“Dur et Doux is a collective of musicians, a label and a production structure that defends a singular vision of amplified music. Founded in 2008 and carried by thirty or so musicians forming around 15 bands, Dur et Doux praises the unusual, the creation and the innovation, all being nurtured by the singularity of each of its members in order to make them cohabit at the best of their abilities”.

“”Two years and 11 albums after Ca marchera jamais, we have brought up a new compilation. What better context than LA FETE DE LA MUSIQUE to pay a non tribute to Jack Lang and to rush a whole bunch of tracks from the intensive breeding of the pony club. We leave the land of Lyon with a few greetings from distant friends and above all present here some unreleased tracks, some never released old tracks and some surprises from the near future! Don’t wait to have a good time with music!”   

La Fête de la Musique – various artists (Dur Et Doux) – And it is a musical festival, a glorious a musical festival. that Chromb track is immense, they are a mighty band, forward-looking ear-challenging prog rock epics are their thing, this sampler album is worth it just for Chromb piece (and ridiculously, Chromb, it can be argued, are far from the very best band on this very big album). But you see, that is the thing here, Dur Et Doux have been releasing epic prog albums for quite a few years now, real progressive art rock mind you, none of that tediously conservative tediously polite neo-prog nonsense here, they’re one of the very very few labels you can really really trust – you know if their name (and that one-eyed horse) is on the label you need to check it out, you know it is going to be challenging, that it is almost certainly going to be rewarding. But, and there is a but, but that’s the thing, they deal in epic prog albums, massive slabs of art rock, proper progressive art rock sometimes edged with a very French take on new wave, always progressively challenging, with an attitude, forward looking, the spirit of punk, real art, almost everything they do do is thrilling. I mean, just look at their track record as you ears wrap around the delights of Rien Fiere, just look at that outrageous track record – three of what we considered the ten best albums of 2020 were on Dur Et Doux, the same number figured on the list in 2019. I mean come on, they have the progressive challenge of PoiL, they have the mountainous  Chromb and that’s before you even start to consider the beauty of Odessey & Oracle (Odessey & Oracle are just gorgeous, they’re one of the very best musical things ever) and they have vital vital (vital) musical beast that is Le Grand Sbam on the label – but that’s the thing, all this bands have made brilliant albums, and to really get these bands you really really need to explore the full albums, you need to allow these fine bands to spread out and unfold properly, I’m not entirely sure you can get them from one track on a sampler album. It is a very fine album though, it is a fine gateway, it is compilation album to enjoy, it does work as one if you just put it on and let it go, lots of treasure here, it really is a musical festival, and there are things you won’t have heard yet,  some “old tracks and some surprises from the near future”., even if you do already know, there’s lots to explore here, a vital record label, a proper one, and a fine fine sampler compilation to explore and enjoy.  (sw)

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Previously on these fractured pages

ORGAN THING: Dur et Doux do it again, this Odessey & Oracle album is pretty much perfect and yes, “interlacing melodies and impressive psychedelic climates from a varied, blinker-free instrumentarium”

ORGAN THING: Les banquiers du coeur, Brice et sa pute est un duo cabaret punk, part of the always rewarding Duretdoux family, here’s a new video…

ORGAN THING: This time we were kind of expecting it, this time we were expecting something special, Le Grand Sbam’s new album Furvent hasn’t let us down…

ORGAN THING: PinioL, the lustful and strapping meeting of the seven musicians from PoiL and Ni…ORGAN: That best albums of 2020 list (at last), Cheer Accident, Michael J Sheehy, Le Grand Sbam, Odessey & Oracle, Penny Rimbaud, Terms, Allegra Krieger, Tairrie B, Deerhoof and…

ORGAN THING: PoiL’s new album Sus, holymerde this sounds good, prog as flip…

ORGAN THING: New albums from Ni and Ultra Zook, the French like to do it a little differently, a little more hard-boiled…

ORGAN THING: Le Grand Sbam, hang on, stop absolutely everything, whatever you were doing, stop it, listen to this…

ORGAN THING: Poil, Mula, Ni, Piniol, probably some of the very best music made in 2018…