(Progressive) Sloche - J'un Oeil (1975), FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

History of Sloche began in Quebec City with Pierre Bouchard, a self-taught musician whose parents were famous concert pianists known as the Bouchard-Morisset duo. Bouchard had in his collection records by Frank Zappa, jazz musicians and several British rock groups. It is in this context of a mixture of musical styles that he started to compose tracks in which can be heard passages influenced by classical and contemporary music, jazz and the British progressive current. Bouchard recruited other musicians: Marcel Perigny (guitar) who had played in W.D. Fisher, Jacques Collin (bass), and in early 1971, Fernand Pare (drums) and Rejean Yacola (keyboards), both students at the Quebec Music Conservatory. Soon after, Collin ceded his place to Pierre Hebert, also a student at the Conservatory and whose father, Gerard Hebert, was a well known jazz pianist in Quebec. Since the group's influences were so varied, it was decided that all musical styles could coexist within a song. Sloche also decided that the traditional method of composing music would change. Several different themes would be present within a song, would start to develop and then would abruptly change direction. Among the first compositions were "Stadacone" and "Isacaaron" which would appear on the group's second album.
After a while the groups added a second guitarist, Caroll Berard, who was also a student of the Conservatory. Sloche began doing small shows in order to see the public's reaction to this kind of music. Despite the complexity of the material presented, the enthusiasm of the spectators encouraged the group to carve out a place in Quebec's musical universe. Sloche then decided to practice several times a week in order to evolve more rapidly. However this schedule did not suit everyone. Bouchard, and soon after Pare, were replaced by Martin Murray (keyboards and saxophone), another student of the Conservatory, and Gilles Chiasson (drums), self-taught with a rock steady beat. Sloche prepared an hour and a half of original material to present to concert promoters. In early 1973, Perigny left and his parts were split between the two keyboardists, Yacola and Murray, and the other guitarist Berard. The group then began to look for a record company. Since their music was not commercial, it was not easy to get a label interested. Sloche therefore produced a demo at its own expense in a Montreal studio toward the end of 1973.
From January to May 1974, the group played a series of shows across Quebec, as well as a concert at Place des Nations in Montreal. They got very warm receptions, and Sloche was also chosen to represent Quebec with Toubabou at the Festival International de la Jeunesse Francophone before 55,000 fans in Quebec City in August. During this show, the percussionist Raynald Drouin completed the work of Chiasson who had injured his hand. On December 24, 1974, a fire destroyed all of the group's instruments, and in early January 1975, Sloche was asked to support a concert headlined by British group Gentle Giant. Luckily, an instrument dealer by the name of Jules Lessard decided to lend them instruments. This generous gesture allowed Sloche to open for Gentle Giant in Quebec City, and the following morning, the group received a call from RCA Records. A recording contract was signed towards the end of that Spring and the group's first album, J'un Oeil, was recorded during the Summer of 1975, with the group having been given "carte-blanche" by RCA as to the musical content.
In the fall of 1975, Sloche's first record, J'un Oeil, was launched to the media and the public. Several tracks from the album were regularly played on radio stations throughout Quebec, and album sales were good. Band practices resumed in order to integrate some new musical elements which had been added during the studio recordings. Gilles Chiasson (drums) had to quit the group, and Andre Roberge, a dynamic drummer, was chosen to replace him. Live concerts also resumed. The release of J'un Oeil helped the group obtain a greater notoriety, however the music was still far from having mass appeal. The group began preparing its next album, Stadacone, and it was decided to bring an "external ear" into the studio, someone who could take a step back in order to help polish the production. Sloche asked Gilles Ouellet, a well known musician-arranger in Quebec City, who also agreed to play Celesta and percussion.
Several intensive concerts and practices were in store from January to June 1976. The work method was still the same: one of the musicians would present his composition which was almost completely arranged. The others, after having learned their parts, would make suggestions as to how to improve the arrangement, however the original composer was still the master of his work. It was during the Summer of 1976, the year of the Montreal Olympics, that Stadacone was finally recorded. Two of the group's very first compositions were featured on the new album: the title track "Stadacone" and "Isacaaron", both co-written by Rejean Yacola and Pierre Bouchard. The album was thus dedicated to Bouchard, the group's founder, who had left Sloche several years earlier. The style of music had not changed either: a fusion of classical and contemporary music, jazz and progressive rock. The musicians were very happy with the final result and 3,000 copies were pressed. The album was launched in the Fall and the positive reactions were similar to those of the first album. Sloche went back on tour and performed at L'Eveche at the Hotel Nelson in Montreal.
For many years the financial situation had been difficult for the Sloche team. The final tour, which took place in early 1977 in the Saguenay-Lac St-Jean region, finally put an end to the adventure that was Sloche. People in this area had been fervent supporters of the group and there had been many magnificent moments, particularly at the final show in Chicoutimi. Other groups such as Pollen, Et Cetera and Morse Code were also calling it quits. It was the end of the progressive rock era and the music industry in Quebec was in shambles. Yacola then joined Raoul Duguay's touring group, as keyboardist and musical director, appearing on Duguay's 1978 live album entitled Vivant avec toulllmond. The Sloche torch was carried a few years later by two former members, Martin Murray and Andre Roberge. They recruited Michel Vaillancourt (guitar) and Richard Drouin (bass), and created new songs while rearranging old ones. The style of music was more fusion. After a few shows, this initiative ended. Since then, the members of Sloche have each taken a different road, yet they ended up playing together during many recording sessions and television shows. The complicity established through years of working together had borne its fruits.
Источник: from CD booklet

EAC extraction logfile from 29. September 2009, 22:48 for CD
Sloche / J'un oeil

Used drive : LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1S Adapter: 4 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No

Used output format : C:\Users\Pollux\Downloads\Syrup098b7\Syrup.exe (User Defined Encoder)
320 kBit/s
Additional command line options : REACT %o %s %d "%a" "%g" "%t" "%n" "%x" "%y" "%m" "%e" "%f" "%b" %r

Other options :
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000

Track 1
Filename D:\Pollux\Sloche - J'un oeil - 01 - C'Pas Fin Du Monde.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00

Peak level 99.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC E94AA735
Copy CRC E94AA735
Copy OK

Track 2
Filename D:\Pollux\Sloche - J'un oeil - 02 - Le Kareme D'Eros.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:03.00

Peak level 99.9 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 92223B67
Copy CRC 92223B67
Copy OK

Track 3
Filename D:\Pollux\Sloche - J'un oeil - 03 - J'un Oeil.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:03.00

Peak level 99.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 90BC5124
Copy CRC 90BC5124
Copy OK

Track 4
Filename D:\Pollux\Sloche - J'un oeil - 04 - Algebrique.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:03.00

Peak level 99.9 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 3DAF2C7E
Copy CRC 3DAF2C7E
Copy OK

Track 5
Filename D:\Pollux\Sloche - J'un oeil - 05 - Potage Aux Herbes Douteuses.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:03.00

Peak level 99.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A37F7924
Copy CRC A37F7924
Copy OK

No errors occured

End of status report