Les Triaboliques, The Lexington

A potent blend of esoteric blues, folk and rock – strings attached

by Howard MaleWednesday, 04 May 2011

Well, would you buy a used barizouki from any of these men? From left to right: Mandelson, Adams and EdmondsSimon Lewis

London-based trio Les Triaboliques should perhaps be grateful that Wikipedia hasn’t included them in their entry on supergroups. There you will find a comprehensive list of so-called supergroups with leadenly histrionic names like Isles and Glaciers, Shrinebuilder and How to Destroy Angels (not to mention the super-supergroups that started it all such as Cream, Humble Pie and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. But Adams, Edmonds and Mandelson are, I suppose, the alt-supergroup, representing something of an evolutionary jump forward - if for no other reason than they are musically co-operating rather than competing, admirably intent on suppressing their egos rather than indulging them.

‘Our three musicateers were, to a man, firmly planted on seats, with the one person in the band who you’d expect to see on a seat – the drummer – conspicuous by his absence’

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Permalink Submitted by Seb (not verified) on Wed, 04/05/2011 - 20:10

Nice to be able to comment on a review I saw committed to paper... Thanks for that Howard... I enjoyed the vibe a lot, and it was a kind of vibe, three musicians clearly with a history that culminates in this moment - they could almost just sit on stage without playing and ooze vibe. Their slower numbers worked best I thought. The line-up shouldn't work, and sometimes it doesn't. Meaning that it often does, with bass, mid and treble covered by various instruments of different string-length and rhythm a-plenty, the key being electric guitar set off against the fragile sounds of cumbus and mandolin... The banter was pretty Pythonesque which is maybe the thing which will prevent this trio from being a collective Seasick Steve of the UK, but strange and beautiful certainly they were...

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