Comme a la radio
Her best-known album, made with Areski and the Art Ensemble of Chicago: ten songs, an eight-minute title track and, on the CD, two bonus duets with Jacques Higelin.
Brigitte Fontaine, 1970
Comme a la radio was produced by Pierre Barouh and recorded at Studio Saravah in Paris in 1969. English Wikipedia dates the release November 15, 1969; Saravah's own catalogue and French Wikipedia say 1970, and the catalog number is given as SHL 1018 or SH 10006. It grew out of free-verse and prose texts that formed the show at the Theatre du Vieux-Colombier, and was issued as Brigitte Fontaine and Areski with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Areski Belkacem plays vocals, keyboards, guitars and percussion, with Jacques Higelin on vocals, guitar and piano, Lester Bowie and Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet, Joseph Jarman on saxophones, oboe, vibraphone and percussion, Roscoe Mitchell on flute, Malachi Favors on double bass, Jean-Francois Jenny-Clark on bass, Jean-Charles Capon on cello, Kakino De Paz on zither and Albert Guez on lute.
It won the Grand Prix du Disque of the Academie Charles-Cros (1969 on English Wikipedia, 1970 on French). Le Monde wrote in February 1995 that it is not a record but a legend, and Progmonster rated it a masterpiece in 2005. The CD, remastered in 1992, adds "Le Goudron" and "Le noir c'est mieux choisi", duets with Higelin. Superior Viaduct reissued it in the US in December 2013, and Wewantsounds announced a deluxe two-LP edition and a double vinyl of ORTF live recordings, Comme a la radio: On Air (1969-1971), for 2026.
Track listing
- Comme a la radio8:04
- Tanka II2:04
- Le Brouillard3:25
- J'ai vingt-six ans3:04
- L'Ete l'ete3:56
- Encore1:35
- Leo3:51
- Les Petits Chevaux0:43
- Tanka I1:46
- Lettre a Monsieur le chef de gare de la Tour Carol6:05
- Le Goudron4:10
- Le noir c'est mieux choisi5:02
Sources
- Comme a la radio, Wikipedia
- Comme a la radio, Saravah
- Brigitte Fontaine, Areski, Art Ensemble of Chicago: Comme a la radio, Guts of Darkness