Les Negresses Vertes "Famille nombreuse" (1991)

Famille nombreuse
release date: (Nov.?) 1991
format: vinyl (gatefold) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Sodi & Clive (aka Clive Martin)
label: Delabel / Razzia Disques - nationality: France

Track highlights: 1. "Famille heureuse" - 2. "Perpétuellement vôtre" - 6. "Sous le soleil de Bodega" - 8. "Hou ! Mamma mia..." - 9. "Infidèle cervelle" - 10. "La France a ses dimanches" - 12. "Car c'est un blouze"

2nd studio album by French band Les Negresses Vertes, which here enlists eleven members, although the cover photos only counts ten members. Prior to this, the band featured on the international Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue from 1990 with their version of "I Love Paris".

Here, the band attempts to continue in the same style from Mlah (1989), but nevertheless with more polished arrangements, which lacks the rebellious streak that caused the band to be compared to Madness and The Pogues. However, the album does succeed in presenting a more common tone, where Mlah pointed in various directions and also reflected music from a sea of ​​styles, and in that regard Familie nombreuse is an album that roughly stays on the same ground throughout. It's original, but in my mind it's missing that extra kick the debut contained. Having said that, the music here is by no means poor, but at times sticks out as slightly uninspired, although I personally find that the album actually improves in the latter half - perhaps simply because these songs share some of the traits from Mlah.

Familie nombreuse [meaning 'large family'] is the band's final with the its front figure, lead vocalist, and one of its major songwriters: Helno Rota, who died of an overdose in '93 (at the age of 29), after which the band's line-up changed considerably. The band continued to release albums up until around 2001, after which they have been less active. However, around 2018 and up to the 30th anniversary of this very album, Les Negresses Vertes (reformed with several of the original members) resumed their live performances, playing tracks from Mlah in particular (see here and here - and here a promotion spot for their tour).

[ 👎allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars, Popdose review ]

Les Negresses Vertes "Mlah" (1989)

Mlah [debut]
release date: (Jan.?) 1989
format: vinyl / cd (1991)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
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 ['The Green Negresses', or: 'The Green Black Girls'] 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 French musical traditions. 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. You'll also notice 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 cd reissue containing two bonus tracks, and a copy of the same vinyl issue I once owned. The original version comes with 12 tracks and a total running length of approx. 42 minutes, while the '91 cd issue is approx. 48 minutes.

Mlah is the band's first, and in my view 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" -  also listen to "Voilà l'été".

Highly recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]