Lard Free
Vinyl Boxset

Listening notes

Lard Free's Vinyl Boxset, released by Replica Records in 2022, brings together a substantial body of work by the French group led by Gilbert Artman into a single six-LP package. The set spans multiple original albums and includes a live component, making it one of the more comprehensive physical releases the group has received.

The boxset draws from several distinct titles within the Lard Free catalog. The first two records present material from Gilbert Artman's Lard Free and I'm Around About Midnight, with tracks spread across sides A through D. Side E is occupied entirely by "Spirale Malax," a single piece running seventeen minutes and twelve seconds, drawn from the self-titled Lard Free album. The fourth record collects material under the Synthetic Seasons banner, including an unnamed component, with sides G and H presenting tracks including two separate versions of "Cochonailles." Side I carries the standalone piece "A Chacun Son Boulez." The final record in the set, Brussels - Live, fills sides J and K with performances recorded before an audience, including "Manko Itcha, Comptine Népalaise," the longest track on that disc at nine minutes and fourteen seconds.

Across the tracklist, the genres catalogued for this release — Electronic, Experimental, Free Jazz, Krautrock, Prog Rock, and Rock — reflect the breadth of territory the group occupied. Track titles in both French and English appear throughout, consistent with Lard Free's placement within the broader European experimental scene of their period.

The set carries no catalog number. Collectors and researchers working with Lard Free's discography will find this 2022 Replica Records release a structurally significant attempt to consolidate the group's recorded output in a single vinyl edition.