Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit, FLAC*; Polydor 00602557764635 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

As one whose knowledge of the accordion stretches all the way from ’Allo ’Allo! to the Tour de France theme music, I approached this homage to the instrument over the years with un peu d’inquiétude. However, led by Vincent Peirani – ‘le “Jimi Hendrix” de l’accordéon’, apparently – this set is strangely captivating, with a mixture of ‘where have I heard that before?’ and unfamiliar music. It’s all very Gallic, and there might be a temptation for quite a lot of the tracks here to sound a bit similar on a casual listen, but both the performances and the recording justify closer attention, at which point it’s much easier to appreciate the quality of both. Yes, the artists will be new to most listeners, but this is actually a fascinating set, and one that rewards repeated listens. New accordionistas start here, I guess... AE

Sound Quality: 80%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

The harmonics of sustained accordion notes (trks 5, 6 & 11) reach right out to 40kHz but the percussive feeds are occasionally less ‘clean’ (trk 7 & 8) with signs of peak-level clipping. There’s some mixed sample rate content (trk 14). PM