Eric Swan – Music For Loving / Music For Laughing

Despite the two titles have the same pronounciation with the F ("loFing" and "lauFhing")none of this music can be used for these two interchangeable purpose moments in everyday life as named in title: Eric Swan music will led you to crazy visual show and laughing-gas mania spectacular events!

If we consider and scan the entire French "L'Illustration Musicale" label output of Roger and Nardini, some other hidden track gems will be inevitably left apart in the corner by the magnificent Masterpieces Records like "Sound Industrial" and "100% Electronic", and the same special sounding trickery of "Electronic Tricks",the luscious soothing "Nature Nocturne" and the modern water-like flowing easy space lounge of "Melodies with a Beat".

But now looking at this Lp we have some very ultimate beautiful attracting tracks, fortunately enhanced by a surprisig distinctive AREACEM vinyl pressing quality, with high output for our usual hearing expectations: but we know this is the label of modern rhythms and the two French Masters minds never let us "We Worldwide Listeners" down without a pleasure moment !
One strange and particular comic thing for the occasion is on back cover notice where is adviced to listeners how the English language is privileged for tracklisting titles despite Francophon people were usually expecting French language: the motivation itself given is that music business clearly requires this among worldwide distributors !
So here in result we have two kind of titles,both in English and in French for B side.

On side A Eddie Warner Orchestra gives us his vision of the widely known women voiced "oh oh la la" big band orchestra pop sounds music of the seventies, where the main girl voice sings wordlless sensual singing along with the hard jazz funk rock tracks or even with a suave full string orchestra backing: side A is boosting and relaxing and "For Loving" truly, plus it hard rocks some moments too, just like the following IM LP 16 "Music of Today" wich these track fairly pairs!.
A Good Job Overrall with Eddie Warner music, plus is very enjoyable if we make a complete full album if paired with full tracks belonging to "Music of Today" IM 16 Lp side A.

But then when switching for side B and the turntable stylus goes gently down, here it is: the magic starts moving the air like LSD trip or gently falling into a magic landscape : like we are late for a tea with Alice and some speaking bunnies going for a weird fox catch plus we are projected in a jingle made of concrete sound fun.
This sense of suspended weirdness feel is due most of his effect for the perfect sequence of tracks succession: they seems to come one after the other just like chapters in a book and they fits perfectly in a series of seven.

If we think we are prepared for orchestral music with effects only (as clearly stated-adviced on back cover) we have the surprise that is not istantly so at the beginning.
This 1st track "Fatty" (translated from the french "Le Petit Gros", title is "The Big Little One" ) is one "fully synthetizer loaded electronic redundant funny song" with a clear circle shape wich resembles some fat walk & oscillating steps,plus this track is capable of opening up as intro with the child-like soothing & ballsy round melody, always filled with many micro sounds counterpoint that makes every time a new listening pleasure .
On this B side the Swan alias Roger ( and surely Nardini too !) track titles are primarly purposed for a mental figuration: they clearly depict a mental scene builded up with sounds, and usually Roger has prepared s 'n' listeners for this exercise on many records, connecting evocative music to bright mental scenes.

Along with 2nd and 3rd and 4th tracks named in english "My Cock Horse" and "Camel Patrol" (or in french translation alternate names "My All-Day-Work Horse" and "Le Chameau Toquard","The Ridicule Camel") the orchestra enters in and is interfilled with THAT harsh granular early synth stabs (that many of you should have recognized elsewhere too), the SAME ONE sounding one used in many Nardini's themes.

So, for one historical interruption now, is interesting to recognize the particular Studio Ganaro French recording session where this bunch of tracks belongs to.
If we listen closely and see the manufactury and style implied in these tracks we understand how the big band sound is conjuncted here with "that" early synth granular sound wich resemble a continuous farting (!).
So according to this "style" we recognize totally 7 tracks wich see the utilization of this same electronic source effect (3 tracks here plus "Donald", "Quack Track","Donald's Walk", "Catch that Man!" and the old 1961 Decca single track "Calcutta". No surprise to notice all these songs are credited to Nino Nardini !

Now for returning to the LaugHing side... .
These continuing steps tracks "My Cock Horse" and "Camel Patrol" adds a spicey classical flavour to the sequence: they are straight wonderful entertaining normal big band songs enhanced with electronics, with that weird captivating melodies that enters in the mind, or you can gently sing under the shower while whistling.Pure Classic Whimsy Fluffy Glucose Flavour!

Now for the fourth song, "Inebriated Tyrolian" continues the orchestra sound interfilled with that previously named early synth effect but here we are waked up at the beginning with many tyrolian birds resembling-singing electronic trickeries.
This piece it has all in a title program: it is balanced with what you may think with such a name: so many surprise effects, the synth generates some near-trueness "high mountain birds and cows soundings" and let us enter into green and white landscape, making us breath that air and feeling like being drunk only at eight o clock in the morning with some alcoholic Appennini Grappa ending with a funny monstrous cow's "muuuu"!
Very figurative with that unique french comic style and seems to anticipate the "Gags a Go Go" Lp style with interesting use of concrete music samples!
Again this one has added one more comic blow and a perfect step into tha progressive sequence feel.

