Art Zoyd – Génération Sans Futur (1980)

Génération Sans Futur is the third album by French avant-garde/chamber-rock ensemble Art Zoyd, released in 1980 on Atem.

“La Ville” Droning cello/viola and low-volume chants paced by the lowest D note on the piano…. Nocturnal, foreboding vibe… tense up occurs around 2:40 with throbbing one-note bass figure in D… aggressive yet faint chanting… frantic piano/viola figure in odd meter… cello assumes bass figure @4:30, cuts away…. Frenetic/stacotto string/piano figure disrupts at 5:00… one-note piano paranoia, flanked … clarinet wailing amid screaming voice “where is dial!”… cuts to foggy drone at 6:20… piano and brass collide/mender over one-note cello figure… more voices, one-fnote figure transferred to A on piano, zither (?) sound faintly underneath… saxophone blaring high as strings double-up on one note (9:30-ish)… quiet viola/cello passage at 10:20… piano slowly takes shape… sharp cello accents threaten at 12:05 amid droning…droning persists with refrains… bassline recongeals @13:30, heralding another tight, frantic passage… brisk two-note piano, middle and low… blowing low-tones traded between brass… minimalist piano figure in 6/4 @15;15 breaks through, carries things to climax.. fs

Tracklist:
A1. “La ville” (16:50)*
A2. “Speedy Gonzales” (2:55)
B1. “Divertissement” (6:45)
B2. “Trois miniatures” (5:15)
B3. “Génération sans futur” (9:40)

*(2:40-6:30, 8:05-10:07-12:06-13:25, 13:27-16:45)

Credits:
Patricia Dallio – piano
Alain Eckert – guitar
Gérard Hourbette – violin, viola
Gilles Renard – saxophone
Jean-Pierre Soarez – trumpet
Thierry Zaboitzeff – cello, bass guitar, vocals

Patrice Jean Baptiste – illustrations
Etienne Conod – mixing, recording
Daniel Denis – percussion on “Génération sans futur”
Carole Grave – photography
Gérard Nguyen – production