You don’t get much in the way of adventure in music these days. Or, perhaps more accurately, you don’t get to hear much in the way of adventurous music these days. Les Comptes De Korsakoff, are, however, certainly musical adventurers with their album “Nos Amers” being replete with arthouse flourishes and genre transformations that tired ears may well find refreshing.
Les Comptes De Korsakoff are something of an experimental octet and the eight songs on this album sit neatly on the edge of the boundary between accessibility and the avantgarde. The words, in French naturally, metamorphose into extended extemporisations that counterpoint the elegant musical figures that dance inexorably in casual circles around influences both cinematic and theatrical. To the average ear, this casual, yet eminently and musically eloquent, approach may seem like one Gitane short of a full pack yet those who know Grusin or Odezenne will recognise that the conventionality that Les Comptes de Korsakoff encircle is merely the inner boundary for their message.
I am sure that festival audiences will regard “Nos Amers” with the seriousness that it deserves yet this album is not limited in appeal to the intelligentsia as, despite the artistic pretension that comes with evading conformity, Les Comptes de Korsakoff clearly want to connect with all those who would listen.
Best song? The superficially conventional “Terminal”.
The verdict? “Nos Amers” is more than just ear candy for the intelligentsia.