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Drink, listen, and be merry
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Boston Globe, Drink, listen, and be merry >>
When it comes to rhythm, Le Vent du Nord is loaded, as the crisp pulse of these nearly forgotten songs for dancing, drinking, and flirting shows. And there's not a drum nor beatbox within earshot. Instead, the Quebec quartet (French for "North Wind") uses singing, guitar, accordions, hurdy-gurdy, bass, piano, mandolin, and the foot-tapping ("pieds") of fiddler Olivier Demers to mine an acoustic Acadian groove with French, Irish, and Native American roots. There are similarities to a Cajun waltz here ("Petit Rêve III"), a French café tune there ("La Veillée chez Poirer"), and Irish jigs and Scottish reels ("La Traversee" "Du Labrador à Montmagny"). "Tour à Bois" spins a word game that links the circular turns of the hurdy-gurdy, wood lathes, and rounds of song. A melodic and rhythmic savvy persists, infusing the album with the personable energy that made these songs kitchen-party favorites in the first place.
-- by Tristram Lozaw 04/01/08 >> go there
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