Ame Son – Eclosion
Ame Son – Reborn This Morning On The Way Of…
Ame Son – Hein Quant A Toi
This post marks the last post of our fifth year, with our anniversary being July 7th. I first heard of Ame Son from a collection Finders Keepers put out a few years ago called the BYG Deal, covering some of the more proggy & psychedelic recordings from BYG/Actuel Record label in France. On that compilation was a edited version of “Eclosion” that blew my mind. It remains one of my all time favorite psychedelic songs because of the way the drums tumble out of the speakers and for the searing electric guitar work. Needless to say, that wee taste was all I need to put the album from the group on my radar.
A couple of years ago I finally tracked down a decent copy of the album Catalyse from Ame Son. I really dug all the tracks and must have listened to the album if not daily, certainly weekly for several months. Something bugged me about the album though, it seemed like there was either a problem with the track listing or I had the feeling like one of the songs on the second side was edited. Eventually that nagging feeling sent me to the Internets and specifically to Discogs, where I discovered that my feelings were true. I learned that for whatever insane reason, the folks at BYG had significantly truncated “Reborn This Morning On The Way Of…” essentially cropping off 90% of the song and attempting to seamlessly blend it into the next track.
I then learned that on the German pressing the song was presented in it’s full version. So, then I had to find the German version, released on the Metronome record label. When I finally did, I was able to appreciate “Reborn” in all it’s glory, but I ended up with another problem. I liked the packaging and the sequencing of the French version better! Even the lyrics to the songs, sung in English and French, were written in German on the Metronome release. I thought about keeping them both, but since I’m not a club DJ or producer with great turntable skills, having doubles has always seemed a bit greedy. So ultimately I ended up trading the French version with Cool Chris of Groove Merchant for a few other records. I suppose that’s the definition of a win-win situation…now, if only I could find a German version mispress that has the songs sequenced in the way they are on the French version. Not likely to happen, but a boy can dream can’t he?
One final thing about this record, when I first played “Hein Quant A Toi,” and it got to the part where the flute is amplified and distorted, my dog couldn’t figure out what was going on and why the speakers were making such a weird sound, she just kept turning her head, giving the speakers a sideways glance that I’ve only seen dogs give when they find something strange and peculiar…if you have a dog, you should play it for them and see how they respond.
Cheers,
Michael