01	La tour haute						07:06
	02	Loue son nom !						03:37
	03	Chanson de trouvere						08:45
	04	Les saisons marines						06:22
	05	Tel rit au main						02:32
	06	Ce me Dame						07:59
	07	Deux chemins d'enfance						03:35
	08	Deux chemins d'enfance (suite)						04:38
	09	Nostre Dame: Une messe - Kirie						02:05
	10	Nostre Dame: Une messe - Credo						02:05
	11	Nostre Dame: Une messe - X file						02:16
	12	Nostre Dame: Une messe - Exutoire						02:51
	13	En Castille						05:51
	14	Meditation						02:05

Music, arrangements, lyrics and imaginary words by Thierry & Jean-Luc Payssan. Submitted by PhC.


Vital Duo [France]
Updated 9/28/01
Discography
Ex Tempore (01)


Reviews
Vital Duo - Jean-Luc Payssan (bass, electric & classical guitars, mandolin, 16-string cithern, vocals, drums, percussion & tambourine) and Thierry Payssan - (keyboards, sampler, percussion, vocals)

The very, very talented Payssan brothers were co-founders and the main masterminds of Minimum Vital. While the Minimum Vital band just cannot exist without them - at all, in general, etc, - to me, a new album by their new ProGject Vital Duo (I like this name much more than Minimum Vital) is just a continuation of the Payssan brothers' discography - no matter under which name - of their band or project. In guess, everything created by this brother duo is a high-quality musical production, though I've heard only few Minimum Vital albums. Even their quite poppy Esprit d'amour I consider a unique work in general and a real masterpiece of Neo Progressive in particular.

It would be useless just to describe compositions one after another in case of Ex Tempore. Personally, I can't perceive this album any other way but as a complete work. This one in some ways reminds me very much of a picture by some brilliant medieval (yet modernistic at the same time) painter. It's impossible to reproduce the impression of the picture just enumerating each its stroke and describe it in detail (it's possible only in the stroke books, no?). Vital Duo's Ex Tempore is, perhaps, really a vital album for the contemporary progressive scene thanks to its unique, distinctly innovative contents representing a brave approach to mixing the medieval and contemporary (Rock) forms of music. It must be said, however, that the blend of medieval and contemporary Progressive Rock sounds on the album lesser than a typical medieval-alike music. Despite the fact that there is the only real medieval instrument (old lyre) in the duo's equipment the music on Ex Tempore is filled with an obvious medieval spirit and I just wonder how masterly the Payssan brothers manage to elicit a wide variety of old sounds from the arsenal of modern instruments. Jean-Luc is a wonderful musician. I didn't know that he is a real multi-instrumentalist. Some of the pieces are in the same medieval vein, only performed to the accompaniment of a rhythm-section, they sound just amazing. Jean-Luc's drumming is not only something outstanding - it's especially impressive exactly in the medieval structures. When he does all these most unusual breaks he feels the spirit surrounding him at the moment so fine as if he'd previously lived several centuries ago. There also are few pieces with almost clear contemporary Progressive Rock sound on Ex Tempore, but all the "additional" colours have the same medieval feel which actually is more than just typical for the album as a whole. Several compositions contain either short yet loud tunes of some choral prayers or incantations, wonderful exactly in their monotony, or large-scale songs. While the first of them, as I think, were spoken and sung in Latin, the second ones were sung in French. Of course, all kinds of singing on the album have obviously that medieval character. Though the digital church organ's sound isn't all that similar to the real church organ, all its scores played by Thierry always help to disregard these minor differences. As for Thierry's Grand Piano parts they sound as classically as centuries ago. (In this case I'd like to thank myself for some attentive listens to contemporary pianists played the music of past centuries.)

Thinking of Vital Duo's Ex Tempore as just of a kind of music that some other present and past progressive artists have used in their works too, I don't find an effort to perform medieval music too innovative, generally. I've heard no less than a dozen albums whose musical structures at least partly contain some medieval components (beginning with Gryphon's first and third albums). Meanwhile, I can't compare Ex Tempore to any of the albums I mean. Plus, bearing in mind that Gryphon on their first album performed not their own, but original medieval pieces, I have to admit that I've never heard anything at least a bit similar to this album of Vital Duo. Thus, if this work isn't totally innovative, then it's incredibly original and even unique. That's for sure, though. Not extremely complex, Ex Tempore is, however, slightly more than just moderately complex progressive music. So I don't think most of the Neo-heads will like this album. -- Vitaly Menshikov


Vital Duo
Ex Tempore
Musea (FGBG 4322 AR)
France 2001

Jean-Luc Payssan, electric guitar, cittern, mandolin, drums, percussion, classical guitar, vocals; Thierry Payssan, digital church organ, hammond organ, grand piano, synthesizers, sampler, percussion, vocals


conrad

The Payssan brothers had been the driving force of Minimum Vital for the better part of a decade when they decided to take some time out together as Vital Duo. Feeling a new dynamism with just the two of them performing, they set about recording this impressive album.
The album has a strong medieval flavour to it, with several pieces being adaptations of work by Guillaume de Machaut and most of the remaining album being evocative of the trouvere spirit. In fact, the approach to medieval music taken by Vital Duo is unique. They sound nothing like other progressive acts who have incorporated music from the Middle Ages, such as Gryphon or Amazing Blondel, due to their free hand with electric instruments. The closest thing I can think of in style is the Saltarello by Dead Can Dance, but even then Vital Duo has a certain Gallic joi de vie which sets it apart.

The band make full use of studio multitracking on this album, so there are rarely only two instruments playing at once. The sound is dominated by what they refer to as a "Digital Church Organ", which as far as I can tell is a sampled church organ. There are also a variety of plucked instruments to add texture, most notably Jean-Luc's cittern. The overall feel could be compared to Heavy Horses-era Jethro Tull, but with a Minimum Vital touch.

The tracks are generally very strongly written, thoughtfully put together and bursting with joy. Right from the opening track there is a high level of energy, and even in pieces like "Les Saisons Marines", which may appear more sedate at first, there is such an insistant rhythm that the overall effect is energizing.

This is not quite the perfect album though. At a little over an hour, this album seems a trifle long. There isn't quite enough variety here to hold my attention for that long. When they do vary style in the dance floor inspired "X File", the overall effect is poor.

In all, the only people I wouldn't recommend this album to are those who need their music to dark or brooding, or those who intensely dislike Minimum Vital's music. This is a wonderful album put together by two people with an obvious passion for their medieval musical heritage. The music moves from the medieval modes to modern chords and yet remains part of the same, distinct musical vision. For me, the Payssan brothers have done better as a duo than they have so far in a band.

10-13-03

c ground and sky