Cassette Review // Feu Follet "La forêt oubliée " (Blackjack Illuminist Records)

€12 //
Edition of 15 //
https://blackjackilluministrecords.bandcamp.com/album/la-for-t-oubli-e //

This begins with a lot of electronics.   The vocals feel like they're coming through a guitar, like Frampton, but then as the music comes in with it I can begin to hear it sound like something from a postwave or nowave sound.   A little bit of it makes me think of something from that 1980's / 1990's feeling, like a robotic synth, but also it just has a modern and futuristic sense to it at the same time.

Whirrs come in with an orchestra of keys now.   This one could be easily moved into space.   The tones move up and down now, growing larger and smaller until some much darker guitar notes come out almost like metal.   The way these vocals combine with the drum machine beats make me think that this is like something out of "Bladerunner".   The guitars just build now in such a wild manner and it reminds me of something between Rush and TSO.

We change it up now to more of the keys and lighter beats which make me think of something along the lines of A Flock Of Seagulls, something out of that new wave era.   That synth-like guitar, somewhat like "Doctor Who", just seems to sing for itself.   This picks up into a higher level of rock and then becomes a more serious type of video game drama.   As the pace grows, I feel more like this is a "Street Fighter" NES game soundtrack and it just feels like we're moving so smoothly, defeating crime along the way.   This side of the cassette has also more of the music than the vocals within the songs.

Softer digital plucks somehow start the flip side as vocals come in with those FNL guitars.  This breaks down into a nice instrumental number, along those FNL lines as well (post rock).   The next song seems to pick up where the previous one left off, but then it climbs up into these funky rhythms that make me feel like we're going into something like "Weird Science" but yet still with that post rock vibe as well. 

One and two keys come in and then this just turns into a very fast paced keys-based sound which makes me either want to get up and dance or just drive really fast at night.    We shift into a definite dance number with the drums and funky bass lines.   If you don't want to get up and move with this one then you might be hearing it wrong.   It also slows down to this darker guitar riff.   There is such a steady way about this that it makes me feel a little bit like a video game but ultimately it has more of a rock sound on top of it.

This cassette also comes with a comic book which is in full color and glossy.  I feel like sometimes when I'm listening to music I can see images but studying this comic book while then listening to the music can also generate some ideas you might not have thought of yourself.  The art in it also reminds me of "Sweet Tooth" and having a comic book accompany a cassette is just twice as good.