JE SUIS VIVANT, MAIS J'AI PEUR DE GILBERT DEFLEZ by JACKY CHALARD

Epic, cosmic psych-rock from Dynastie Crisis' Jacky Chalard. 'Je suis vivant, mais j'ai peur' (I Am Alive, I Am Afraid) sees Chalard's spaced-out progressive suites reverberate over and under the freakish fables of French radio storyteller Gilbert Deflez.For the lucky contestant fortunate enough to be stood in a record shop holding an original copy of 'Je suis vivant, mais j'ai peur' you might eventually find some answers in the small print. Hidden below an assemblage of school yearbook style portrait shots of ex-radio DJs and unknown actors and storytellers (that would suggest to many that you have found a spoken word LP) you'll eventually find shots of four guys in headphones that look like musicians. If you share your record reading skills with a deep knowledge of Parisian prog pop and French rock then the 6pt text names J. Chalard, J. Mercier, P. Lhomet and M. Engel might ring some bells. With absolutely no indication on the records glossy gatefold exterior you are actually holding a rare chunk of French pop history - you've just found a secret psychedelic science fictional cosmic concept LP by one of the leading bands of the No-No generation. You might as well tell the man behind the counter to take all of the aforementioned buzz words write them on a sticker and plonk it on the front of this album, because this time they are all relevant and genuine. Then tell him to take another pen and write "mega rare ugoogleable missing LP by DYNASTIE CRISIS". Otherwise keep schtumm because you've just struck vinyl gold. Like most forward thinking LPs of the era 'Je suis vivant, mais j'ai peur' was too progressive for its 1974 release, and for an LP designed to sound like it was made 25 years in the future it was quite clearly ahead of its time by design. Perhaps a reissue in 1999 might have bought the LP up to date but given an extra decade to hibernate, a lot like the story's leading protagonist, maybe the characters of 'Je suis vivant, mais j'ai peur' can finally be unleashed on planet Earth to inspect how our musical tastes have developed.