lockdown : vinyl find #41.

45's aren't my favorite format, but for some short lived bands, that's the only type of recording they could afford. And this category, the short lived band, is a major provider of crazy good music. It is especially true in rock'n'roll, whater the sub-genre, like it is in soul music. 

Here I want to pay homage to a label called Caméléon Records, dedicated to reissuing forgotten records, most of them French and rock but not only. The label started with 45's in 2012, before expanding its activities to LP's.

I first came across their 45's at Gibert Musique, Paris. They came with a piece of paper mentioning the sold out records from the label, the reading of which sometimes can generate a disappointment. However, I took it as a nice move from the label, resurrecting the catalogs from the past in their own way. 

A visit to the website gives an idea of the work the label puts for these reissues to see the light of day ; the research is detailed and turns into history lessons in which it is very entertaining to dive. 

Today's record is a 45rpm by a band called Ankh. The A side is a heavy rock song, sung in French next to an aggressive guitar riff. Can't say the vocals are very nice to listen to, but they gave a candid amateurish feel to it.

The B side is an instrumental piece, in a proggy psych vibe, with again kind of an amateurish touch, with these variations that may lack a bit of transition. 

Both songs were written by Fabrice Baty, who was highly influenced by Nietzsche. He had previously recorded a (now rare) instrumental record titled "Guitares". 

For a private-press record, it benefits from a cool cover. The author, Renaud Thorez, became a graphist afterwards, and played bass in several bands on the side. 

The band emerged from Normandy, France, in the mid-1970's. They released their only 45rpm in 1976, sold at their concerts. The band didn't expand much beyond Normandy, and was dissolved in 1977. End of a short career, with nothing but this single to testify ; and thanks to the efforts of Caméléon, it can reach a wider audience than 40 years ago. 

Ankh - Les maîtres du temps / Iles.

Here's the A side. And the B side.