Charles Kaczynski - Lumière De La Nuit (Reissue) (1978/2006)

Lumière de la Nuit is a UFO in Quebec's progressive music sky. Some connoisseurs have raved about it, while others only grant it a footnote in the history of the genre. Relatively unknown in 1978 (his only claim to fame being his tenure in Conventum circa the band's first album, À l'Affût d'un Complot), Charles Kaczynski spent months in the studio working on Lumière de la Nuit, a multi-tracked album of grandiloquent progressive music on which the man sings and plays all instruments: violin, viola, and double bass along with various keyboards, acoustic guitars, and percussion. The size alone of this one-man project is impressive, although it is less striking on a musical level. The connection with Conventum is tenuous and limited to the importance of the violin and the overall acoustic feel of the album. The massed vocals, thick string sections, and pompous developments evoke a cross between Ange and Raôul Duguay's more lyrical pieces, plus a touch of Harmonium circa Si On Avait Besoin d'une Cinquième Saison, without ever reaching the level of any of those bands and artists. That being said, several movements of this 15-part opus are graced with beautiful moments, from the bucolic "Naissance" to the rootsier folk of "Père de la Terre." The second half is particularly strong and comes somewhat closer to the spirit of early Conventum. The album's weaker spots happen when Kaczynski sings lyrics (as opposed to his wordless choirs), his voice not strong enough to carry a lead melody. The two songs were also recorded in English and the album was released in both languages in 1979 (the English version under the title Light of the Night). ProgQuébec reissued the French version for the first time in 2006. Unlike their previous impeccable reissues, the Montreal-based specialty reissue label settled for a mediocre LP-to-CD transfer, without liner notes.