Off to see a band tonight, Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso UFO, which although very much Japanese and of the psychedelic rock persuasion, have a surprisingly strong link to French traditional music.
The band have reguarly referred to themselves as Troubadours, from the ancient Occitan musical tradition, one of their albums actually titled Troubadours from Another Heavenly World, but by far their strongest link is in the use of the traditional Occitan song La Nòvia as one of the centrepieces of their live set, as well as one of their (in my view anyway) best albums.
Their La Nòvia album, with its fake trad occitan original sleeve, came out originally on vinyl in 2000 on the Eclipse records label. It was their fith proper album, and despite their massive back catalogue - they must have about 50 albums over the last ten years including all their spin-off projects and live releases - one of their best works.
Acid Mothers guitarist Kawabata Makoto has also been strong advocates of Occitan traditional singer Rosina de Peira, selling copies of her album Gospel d'Oc at Acid Mothers gigs, and it was from Rosina de Peira that the band first heard the song.
The song is performed by the band in the Occitan language, it's lyrics
La nòvia a nau brilhants suu cap
La nòvia a nau brilhants suu cap
Nau brilhants suu cap
L'anèth au dit
Nau brilhants suu cap
L'anèth au dit...
simply translating as "The bride has nine jewels around her head / a ring on her finger" The song traditionally continues with the (occitan) Nine (nau) changed to Eight (uèit) and down to one (un).
AMT of course don't follow the rules too rigorously in the lyrics, despite its lengthy running time, using the melody as a launch pad for a lengthy psychedelic expoloration which still remains true to its ethmomusical roots.
I've seen the band perform the number several times, and its a real highlight of their shows.
Its an extraordinary piece of rock improvisation that combines the dynamics of heavy psychedelic rock with a delicate folk song, often using overtone singing for the vocal sections.
It's not the only long improvisation-based number that they perform, but while numbers like Pink Lady Lemonade are equally impressive workouts, they don't have the jaw-dropping moments when the band come together in delicate vocals that could have come straight from the Middle Ages.
The band released a version of the song that features them performing with Rosina de Peira on their Never Ending Space Ritual - History Of Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. DVD that came out in 2008.
A language teacher once told me that a language cannot really be considered endangered while there's still a pop group performing in that language. While the speakers of Occitan may very well be declining, but if a Japanese band making it the centrepiece of their live performace is any measure it's in fine health indeed.
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