It would be hard to imagine any “pop/rock” musician being further outside the predominant currents of the genre than Cédric Vuille over the past 30 years. Forget inchoate aggression, murky sonics, over the top emotionalism, melismatic overkill, wanky showboating, arena-sized faux grandeur, pounding four-on-the-floor dance beats, “garagey” amateurism, or any element of expression driven by the emergence of hormonal changes in young listeners. For one thing, consider one of the main instruments in the multi-instrumental Swiss musician’s arsenal (and the inappropriateness of the word “arsenal” helps to illustrate the point): a ukulele. It’s safe to say, then, that the closest Vuille gets to “sludge” in musical terms would be the puddle that the rotund kid in the cover artwork of Faire is wallowing in. No, as anyone acquainted with Vuille and his main gig over the years, L’Ensemble Rayé, is aware, his music is characterized by crispness, clarity, and brevity -- not to mention a charm and amiability wholly at odds with rebel wannabes and explorers of the dark side. And so it goes with Faire, a set of 15 instrumental miniatures featuring Vuille multi-tracked on guitar, clarinet, cuatro, banjolele, bass, ocarina, bantar, sitar, kalimba, keyboards, percussion, and of course, ukulele. Here and there he is joined by guest musicians -- including some L’Ensemble Rayé members and Hamster Theatre accordionist Dave Willey -- but otherwise Faire is pretty much Vuille’s show.

1		Atcha-Cha-Cha
2		La valse de Balthazar
3		Nos Futurs
4		En Avant
5		Réveille-Matin
6		Faire
7		Petit Hérisson Triste
8		Les Lendemains Qui Déchantent
9		De Coin
10		Pour Justine
11		On verra Lilia?
12		La Jupe Rouge
13		A La Plage
14		C'est L'Été
15		Au Caire