Library Music Themes
General Sharing & Discussion => Vintage Library Vinyl and CD rips => Topic started by: Mr on October 30, 2025, 12:24:28 PM
-
(https://i.imgur.com/KKbXqQR.png)
Those Frenchies are at it again! Moving on from the US (https://librarymusicthemes.com/index.php?topic=10550.0), this time they'er back in their native France.
Now, "French folk music" in my mind undeniably conjures up images of an aging accordionist sitting by the Seine passionately belting out waltzes as people sit in nearby cafés eating baguettes, and upon my first listen, at the start of the A-side (though admittedly a bit jauntier than I expected), I was afraid I had my suspicions confirmed - "oh, it's one of those LPs", for completionists only, and destined to just sit on a shelf unplayed, I thought - but not even 2 minutes in, it already goes off the rails as a the accordionist stops playing and a bagpipe(!) barges in out of nowhere, the pianist carrying on in the same way as before, seemingly pretending nothing out of the ordinary has occured, it all sounding increasingly unhinged as the violinist joins back in again, this time sounding slightly off-key towards the bagpipe tuning. The ensemble stops and the bagpipe continues playing alone, maniacally, as the cue fades out... only for the same bagpipe to fade right back in again, starting cue A2. What a start!
As the start of the previous section probably clued you in on, I'm no expert on French folk music, but for the rest of the LP I'd guess we clearly find ourselves not in Paris, but rather somewhere in the French regional countryside (or perhaps the distant past?). The compositions themselves are often fairly straight-forward and quite hummable (with lots of repetition), but the unusual instrumentation really carries this one - the aforementioned accordion, violin and bagpipe are also joined by hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, dulcimer, various flutes and percussion, creating some pretty unique textures. Some sections are so 'out there' that I really wonder how you'd ever use this as background music for... well, anything! - a trait it shares with some of my favourite moments in library music.
The B-side ends with a pop tune, pulling us somewhat back to our current time and place (1982) - a "traditional" (heh) combo of drums, bass and guitar, are joined by some of the folk instruments we've just spent the last half hour getting acquainted with.
Enjoy!
hurdy://www.mediafire.com/file/xhropexe1f2e7nd/RCM+3.rar/file (flac)
gurdy://www.mediafire.com/file/qqfp056jyo941tt/RCM+3+(mp3).rar/file (mp3)
-
Some sections are so 'out there' that I really wonder how you'd ever use this as background music for... well, anything!
Well, that's French library music for you! Where would we be without it?