French TV - 2026 - The Spanish Caper

(112:15; Cuneiform Records)

The 16th album from French TV is a little unusual in that the two discs come from very different concepts, and there are slightly different line-ups. For the first, founder member and bassist Mike Sary undertook the approach from the Seventies when bands would “go to the country” to write, rehearse and then record. He took with him regular members guitarist Kasumi Yoneda (also in the Japanese band TEE), long-time drummer Jeff Gard, plus members of the French band Mentat Routage (who also make up French TV's line-up when touring Europe), Nico Fabre (keyboards),  Ludo Fabre (violin ) and Karl Ledus (sax, weirdophone). All the tracks on this set are credited equally to five musicians (Gard is not included) and finds us in the world of Canterbury and RIO, combining together in a series of eight instrumentals. I was somewhat surprised not to see Pat Strawser involved as he has been playing with the band for quite a while now, but it is always possible he couldn’t make it to Spain for the sessions, plus given the others play with French TV on tour in Europe it does make some sense, I guess. To my ears this is a great introduction to the band, with the bass creating a moving foundation with the sax and violin often taking the lead melodies and there is no doubt there are some decent Seventies influences in here which makes it a delight throughout and in many ways is a powerful introduction to the band, albeit many albums in.

The second album is very different indeed in that Sary (who on this disc also provides vocals), Yoneda and Gard reunite with keyboard player Patrick Strawser along with Gregory Acker (sax, flute). Here Sary wanted to undertake a covers album, and to that end he created the following criteria: 1) deep cut rock music from the ate 60s-early 70s, 2) bands/musicians who haven't been active (or breathing) for a few decades, and 3) tunes with instrumental sections that could be argued as being “progressive” in nature. He does say he was a little concerned that no-one else in the band was familiar with more than three of these songs, and I found myself being suitably chastised as I can only point to one with any great knowledge, namely Mountain’s incredible “Nantucket Sleigh Ride”. We also numbers from Iron Butterfly, The Kinks, Mountain, Procol Harum, Traffic, Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, James Gang and others, but actually cannot comment as to how these sound against the originals as I don’t know them! What I can say about “Nantucket” is that the Hammond Organ and guitars combine in that mighty crescendo we all know so very well (somewhere I have a version by the NWOBHM band Quartz as well, thinking about it). It does feel somewhat like a fan’s version as Sary’s vocals are not as powerful as the original, but there is no doubt that Yoneda and Strawser are having a blast.

Overall, this is quite a lot to take in for the novice as the 21 songs reach nearly two hours in length, but this is a great way to understand just what the band is about, and for those who wondered what classic rock could sound like in the hands of a band more generally thought of as RIO/Canterbury then look no further. 

Kev Rowland, August 2026

Links:
https://french-tv.net/
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/