Malicorne (band)
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Malicorne was a French folk-rock group that flourished in the 1970s.
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[edit] The Traditional Years
Malicorne was founded by Gabriel Yacoub and Marie Yacoub in 1974. It is also the name of a French town, famous for its porcelain and faience. Since several of their albums are called simply Malicorne it had become the custom to refer to them by number, even though no number appears on the cover. Malicorne 1 consisted of the Yacoubs, Laurent Vercambre and Hughes de Courson. The combination of electric guitar, violin, dulcimer, bouzouki and female vocalist immediately brings to mind Steeleye Span, their English equivalent. The four of them were masters of twelve instruments. Their first five albums consisted of mostly traditional French folk songs, with one or two songs by Gabriel Yacoub and one or two instrumentals per album. Again like Steeleye Span, they occasionally sang group harmonies a capella. On Malicorne 5 they were joined by Olivier Zdrzalik on bass, percussion and vocals. The exuberant art-work on the album sleeves, featuring elves and dragons makes them collectors pieces.
[edit] The Experimental Years
L'Extraordinaire Tour de France d'Abelard Rousseau (1978) was very much a concept album, concerning a guild craftsman's travels around France, with an implied spiritual exploration. It is perhaps the most exciting of their albums, with some gothic and prog-rock elements in the music. Like their next album Le Bestiaire, it contains mostly of songs by Gabriel, with a few by Zdrzalik and de Courson. The range of sounds of these albums is huge. Their appeal goes well beyond the French-speaking world, and still gives them a dedicated following, but most of the albums are only sporadically in print. Some sections are clearly classical music, but electronic wizardry and bagpipes also appear.
[edit] Excess and Decline
The size of the band grew to 12, including at one point, Brian Gulland from the English group Gryphon. Their commercial success enticed them into pure pop. Balancoire En Feu(1981) was a disappointment to many. Les Cathedrales de L'Industrie (1986) began with an epic folk-rock track. One of the other tracks, "Big Science 1-2-3" is in the style of Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson or Gary Numan. They disbanded shortly afterwards.
[edit] Touring
Once they had gained a reputation in France, Malicorne toured in French-speaking Canada. The album En Public (1978), recorded live in Montreal makes it clear that they were more than a studio band. They toured over 800 venues in America, Canada and Europe, but never in the UK. Not until 1990 did Gabriel and Marie set foot in England, appearing as a duo in a low-key event in London. All of Malicorne's songs were in French, apart from a few words of English on their final album. At their concerts they made some announcements in broken English. Gabriel and Marie continue to record, but their CDs are only occasionally in print. The three compilation albums "Quintessence", "Legende" and "Vox" show the range of Malicorne's work.