But now....those last 3 tracks are Absolute Hidden Gems and Unique wich Manufactury Inventiveness and Never Before Heard Mood are not find in anywhere else R&N library record (BUT MAYBE they could be connected with same time recording session of the 7 tracks by Nardini on A side of IM 19 "Animals Children" Lp.) and they learn us what kind of Laughing can be for us these days, with a of ideas ing over years.

"Idiotic Calypso" is the most Stupefacent and Infectious track here, a truly preminent Dopamine song, a perfect "Istant Party Starter" with his superb hard drivin' fast up-tempo plus heavy 'n'grooveey drum beats inter-filled with one marvellous infectious silly like-latin mood trumpet with a strong melody plus some "ear-splitting" male and female wordless-voices electro concrete layer mixed together with a stoning purpose "panning" effect, as it continuosly oscillates from left to right channell.
A real Modernist Crazy Parody of Calypso Music in electronic vein with an enhanced good production and one perfect sounding up-front-swinging-mood trumpet that is hard to get out of mind!
A sure pound hit if paired together with "Comics and Co." in a fantasy 7" single.
Everytime at very first notes of music, everyone start to dance!
This is the song I imagine to put up at starting a house party and everyone goes up dancing like crazy being possessed by invisible shaking force!

But now 2....with the appropriately named (as stated on vinyl record label itself) "Pityful Secret Agent" track we have a full synth song where is in some way suggested a "spy like story theme" with a parody feel and comic touch : a dark mood and insecure alterned spare drumming with strong electronic bass line doubled by some high pitched synth opens the track beginìning.
Not always Roger makes a use of noise so freely as a normal song layer component: after the white noise into "Ostinata" from the "Merry and Sad" album track we have here a synth FX used simply like it is a normal instrument part bubbling along very noisily.
Then electro beats are jocking with ambient screeching synth stabs and one hesitating melodic line, where our figurative Secret Agent is only named as "zero zero nothing" on back cover instead, resembling a timid "Unlucky Spy" that is overwhelmed by the massive meaning of reality where he can't even lie into.
This one is 1 of the most weird ambient unbalancing disbelief track "eveer" that feels like waking up with 32 hours of sleep on Venus after a blow job!(and immagination is needed!).Truly a stand out broken atmosphere illbient track, suggesting one of the most weird feeling of deja -vu plus magnetic hertz drunk estrangement !

Last Total Weird track "Comics and Co." takes where previous track left and start banging the perfect ending for such sequence: it is like a fireworks song or better, is like a fast smoking train comin' over with that familiar "fluff fluff" background sound but this time just like coming out of a crazy nightmare !
Probably firstly build around a train imaginery suggestion, then music gradually start going to be one of the strongest and most saturated electronic synthesizer track here: a main jingle layer line inter-filled with spared surprising effects including: 1_tragic sarcastic human concrete laughing that put a sdramatization and relief feeling in front of "actual world crisis", 2_a superb builded melody leaving an overall weird maniac feel to the listener, resembling a fast fluffing unstoppable train 3_one infectious fast/Heavy synthesizer that let your brain thinking 'n'swinging from one side to another even after the track has finally stopped.
Crazily The Masterful Production of these tracks puts electronic parts "up in your face" but well melted into the mix and surprsingly balanced with other sound layers: this fantastic sounding set linked together with a big quality areaceam vinyl brings the perfect modern sound of 1975 just ready and widely suitable for today, the crispness and clarity/brightness achieved in this IM15 record incredibly anticipated the " 360° full aural dimensional quailty" before any digital mastering and i can't imagine how Roger and Nardini managed to get sucha deluxe musical frequence response to put into a standard vinyl at time music was recorded in Studio Ganaro, probably straight into balanced mixer !
The musical interplay among sound layers, plus the perfect blending of simultaneous pitches and instruments parts with different timbrical values can be widely appreciated in every track of this particular "Music for Laughing", wich stands up in the discography as an important attempt of fusing big band orchestral elements with detached electronic sounds in order to create a suggestive modern form, wich still to-day is escaping from the contemporary poular music panorama.

Side B of this IM 15 strongly manages to build up the much acclaimed today craftmanship filled with the ompah craziness of Nardini and the classy style of Roger, wich no one else had among library music of the mid seventies in such high degree and wich produced some of the most intriguing and still to be paired "ultra-any-purpose background music".


ATTENTION: those tracks are really additive and may cause several repetitive listening session enjoyment in order to prevent sickness and withdrwal from modern world living consumption.(Consumation of fresh baked puff pastry goods and hot sugared zeppola donuts is recommended in proper limits due to Listener's age.)