Nemo - SI 1 & 2

There is no doubt in my mind that Nemo are one of the most interesting bands ever to come out of France, and in 2006 they released arguably their finest album ‘SI Partie I’ and followed it up a year later with ‘SI Partie II’. Now here we are in 2012 and Quadrifonic have released the two as a double digi-pak for the price of a single album. Obviously having the two albums together as a set for such a good price is worth the investment if you are missing either, but this is one of the most tactile and well-thought out releases for a while so even if you already own both you ought to consider getting this just to enjoy it like this. The two discs are in the middle two sections, either side are the booklets for each album, then remove the booklets and you are faced with the original artwork for the covers, but reversed. The new front cover (and reverse) folds out into artwork that is related to the two original albums. It just cries professionalism, thought and care even before either album is put into the player!

It is always hard to review albums that one feels are like old friends, and I’m not sure where to start, so let’s put these into some context. According to www.progarchives.com, ‘SI Partie I’ is still the top-rated album from 2006, while the follow-up is 24th for 2007, so not bad. Although all of their albums are always sung in French I have never found this an issue, as it allows me to view the voice as yet another instrument. Musically they have links with symphonic bands such as Pink Floyd while also containing elements of jazz, yet as well as musical mastery they also have a great control of space and dynamics. Songs can move from sweeping keyboards to acoustic guitar, harmony vocals, tight rock riffs, in fact whatever they want. They can feel loose and relaxed or intense and over the top, often within the same song and length doesn’t hold any fears for them as they can be twenty minute epic or two minute wonders such as “Décadence” which in itself shows what the band are all about as they move and sweep through different emotions and styles.