The
first "real" album of the super-talented Moscow band Caprice,
released by a well-known French label Prikosnovenie! The CD is the most
professional of all band's releases thus far, both in music and in the quality
of record and sound. The album is a must for any lover of quality music and
extremely talented neo-classics!
On this page you can read some CD
reviews and listen to a couple of tracks from the album in MP3.
You can order the CD on our distribution page.
CAPRICE "Elvenmusic" Reviews
A couple of tracks from the album in MP3
CAPRICE "Elvenmusic"
Reviews
I think I should start reviewing the new album of Caprice by telling you of the events that took place over a year ago. It was then that the first Russian Gothic Compilation "Edge of the Night" came to life, which contained, above all, a song "Princess Mee" performed by Caprice (which was also included in "Elvenmusic"). This song was noticed and greatly regarded by the owner of the French label Prikosnovenie Frederique, who later contacted the musicians and offered them a contract in releasing the album "Elvenmusic" (the working material of which was "Princess Mee") at Prikosnovenie. To cut the long story short, I will omit the long and difficult process of recording at a Moscow studio, for it's hardly of any great interest to the general reader. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the band and the label, the album was finally released in the spring of 2001. And I gladly assure you that those efforts have not fallen flat, for the CD is really wonderful!
But let us begin from the beginning, the cover-art. It was designed by the artist of Prikosnovenie, Adelaide Mallunee in an interesting and fairly unusual manner. The grand booklet is penetrated by warm colors and shades, and its pages here and there reveal peculiar sculptures and winged pixies, as though made of pictures cut out of paper magazines. It looks very fresh and original. The titles of the album and the band are laboriously written in calligraphic writing, which is an important detail in the whole aesthetical look of the CD.
The musical content of the album is also very nice. The band went on developing the path they had stepped upon in their previous work, "Songs of Innocence and Experience", where the beautiful light songs mixed with spooky and sad tracks, and the heavenly voice of Inna Brejestovsky sang lines by William Blake. "Elvenmusic" rises all this to a new height: the neo-classical arrangements and light, airy melodies, rich instrumentals (I was greatly impressed by the harp and the strings), lyrics by Tolkien and of course the voice of Inna. But there are a few things that distinguish this album. Being the third one, it is actually the first, released by a "real", and, which is more, foreign label, where the sound quality requirements are much higher than those for self-released CDs. Indeed, this progress is obvious if you compare the two "Princess Mee"'s (the song was re-recorded for the album). But there are also some changes in the quality of the material itself: the arrangements have become more mature and vivid, while the sound moved to light melancholy and sadness, with large portions of optimistic airy and transparent melodies. The CD is a whole conceptual masterpiece, a pattern of true pure art!
In the end, I would like to congratulate the musicians with their excellent debut, which will definitely be very popular among people who value talented and emotional music, and I'm twice as happy to know that such success on the world scene was gained by a band from Moscow! Hooray!
Sergey Merenkov
Russian Gothic Project
A couple of tracks from the album in MP3
Song
Of The Wind (03:38)
Of
Amroth And Nimrodel (06:58)
(c) 1999 Russian Gothic Project
Design by Chthon
(c) 1999
..