43 Songs


43 Songs is a three-CD box set by French avant-rock band Etron Fou Leloublan. It contains all tracks from the band's five studio albums, Batelages, Les Trois Fous Perdégagnent , Les Poumons Gonflés, Les Sillons de la Terre and Face Aux Éléments Déchaînés. It was released in 1991. Some of the tracks were mastered from particularly noisy vinyl sources and there is no booklet included.
The box set cover depicts "Crazy Shit, The White Wolf" on top of a broken Eiffel Tower.

Background

Etron Fou Leloublan, together with Henry Cow, Stormy Six, Samla Mammas Manna and Univers Zero, was one of the five original Rock in Opposition bands that performed at the inaugural RIO festival in London on 12 March 1978. RIO was a musical collective of experimental music groups united in their opposition to the music industry. EFL recorded five studio albums between 1976 and 1985, and their music has been described as "Art rock with a twisted A". Their compositions are "fractured" elements of jazz, rock and pop with unusual structures that sometimes sound like "demented and absurdist small-orchestra hymns". The 43 Songs box set covers EFL's entire recording career.

Track listing

Source:

Personnel

Source:

Etron Fou Leloublan

  • Ferdinand Richard – bass guitar, vocals
  • Guigou Chenevier – drums, percussion, tenor saxophone, vocals
  • Chris Chanet – winds, vocals
  • Francis Grand – alto and tenor saxophone, melodica, flute, harmonica, zither, vocals
  • Jo Thirion – organ, piano, trumpet, vocals
  • Bernard Mathieu – soprano and tenor saxophone
  • Bruno Meillier – alto, tenor and baritone saxophones

Guests

  • Jean-Pierre Grasset – guitars
  • Michel Grezes – voice
  • Fred Frith – guitar, violin

Production