet of their work. When street performing, the mastery of Babette Hérault, Freddy Boisliveau, Boochon and Cédric Maurel proves that these felines aren’t the new kids on the savanna. From Jo Bithume, Monofocus, Tamikrest, Lo’Jo, to the Grooms and Dirty Hands, each of the four musicians have had their own share of adventures to feed into and perfect their great pagan ceremony celebrating collective trance and feel-good music. It’s enough to make anyone want to jump into the lion pit.
BIOGRAPHY
The journey of the four Angers-based musicians from Des Lions pour des Lions speaks for itself. Elisabeth Hérault collaborated with Jo Bithume, Lo Jo, the Nomorpa company and also plays in La Tribu des Femmes and Zaro. Cédric “Momo” Maurel plays percussion and keyboards for Tamikrest and played with Jo Bithume, Dhols of Jaipur and Bell Oeil. Alain “Bouchon” Lardeux was the bassist with Dirty Hands, before starting a solo career. Freddy Boisliveau worked with the 2 Rien Merci company’s Monofocus and Minifocus, workshops often held during Tombées de la Nuit. Combining music and theatre, the quartet honed its art and influences before mixing them together in this colourful, iconoclastic, organic and perfectly organised stage and street performance “super band”. Their first album, Derviche Safari (from Maaula Records), featuring eleven songs that capture the essence of their acoustic trance music, combines influences from The Ex, Fela, Konono#1, Sepultura, Tom Waits and L’Orchestre Tout-Puissant Marcel Duchamp, in a passionate and wacky journey that is rock in essence and danceable by necessity.
