It won't surprise any of you that I love hearing Breton music. Playing the fiddle meself, fiddle music of any sort draws me ear to pay attention. Add in an accordion and you'll see me tapping me toes in time to the music. If there happens to be a newly tapped cask of Old Boar Hard Cider, so much the better, as Breton music is the best party music that I've ever been privileged to hear. Like Storvan and Skolvan, it's a relatively small group consisting of Herve Bertho (Violin), Marthe Vassalo (vocals), Ronan Gueblez (vocals), Sabine Le Coadoù (bombarde), and Marc Thouenon (acoustic guitar), but it sounds much bigger to the ear. If you haven't encountered Breton music of the fest noz variety, just let me describe it as a Breton ceilidh. Large Celtic festivals are held in Summer in towns around the region, often all-night long, with the biggest being the Festival Inter-Celtique of Lorient, whilst Quimper hosts the Festival de Cornouaille. Lots of music, lots of music lovers, tons of yummy food, and lots of drink -- it is indeed a party!

(Dr. Stephen Winick in his landmark paper 'Breton Folk Music, Breton Identity, And Alan Stivell's Again' says of this region that 'Brittany is, in the words of Jamie McMenamy, a Scottish musician who makes his home there, 'the bit that sticks out.' Called Bretagne in French and Breizh in the indigenous Celtic language, this peninsula that juts into the Atlantic from the northwest coast of the French 'Hexagon' sticks out from the rest of France not only physically but culturally as well. Like many areas of Europe, Brittany has been experiencing a revitalization of traditional culture in the second half of this century. One aspect of that revitalization was the discovery and widespread collection of folk music, which in turn led to a new generation of musicians taking up old forms of music and remaking them, fresh, for the contemporary world. Brittany has also developed one of the strongest regional recording industries in Europe, which ensures that music of all sorts, old and new, traditional and revival, gets released for public consumption.')

So how does music like this come across in a recorded form -- sans the trappings of the live experience? Not surprisingly for me, quite well. But I like the CDs I have from other Breton groups including Bagad Kemper, Dan ar Braz, Duo Bertrand, Yann-Fanch Perroches and Fanch Landreau, Kornog, Slokvan, and Storvan, and a few more that most likely I've forgotten. To tell the truth, I've never heard a bad Breton band nor been anything other than pleased by a CD from any band from that region. Just ask the other staffers in the Green Man officers about the day I played Bagad Kemper music non-stop from early morning to late in the evening -- some twenty albums all told. As their music fits the FHL motif (faster harder louder) bloody well, several staffers decided that going out for the day was an excellent idea.

Now the story of Loened Fall is interesting. According to Marthe as quoted on cd Roots:

'Loened Fall first appeared in January 1996. The original idea was Marc Thouenon's and Sabine Le Coadou's (guitar and bombard). They wanted to try and play fest-noz music with kan ha diskan singing, performed by two voices as in the traditional a capella "couple" singing. This was quite new at the time, a few bands had included singing, but with only one singer, the other one being replaced by an instrument, meaning that an orphaned voice had to find its way into the instrumental material. Loened Fall went the other way around, starting from the original unity of the kan ha diskan binome and imagining how the instruments could interact with it.

Success was immediate, if rather unexpected; by instrumentally enhancing the precision and variety of kan ha diskan, thus creating a music that was both appealing to newcomers and satisfying to demanding dancers, it seems we filled some kind of gap.'

Before I comment on this tasty music, I must share a note on the design of the CD package. Imagine if you will, a mens wallet, both in size and in design. That's the packaging for Gouez - À l'état sauvage. Short of some of the fringy groups who obviously think odd design is cool -- it's not -- and some of the massive boxed sets we get for review, it's one of the cooler ideas I've seen lately. Not practical mind you as it doesn't fit with the other CDs in me office here, but simply fun as it looks like a travel guide! And it's crammed with information -- liner notes in French and English which is useful for those of us whose French is just a wee bit better than langage des halles. And quite lovely photos too! All in all, a far better than average packaging job!

Ahhhh, but it's the music you're interested in. . . . The very short answer to what I think of Gouez - À l'état sauvage is that it is the most energetic Breton CD I've heard. Really. Truly. Nothing I've heard to date comes even close! There's quote from Robert Holdstock's Merlin's Wood which is set in ancient forest of Broceliande in Brittany that sums up this CD: 'The roasting, the feasting and the hours of horseplay helped to create a special warmth on this cold, hard day. Then the fire was stoked and fed to make a warm place where there could be dancing until darkfall. Martin was very drunk. Rebecca danced alone, wide skirts swirling, hair flowing as the accordion wheezed out its jig, and feet stamped on the stone flags at the edge of the field, where the pit had been dug.' It's that live feeling. Even the crowd noises which I normally detest in a recorded CD feel right here.

Simply put, If you like any sort of fiddle and piping music with good vocals you will love this music. Cliff has three excerpts from Gouez - À l'état sauvage at his CD roots site: 'Plac'hig St Karadeg', 'Plac'h Trozelan', and 'Konskried St Trifin' which together do a fine job of letting you hear what the album sounds like. As you can hear from those samples, it really does sound like a great time was being had by all at this dance party!

The only oddity with the album is the hidden track. After track thirteen wait for the hidden track, it's nearly nine minutes on (if you're timing it) and and it's a really odd bit of conversation that the crowd loved followed by some great piping. Nothing major, but just a fun trifle, nothing more.

Could the album be improved upon? No. It's perfect as it is. I will now need to hear their earlier album, An deiziou zo berr, which luckily is also sold by cdRoots.