Elaine Kibaro – au Soleil

I found this record in Paris last fall for one euro. I nearly flipped when I noticed the Eye of Fatima on the cover (hard to see in the photo but look at her hands). I was convinced that I had scored some amazing French hippie goddess folk gem. As my vacation went on, I became a little spellbound by the record. I would gaze upon the cover every day (seriously) and would daydream about the wonderful music that awaited me upon my return. My wife knows that I can be a little nutty about records but even she noticed that I took an unhealthy interest in this record.

Two weeks later, after a fourteen hour flight with little rest and an hour drive, I got home, immediately unpacked this from my carry on, and threw it on the turntable. Of course, I had set myself up for bittersweet disappointment. Then again, as the French would say, this is the je ne sais quoi of record collecting.

What we have here is essentially a pop album with a variety of styles ranging from samba lite to folk rock. Almost all the songs feature prominent progressive synthesizer. Hmmm, sounds marginally interesting. . .but why are you writing this review? Well, au Soleil merits review based on the last quarter of the album, which comes out of nowhere. It goes from heavy breaks (think Requiem Por Un Con) to oceanic new age complete with seagull song to excellent prog rock.

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