Le Roseau 
Marie De Malicorne (1975-2005) (F,2005)***°°
Malicorne is one of the longest living and most interesting French folk & folkrock bands. They delivered a few masterpieces, like the rather conceptual "L'Extraordinaire.." (1978). Despite their recognition it still is hard to obtain most of their items. Some of them are still not or were only reissued in limited editions. The group had many strong elements. It was the folk or folkrock arrangements at first, which is very recognisable in "Legende" (1989), a compilation album of their second period, the very original and strong vocal arrangements, which were compiled to the "Vox" album (1997). While band leader Gabriel Yacoub had several solo releases and numurous projects, it was also time not to forget another original element, the beautiful and very special coloured voice of Marie from Malicorne. This is a compilation of her songs, mostly in new versions or with different editing and with most focus on her wonderful voice.
Marie's voice is surely as special as is Shirley Collins in the UK, or perhaps Vera Coomans in Belgium. The arrangements are somewhat sparse but always different and thoughtful. The medieval "Misere" shows some of Malicorne's beautiful vocal arrangements, but also "Une Fille dans le Désespoir" and the classic "Marions les Roses", which has a different mix from the original and interesting vocal arrangement. Just a few tracks, like "Vive La Lune" and "La Nuit des Sorcières" have more deliberate studio pop arrangements. Also the last track "La Blanche Biche" attempted to make a compromise between folk ideas and such studio arrangements. These arrangements are different from the folk inspired fragility which always fits Marie's voice, but in a way still work well, without creating the universal unique feeling. "Marie De Malicorne" still is a very fine and enjoyable product. Stylistically it is a small step away from Malicorne’s work but Marie’s voice alone already makes it work.
The texts of the songs are added in PDF format, but can also be checked on Yacoub's website here.
Audio : "Le mari jaloux" (or here ), "Misère" (or here ), "Petite oasis","Je suis trop jeunette","Le luneux","Robe blanche","La vieille fille", "Une fille dans le désespoir", "Marions les roses" (or here), "Vive la lune", "Alexandre", "La nuit des sorcières","Le couteau blond","La blanche biche" & http://www.myspace.com/virginmalicorne
