Alan Stivell: Roak Dilestra (Avant d’Accoster) (Before Landing) (1977)

When it comes for folk-rock, it was no doubt the late ’60s and early ’70s were prime-time for it. There was Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, all released their best material at the time. Over in Brittany, an area of France with a strong Celtic presence (not to mention their own language, Breton, which is Celtic, like Welsh, Cornish, Irish, Scots, and Manx Gaelic, unlike French, which is a Romance tongue) was Alan Stivell, who was responsible for giving the Bretons back their cultural identity (since the French government had really been indifferent). He recorded a string of albums, of varying, and often startlingly different styles. By the late ’70s, the folk-rock scene was in shambles (punk and disco were big reasons), Steeleye Span had seen their best days (and broke up in 1978, before periodic reunions in the 1980s and 1990s), and Fairport Convention, well, it was pure hell trying to figure out who was in the band in any given week (not to mention it was a miracle they were still allowed to be called Fairport Convention in Simon Nicol’s abscence). So what’s a big surprise was Alan Stivell created one of his finest albums, and one of my all-time favorite folk-rock albums, in the late ’70s!

That album was ‘Raok Dilestra – Avant d’Accoster, also known as Before Landing. Here Stivell puts aside covering traditional material in favor of a concept album in a largely rock context. Luckily his Celtic roots have not been abandoned! The prog rock elements show up on this album, which is the one album I strongly recommend prog rock fans who also enjoy Celtic music. Here all the singing is in Breton, but you’ll find plenty of narration, which is in French. I have to admit the narration isn’t the strong point in the album, but knowing French might help. Since my knowledge of French is limited, and of course Breton, well not at all, the album appears to be about France, Brittany, and the Breton people, and the Breton people’s wish to be free from French domination of their culture. While Alan Stivell always had an ever changing cast of musicians (although he often had regulars, like Gabriel Yacoub, before he went off to form Malicorne, and guitarist Dan ar Bras), I was a bit surprised to see Dave Swarbrick (Fairport Convention) and Richard Harvey (Gryphon) make an appearance on this album! Regular member Dan ar Bras is on this album and he was really responsible for the rock-part of this album thanks his use of electric guitar.

I really like how this album starts off mellow, and gets rocking about three cuts later and often don’t let down. The album gets more experimental to the point of one cut almost reminding me of King Crimson! “Ar Gelted kozh” starts off in a mournful way, with Alan Stivell’s singing, bagpipes, mandolin, and sitar. This song will not prepare you for most of the rest of this album. “Ar Vritoned ‘ba’ Inis-Breizh” has a more ambient feel, complete with synthesizers, world-beat percussion, and nice Celtic feel. Then comes “Les Britons en Armorique”, which is simply Celtic harp and some narration, then comes the more rock-oriented stuff. “Rouantelezh Vreizh” is a really nice combination of prog rock and Celtic folk, with great use of bagpipes, plus Hammond organ, with some rather tricky time signatures. There’s a short organ solo that almost sounds a bit like ELP! “Dugelezh Vreizh” has a more medieval feel, complete with krummhorn, the results: not unlike something Gryphon did early on their career, except the singing is in Breton. I guess that comes as no surprise as Richard Harvey from that band is on this cut playing the krummhorn. “Le Traité d’Union franco-breton” starts finding Stivell at a more experimental mood, with the first part with narration in French, the other part with singing. The electric piano dominates this piece, and there’s this dissonance that almost reminds me of something King Crimson would do (of course, you don’t have Robert Fripp here, or any other Crimson member). Things really get off the deep-end with “La Révolution Française et le 19e siècle” includes a mangled version of the French national anthem played on guitar. Eventually things settle back down to “Eil lodenn an ugentwed kantwed”, which still firmly in rock territory, goes basically on a groove, it might be a bit repetitive, but I like the groove. “Da Ewan” is slightly mellower than what came before, with harp and bagpipes, but the rock elements are there. Then comes one of my favorites, “Gwriziad difennet”, a great rocking piece, with great guitar riffs from Dan ar Bras, and some nice fiddle playing. “Marw ewid e fobi” is rather mellow, which is a nice change of pace through some of the stuff that came before. This really harkens back to Renaissance of the Celtic Harp, dominated by Stivell’s Celtic harp. A really nice piece demonstrating how Celtic harp should be really played (not this unbearably cheesy crap, often New Age that passes as Celtic you might see at your local Wal-Mart). There’s some nice low-key use of cello in the background. “Naw Breton ‘ba’ prizon” features some really nice use of duo vocals (Stivell and apparently Dan ar Bras battling it out on vocals), then I really like how they get rocking again, in a Celtic manner, with tempo changes and some great themes. There’s also some nice use of bombarde (a Breton double-reed instrument, that Stivell tends to use on many of his other albums too). “Tamm-kreiz new'” is mainly bagpipes (I suspect something other than Scottish Highland bagpipes were used here, as it hits some really high notes the Scottish bagpipes can’t reach, probably some French or Breton variety of bagpipes). “Plinn-slogan” is basically a number that consists of a bunch of chanting, including (in English) “Free Brittany”. Thanks to that, that leaves no doubt the album refers to how the Bretons want to be free of French cultural dominance.

I am really surprised about this album. In the late ’70s, he continues to make high quality music, regardless of the changing musical fads of the time. The album might have a couple experimental bits gone awry, but this is simply a great Celtic folk/prog rock album!
Too many musicians here, but the key ones are:
– Alan Stivell: vocals, Celtic harp, bombarde, piano, bagpipes
– Dan ar Bras: guitars, vocals
– Dave Swarbrick: fiddle
– Richard Harvey: krummhorn, flutes
– Andrew Herve: piano, Hammond organ, synthesizer
– Mikael Herve: bass guitar
– Jean-Luc Danna: drums, percussion

…plus many others (would take too much time to type them down)