Gelatinosa Substancia (vinyl LP – Picture Disc)

“How's your attention span these days ? When listening to music, the mobile phone call, the ping of your email inbox, even the hoover can all interfere with sustained concentration. But some artists still aspire to your full sit-down-and-shut-up focus on their work, as if on a novel or film. Norscq's new album is like this, conceived as a guided journey through a landscape that mixes concrète with Rock in Opposition-type guitars - experimental but pretty entertaining. Norscq was born Jean-Louis Morgère, founder of 1980s French rock group The Grief. He spins a yarn about this album being the soundtrack for a lost movie by Véronique Ruggia, titled 'Gelatinosa Substancia', which Norscq discovered in an attic somewhere in Brittany. Likewise, his music spins yarns - there's a storytelling impulse to many of these tracks, not via words, but in the constantly shifting structures. Dark electronica makes way for riffing, and Norscq is not averse to a funk rock build-up. Moments recall Four Tet, or even the leering shuffle of Fatboy Slim. 'il est vrai que les douces amertumes' starts out with a beatnik couple (You dig ? You dig !) and winds its narrative through a series of loops and atmospheres, trying out beats and moving on. I also get the sense that Norscq aspires to the cheerful anarchy of the Mexican marimba band field recording that he places at the album's outset. Sombre tracks work better : 'En ce temps-là' drops steamy guitar chords into threatening atmospheres, and features characterful trombone from Joël Lainé. But there's no typical track - you just have to sit down and take it whole.”
Clive Bell, The Wire