During the April Three Epics posts, one of the truly epic bands I shared was Zenzile, a French troupe that began as a Dub unit & gradually expanded outward to encompass & enhance all the styles & sounds their members loved & loved playing.
As I sez at the time:
"Following Living in Monochrome (2007), Zenzile expanded their sound in numerous sound experiments: (Pawnshop - pop); (Electric Soul - soul); (Berlin - film soundtrack); (Elements - audio-visual installation). I will explore those four in a further edition featuring this great band...What began as Dub became broad & cinematic, with the band dabbling in rock, progressive, electro, new wave, funk-punk or krautrock until Dub had almost completely disappearred on the 2017s Elements release."
The entire purpose of the Three Epics posts was to showcase three bands that didn't simply re-do there previous releases each time out, but used their creativity to branch out to various styles that fit their own personal design. Of the three, Zenzile perhaps personifies that concept to the greatest degree. As varying as each release is, each one is a masterpiece on its own, showcasing the band incredible mucical talents over a wide range of styles, while never forsaking or forgetting that they are at heart a Dubwise unit of the highest order. In every iteration you can still feel the truest soul of Dub.
With this share I will illuminate a fantastic ten-year creative period in the developement of Zenzile.
First off Zenzile takes a stab at their own unique twist on folk/pop.
Histoire de Papiers
Life's a Dance
The Crooked Man
Motorbremsen
Fire Eater
Mind over Matter
White Spirit
National Quota
Thursday Night Rover Disco
Caution Horses
This one should be self-evident...
Scars
No Idol
Mind Control
Stay
Yuri's Porthole
Magic Number
Chewin' Mi Mic
Over/Time
Man Made Machine
Next Zenzile created a live soundtrack for the famous documentary directed by Walter Ruttmann in 1927, Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt), a fascinating depiction of a single day in the Berlin of the 1920s.
Der Zug
Die Architektur
Die Strasse
Die Fabrik
Die Laden
Die Bourgeoisie
Der Verkehr
Der Windergarten
Die Brucke
Die Freizeit
Der Tanz
Having found great success with their soundtrack effort, Zenzile embarked on their next project, music for an audio-visual art installation. The final fill in the ten year gap...
Bird
Outsight
Storm
Dry
Escape
Sequences
Stellar
Presence
Poly
Epic enjoyment,
NØ