Comprising six compositions that were recorded in three days only and released in 1973, mixing jazz, kraut and prog rock, Lard Free’s debut LP - “Gilbert Artman’s Lard Free” - is a musical landmark in the French underground scene. Channeling everything fromTerry Rileyto krautrock and prog, metronomic and angular drumming, bass lines, and arpeggiating synths provide a spine around which the remaining ensemble can stretch out and go wild.

While impossible to gain a sense of at the time, Lard Free’s debut foreshadowed the many line-up changes to come in the band. FeaturingGilbert Artmanon drums,Francis Mativeton guitar,Hervé Eyhanion bass guitar and synthesizer andPhilippe Bollieton sax, founding members,Jean-Jacques MietteandDominique Triloff, had already departed. It wouldn’t be until the release of “Unnamed” in 1997, that we would be able to hear their contributions to the earliest iteration of the project. That said, “Gilbert Artman’s Lard Free” encounters the group flying out of the gate like fire. Each member is locked into perfected balance with every element and intervention rendered by the ensemble, seamlessly covering a vast amount of territory as they go, from heady, stoner jams, spacey psychedelic freak outs, and full throttle free-jazz, with a dash of minimalism thrown in for good measure.

An astounding journey into the cosmos of sound, Lard Free’s “Gilbert Artman’s Lard Free” is a stunning thing to behold. Immersive, joyous, and creatively challenging in the same breath. Replica Records’ brand-new reissue beautifully reproduces the original 1973 gatefold cover, and is pressed on 180 gr. vinyl in a limited edition of 500. Mind-blowing and not to be missed.