Anthology Recordings is pleased to announce the reissue of the long out of print -- and never before officially issued in the US -- trilogy of albums by Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes, 1970's N°2, 1971's Âme Debout, and 1972's Paix. Anthology's presentation of these foundational LPs, arguably the group's finest hours on wax, fills in a crucial missing link in the canon of psychedelic and experimental music of the 60s and 70s. In a lineage with other uncompromising women singers such as Edith Piaf, Nico, and Diamanda Galas, Ribeiro's is a sound of possession, of ritual. Her approach shares more with performance art than it does with pop music. It's the sound of love and madness and political tumult, stripped bare and emerged from dark recesses. With her weighty voice, she emphasized expression and meaning over immaculate, adventurous musicality. Each LP includes its own insert featuring photos and original press material culled from Ribeiro's personal archive. Limited first run of 750.

Born from the tumult of the '68 riots in France, Ribeiro + Alpes defined a uniquely Gallic take on the progressive psychedelia of the time. This is ecstatic music fusing European medieval traditions with the contemporary free jazz of the era. Ribeiro, with her confrontational and surrealistic poetry, along with Patrice Moullet's invented instruments, defined a genre unto themselves and created some of the most original music of the early '70s with these two masterpieces. Paix, released in 1972, is considered Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes's masterpiece and rightfully so! The album marked a change in the musical direction of the band, evolving into a more cosmic sound achieved by way of much improvised propulsive energy. Paix floats, shrouded by a strong, uniquely medieval, Gallic folk influence. Composed mainly of two expansive suits,Paix delivers a unique amalgam of progressive, spacey instrumentals (due largely to Moullet's homemade instruments: percuphone, cosmophone, and orgolia) standing in sharp contrast to Ribeiro's severe yet hypnotic vocals, both seemingly informed by the same shadowy depths of feeling.