Carpe Diem: En Regardant Passer le Temps (1975)

One area of prog rock I failed to cover here is the French scene. I covered the British, German, and Italian scenes pretty well here, even threw in some Scandinavian acts. When people think of French prog, they think Magma, Ange, Atoll, or Pulsar. Another band worth looking in to is Carpe Diem, who only released two albums with En Regardant Passer le Temps being their first.

I bought the album because I couldn’t resist the M.C. Escher-like cover, not to mention the high praise this album had received in the prog community. The band consisted of keyboardist/vocalist Christian Truchi, guitarist Gilbert Abbenanti, bassist Alain Berge, drummer Alain Faraut, and saxist/flautist Claud-Marius David. Many times the band gets compared to Gong, but I can’t figure out why. Certianly there’s a presence of soprano sax, but what you won’t find here are songs about an imaginary planet with Pot Head Pixies. Soft Machine and Camel are the other comparisons, but I don’t notice that.

What I do notice is this is one of the more original prog albums I’ve heard from the mid 1970s. What you’ll get is more sophisticated jazz-influenced prog with lots of great sax, spacy keyboards (string synths, Farfisa electric piano), and jazzy drumming. There are vocals (in French), but surprisingly the vocals aren’t harsh (unlike, say Ange).

The album starts off with “Voyage du Non-Retour”, which consists of some great jams. It’s the shortest piece on the album, and is just the start of a great album. The next cut, “Réincarnation” is without a doubt my favorite. This demonstrates the best elements of mid ’70s prog. I especially love the spacy string synths, and that electronically modified voice. “Jeux du Siècle” continues on this same greatness.

“Publiphobie” is the album’s last cut, which shows the band at their most energetic. I especially love those jazzy solos found, not to mention the Farfisa electric piano. Really, the music here is a bit hard to describe, I don’t find Carpe Diem reminding me of any particular band (regardless of the constant Gong comparison). This might be an obscure album, but don’t worry, Musea Records in France had reissued this gem on CD (as LPs aren’t exactly easy to get a hold of). This album has made it as one of my favorites from the French scene, and if you’re looking to expand your horizons, give this a try.
– Christian Truchi: keyboards, vocals
– Gilbert Abbenanti: guitar
– Alain Berge: bass
– Alain Faraut: drums, percussion
– Claude-Marius David: soprano sax, flute, percussion