release date: (Jan.?) 1989
format: cd (1991)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Clive Martin, Sodi (aka Sodi Marciszewer)
label: Delabel - nationality: France
Track highlights: 2. "Zobi la Mouche" (4 / 5) - 3. "C'est pas la mer à boire" - 4. "Voilà l'été" (4 / 5) (live 2019) - 5. "Orane" - 7. "Les yeux de ton père" - 8. "Il" - 11. "Marcelle Ratafia" - 12. "La danse des négresses" (live)
Studio album debut by French 8-piece orchestra Les Negresses Vertes consisting of lead vocalist Helno (aka Noël Rota, aka Helno Rota de Lourcqua), guitarist and backing vocalist Melino (aka Stéfane Michel Mellino), accordion player and guitarist Mathieu Canavese (aka Mathieu Crespin), bassist Paulo (aka Jean-Marie Dominique Paulus), harmonica player and trombonist Abraham Sirinix, trumpeter and percussionist Twist (aka Michel Ochowiak), pianist and percussionist L'Ami Ro (aka Joël Ruffier Des Aimes), and drummer Gaby le Magnifique (aka Laurent Gabriel). The band formed in the Autumn of '87 in Paris and has roots in the South of France and with many other national ties - e.g. to Algeria, Poland, Italy, and Spain. The album was originally released on French Off The Tracks Records and Razzia Disques, while international editions were released on several labels including Virgin, Sire, Polydor, and Warner Bros.
Stylistically, Mlah represents a huge mix of styles but is primarily bound to a French musical tradition. There are obvious parts of folk rock and punk rock, which in places point in the direction of French Mano Negra, and / or British The Pogues, and then elsewhere more in the direction of Madness in a French version of ska. There is also a strong influence from traditional music such as 'gypsy music', flamenco, muzette, and waltz, and the band's music has thus been referred to as 'gypsy punk' - although that designation is far from sufficient. Some have called Les Negresses Vertes a 'global-folk-punk-band', although that only serves to prove it more than ordinarily difficult to categorise the band's style.
I purchased the album back in '89 - and actually played it quite a bit, but unfortunately I lost the vinyl version along the way. However, I have since got hold of a reissue containing two bonus tracks. The original version comes with 12 tracks and a playing length of approx. 42 minutes, while the '91 CD version is approx. 48 minutes.
Mlah is the band's first, and in my eyes also their absolute best. There's an immediateness and a joy of playing, and the album mostly sounds like what it is: recorded live in a studio with all members in high spirits, which is aptly conveyed in the official music video for perhaps the their best-known song: "Zobi la Mouche" - see also "Voilà l'été".
Highly recommended.
[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]
