CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES - 'Paix' - RARE 1972 FRENCH PHILIPS EX++ PROG CLASSIC.

	£		38
	$		50

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrived damaged in them at some time. More details on my packing nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important to any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

Artist or Band: CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES

Album Title: Paix (Peace).

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Roc Alpin (Alpine Rock); Jusqu’a Ce Que La Force De T’Aimer Me Manque (The Force of Love We Lack); Paix (Peace).

Side 2: Un Jour… La Mort (A Day ... The Death).

Label/Format: Philips with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle traces or blemishes tiny, very few and faint, this record appears hardly played.

Cat Number: 9101 037 (6325 019).

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 110 grams.

Country of Manufacture: France. As far as I am aware, this prog-rock classic was not issued elsewhere, it certainly wasn’t in the UK.

Rarity: Scarce: seldom seen or offered outside France.

Original Year of Release: 1972. This a very slightly later pressing.

Matrix Nos: 6325 019 1 380 CIDIS / 6325 019 2 380 CIDIS

Musicians: Catherine Ribeiro – vocals; Patrice Moullet – cosmophone, acoustic guitar; Jean-Sebastien Lemoine – percuphone, bass; Patrice Lemoine – organ; Michel Santangelli – drums.

Brief Info: This woman and band have to be one of the best kept secrets within the field of progressive rock. After discussion with other music and vinyl collectors, some with huge collections, the majority have not discovered the pleasure of this and other early works of Catherine Ribeiro. She was recommended to me via an overseas collector a couple of years ago and the music simply blew me away. I am forever grateful – I had not ever heard of her before and there could have been next-to-no promotion and features about them in the British music press of time which I regularly read.

Ribeiro, born of Portugese parents in 1941 became a French national, she was a former actress turned poet and musician, she is regarded as one of the greatest French voices in rock music. Often compared to Nico but with a totally unique character, extraordinarly delivery and passion. Starting relatively late in music – possibly the reason she was somewhat overlooked? – her first album was a more folk-orientated under the band name 2 BIS, thereafter known as Alpes. The music now became far more progressive and veered slightly into avant garde territory of the underground scene with a spacey instrumental sound blended with the soaring improvised vocals of Ribeiro. At times they remind me of Germany’s Can with pulsating basslines and hypnotic weirdness. This heard at its absolute best on this their fourth album ‘Paix’, which of the seven albums they made, is my absolute favourite – all are worth checking out. This also being the best place to start being the more accessible. Clearly not considered commercial enough for more worldwide issue at the time, I feel that was a massive mistake, Ribeiro + Alpes music deserved far more recognition and promotion worldwide. The songs are all composed by Ribeiro and Alpes stalwart Patrice Moullet, a gifted musician who made many of his own instruments which also gave the band their incredible sound. Fans of the more challenging sounds of the late 1960s and into the early 1970s are sure to treasure the wonderful music they made. Being almost ‘lost’ in the vaults of time and obscurity is simply unfair. This copy is in superb condition, not an absolute first, but there is very little difference. For sure, this one has hardly been played and easily matches my own copy for sound. French pressings I do know can be inconsistent for clean sound, but this one is well pressed with little unwanted. Faint surface traces on the quiet introduction to the second side being critical – but barely enough of anything to spoil the wonderful music. Open your minds to ‘Peace’ – I truly consider this wonderful album a prog-rock masterpiece and Catherine Ribeiro one of greatest rock vocalists ever. I may not understand her words as all is sung in French, but it really does not matter. It is a beautiful language and her voice sublime – unreservedly recommended to all rock fans and those with a mind and ear to listen to something very different.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): actually looking better still. A gatefold format with a shiny coated exterior, the inside is matt and smooth. Printed and made in France and including the French unlined inner sleeve.

Cover Front: A superb front with the lady looking as lovely as she sounds. Any blemishes to this surface are minuscule and it looks little short of as-made.

Cover Back: A tiny scuff trace on the bottom edge, little else. Like the front, clean, fresh with a lovely sheen and barely any creasing.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Again, almost as made, the odd tiny corner tip crease apart.

Top Edges: Any rub traces are very small and faint, both straight.

Bottom Edges: Some patchy rubbing, again straight.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked edge that has not wear. The back is clean, mostly sharp with very little wear. Any thickening or burring minimal and light as seen viewed end-on. Record enters on the back edge, both guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced in any way.

Spine and Text: Solid and thick, straight with minimal compression and folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and near parallel. A very fine semi-crease from opening, few can avoid this as the very least. All text is perfect and unworn.

Corners: A little lightish rubbing on the bottom right pair, this only seen viewed end-on. Little else and all retain excellent or better shape.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this lovely French progressive cover – the front especialy one of the classics for me. This beautiful item should please most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): little to fault on this French text unlined inner. A smallish neat movement edge split was neatly repaired by myself to stop it potentially widening in the future. Clean, fresh with barely any creasing.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a superb visual copy that is very clean with fine shine and quite pressed. Most French records I have had before have not been heavy and this fairly typical. That said, I have not had that many. But little choice if you want to experience this classic on vinyl as it seems most, if not all were manufactured there. A copy hardly even played on all the evidence with any surface trace marks few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. Any slight dulling within the vinyl from manufacture, hardly uncommon around this time. Visually a super record that should please most-all collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: Just proving it is never too late to discover obscure and lesser-known artists – this one of the very best kept secrets within the genre I have ever heard. This magnificent prog-rock album plays mostly up to it’s high visual grading with very little to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal and light as mentioned above, overall a very fine pressing, and not all these are. Indeed it took me some time and patience to acquire all the early Alpes albums on vinyl myself to the high sound quality standard I require. Few copies will outperform this arguably cleaner slightly later pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, not perfectly silent on the odd quiet area, but I honestly think few ever will be. This certainly the quality of my own and better than most of the few others I have heard to date. It will prove very difficult to find better and is strongly recommended – thanks to guy who recommended this wonderful band and album to me – as we say here – ‘Better late than never’ – I was totally addicted from the very first notes and still am.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 10,000+ items sold in over 12 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.