Artist: Thork Album: Nula Jedan Label: Private Pressing Website: http://www.myspace.com/thorkmusic Reviewer: Paulo André

Track List: 1. Ex-Slave 2. Ici 3. La Lumière 4. J'Aurais Pu 5. Danse des Airs 6. Au Ciel 7. Revoir 8. 01 9. Ces Rêves-Là I knew there I was a reason I should have endured those French lessons back in school and actually taken something from them. Clearly, I could at least get a glimpse of what Sébastien Fillion is singing about in Thork's latest album "Nula Jedan". Because I'm sure that no matter how great the experience is just listening to the music contained in this disc, putting the lyrical concept together should amount to a near masterpiece. "Nula Jedan" means "Zero One" in Bosnian, an allusion to binary code and Boolean algebra. You can read more about the heart and soul of Thork's mastermind Sébastien Fillion in the accompanying interview we did with him (see Interviews section) but suffice to say that "Nula Jedan" concerns itself with the duality between man and machine and the interplay between both. Right from the start, "Ex-Slave" starts with a cold, dry electronic beat quickly washed in the warmest guitar sound - it feels like the first hint into the album's concept and from here on, we're in for nothing but goodness. This is an album that really takes its time, not only in telling its story but also to unveil its mysteries and beauties inside. Nothing is rushed and the opening track is a good example of that, slowly but steadily and never boringly going through its more than twelve minutes. In a way, it reminds me of Riverside's "The Same River", first track of their first album. When I listened to that I had little doubt I was diving into a great album and the same is true for "Nula Jedan" with "Ex-Slave". But it's not until the second track "Ici" that we actually have vocals and some rocking going on. Sebastien Fillion has a passionate voice and he's never afraid to play with vocal effects. He uses a heavy vocoder in both "J'Aurais Pu" and the beautiful coda "Ces Rêves- La" to great effect and it always goes some way to enhance the man/ machine duality present in the concept. Take "Danse Des Airs" for instance, a beautiful lush instrumental again reminding me heavily of Riverside, yet all Thork. It's hard not to pigeonhole this album as being very progressive, but let's make it very loose. This is a layered, richly textured work with a lot of guest musicians, yet it doesn't feel overwhelming at all. No use going through what each track has to offer. Albums like these should be felt rather than talked or written about and "Nula Jedan" felt to me like the gift that kept on giving. I must say this review took me quite a long time to put together because there's so much going on here that I was always waiting for the right words to come. The article is here but listening to the album yet again, I still don't think I'm making justice to it at all. Do grab a copy (info on that via their myspace linked above) and decide for yourself. Check out the interviews section for the accompanying interview with Thork's Sébastien Fillion. Band: Sébastien Fillion - vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, Rhodes Mark 1, piano, low whistle, tin whistle, percussion, glockenspiel, programming Philippe Maullet - drums, percussion (1,8) Arnaud Fillion - cello, oud Claire Northey - violin Guest musicians: Samuel Maurin - additional bass (3), Fretless bass (8) Violette Corroyer - backing vocals (1,3,8) Hugo Quillet - trumpet (6,8), flugelhorn (6,8) Jérôme Blanc - trombone (6,8)