Reissue of the final – and perhaps finest – album by Volapük, drummer / composer/ Etron Fou Le Loublan alumnus Guigou Chenevier's extraordinary avant / post-rock / Rock In Opposition quartet

Where Is Tamashii? is a reissue of the final album by Volapük, the genre-defiant, avant rock French ensemble led by drummer and composer Guigou Chenevier, an alumnus of the legendary Rock In Opposition (R.I.O.) / art rock quartet Etron Fou Le Loublan. One of rock's great unsung drummers, Chenevier founded Volapük in 1993 as a trio with classical musicians Michel Mandel and Guillaume Saurel. He named his group Volapük after a unversal language that pre-dated Esperanto by 50 years. It was a fitting name for a group that ignored musical barriers, liberally sharing elements of rock, classical, folk music and even jazz in the pursuit of composition and melodic essence. In 1999, Volapük welcomed its fourth member, violinist, Takumi Fukushima.

Cuneiform Records began working with Chenevier and Volapük in the 1990s, releasing three Volapük studio albums. It also released a big-band project organized by Chenevier, called Les Rumeurs de la Ville. Recently, as part of its digital release series, Cuneiform reissued a live Volapük recording, Pükapök. Cuneiform is honored to now reissue Where Is Tamashii?, Volapük's last release before disbanding in 2010.

We asked Guigou Chenevier to tell us about Where Is Tamashii? Here's what he said:
“In my opinion, Where is Tamashii? is the best realized album that Volapük ever recorded and released during the 12 or 13 years of our existence.

Unfortunately, for non-musical reasons, this album was not really well distributed when it was first released in 2003 and was not able to find the audience it should have.

This digital release that Cuneiform Records offers us today is a real chance for this album to finally exist again, and for more people to discover the very nice music it contains amongst its eleven pieces.

Listening back to this album today, something I had not done for many years, I am suddenly struck by the fact it constitutes a perfect bridge or link between the earlier period of the group and later projects which have emerged from the Volapük nebula of musicians.

The song, ‘Where is Tamashii’ (I really LOVE Takumi’s singing on this song!), sounds quite like some pieces by Rêve Général (https://altrockproductions.bandcamp.com/album/howl), the ‘super-méga-group’ that wefounded in 2016-2017 with a meeting of musicians coming from the Austro-Czech-Turkish band Metamorphosis and Volapük.

Guillaume cello's and my drums on ‘Impro Cloche’ very strongly remind me a bit of the song ‘Dunaj’ by Rêve Géneral. Takumi's violin in ‘Chantag’ is reminiscent of some parts of the album by Les Mutants Maha (https://lesalbumsclaus.bandcamp.com/album/bakuhatsu), a trio I created with Takumi on violin and vocals and Lionel Malric playing low tech keyboards in 2015.

I could easily list other examples, but in brief, my impressions in listening again to this album today; twenty one years after it was first released, its music is still fresh, organic and very real! A good surprise for me.

--Guigou Chenevier, Avignon, France, September 16th 2024

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VOLAPUK WHERE IS TAMASHII?
Credits: Guigou Chenevier : batterie, percussions Takumi Fukushima : violin, voix Michel Mandel : clarinette, clarinette basse, taragot Guillaume Saurel : violoncelle, basse électrique

"The band specializes in an expert fusion of folk, circus music, gypsy dances and sounding like something that would go very well over a silent film about murderous clowns. Fukushuma's occasional vocals also bring a few of the songs into a realm similar to Czech vocalist Iva Bittova's eccentric avant-pop. All...without the slightest hint of "Art," though the fact that Chenevier had to pull his musicians from classical conservatories should tell you something. There aren't many bands playing this kind of music, but I can say without hyperbole that Volapük is by some measure the best. ...music at once as joyous, strange and accomplished is few and far between... Chenevier's projects can always stand more exposure, and Where Is Tamashii? is on par with the best of them."
– Dominique Leone, Pitchfork

Where_Is_Tamashii? press release

Polyglöt finds Volapuk refining their immediately identifiable sound. In addition to the usual contributions from Guigou Chenevier-drums, electronics, Michel Mandel-clarinets, taragot, & Guillaume Saurel-cello, ex-After Dinner violinist Takumi Fukushima appears as a guest on most of the record, & her contributions fill out & extend their already marvelous sound.

The usual great melodies & catchy intricate rhythms abound as well. Included is Voilà Puk, a tune written for them by Lars Hollmer.

Forget the fact that you can't pronounce the name of the band and listen up! Volapuk is drummer/composer Guigou Chenevier's (Etron Fou) new trio also featuring bass clarinetist Michel Mandel and cellist Guiillaume Saurel.

The band has a very immediately identifiable sound, making full usage of the unusual sonorities of their instruments, along with short, rhythmically complex compositions & improvisations. Exciting, mostly composed music that will please any fan of adventurous/RIO style rock. Guigou is one of the great drummers in rock and is also a superb composer; many of the great Etron works bear his imprint. The cello and bass clarinet handle duties not normally assigned to these instruments with clarity and dexterity.

"A wonderful trio [whose] compositions are highly rhythmic and playful, full of both surprises and logical thematic development." - C.M.J.

"This first release by the Volapuk trio finds the group in top form. These guys are pros, after all, with drummer and leader Guigou Chenevier already a Rock in Opposition veteran with numerous recordings as a member of Etron Fou Leloublan, and the two other group members, Guillaume Aurel on cello and Michel Mandel on bass clarinet, both with substantial classical training and performance experience.
The name "Volapuk" references an early attempt at a universal language, actually predating Esperanto by 50 years. Just as Volapuk (the language) draws from English, German, Latin, French, and Italian sources, Volapuk (the group) integrates popular and folk music of various European cultures. However, this CD is transitional, in that it displays a strong art rock and classical influence at times, as well as a substantial jazz element, especially in Mandel's clarinet work. Pieces like "El Sombrero," for example, are very much in the Rock in Opposition mold, with tricky time signatures, repetitive riffs, and the eventual appearance of Mandel's earthy clarinet, wailing over the top.
Later CDs by the group will display a greater ethnic content, and perhaps a more natural integration of musical elements, but this is nonetheless a dynamic and confident recording, anchored by Chenevier's inventive and propulsive drumming." – AllMusic