Non-British 'Canterbury'

[zutul]

Forgot to mention Jean Cohen-Solal second album - Captain Tartopome and Crium Delirium and Cheval fou (these two are more Gong-like)

[Udi Koomran]

Rascal Reporters

Dedalus

Caveman Shoestore

There was a great canterburesque project by one of the memebrs here which the name eludes me right now good stuff

[spacefreak]

This.

[spacefreak]

Not sure where Mars Everywhere fits into this discussion.. they were one of those bands when I found the album (Industrial Sabotage) I simply took one look at the cover and said.. "This looks interesting".. Never have found that album in CD format...

It simply exists only on original vinyl.

[NogbadTheBad]

This.

October Equus

Nice pick

[Jacob Holm-Lupo]

I'm searching through my mental archives trying to remember if there were ever any properly Canterbury-inspired bands here in Norway, but I come up empty-handed. Panzerpappa and Jaga Jazzist both have Canterbury elements of course - JJ is especially Soft Machine-flavoured at times and Pp throw in the odd Canter-reference frequently. Then there was that band Circles End, which by their description sounded like it could be the deal, but on listening turned out to be rather boring jazz-noodling coupled with PT-like prog. Richard, help me out - did we ever have anything truly Canterburyesque here?

[Steve F.]

^ ^ ^ ^

Vanessa "Black & White" reminds me a bit of The Muffins, so I guess that that's Canterbury. And they were Norwegians.

[alanterrill]

Rascal Reporters

Dedalus

Caveman Shoestore

There was a great canterburesque project by one of the memebrs here which the name eludes me right now good stuff

I was just about to mention Rascal Reporters myself 'Happy Accidents' is a great album with lots of Canterbury influence and their
'Elegant Decay' release comes extremely close to Egg.

[Phlakaton]

I was just about to mention Rascal Reporters myself 'Happy Accidents' is a great album with lots of Canterbury influence and their
'Elegant Decay' release comes extremely close to Egg.

Elegant Decay is kick ass. My jaw hit the floor when I read it was their high school band

[Zeuhlmate]

Watch out.
I have today heard the new album from Norwegian Needlepoint (of jazz origin).
There is lots of Canterbury there. I'm not sure there is any intention, but lots of times I thought of SM, Hatfield and Gentle Giant.
But its definetely something else.
Its not yet in the stores.

[alanterrill]

Elegant Decay is kick ass. My jaw hit the floor when I read it was their high school band

I'm glad that got a release recently -many years ago I wrote a review of their 'Happy Accidents' album and had some correspondance with them. We found we were both fans of Egg and Soft Machine and that we had both formed school bands - theirs was called 'Pigling Bland' (which they called themselves at the time of this school performance), and mine was called 'Pigling Gland'. Both of us had taken it from the Soft Machine track, not knowing at that time that Pigling Bland was a character in a children's story by Beatrix Potter. But whereas we did covers of Soft Machine and Pink Floyd, we could only do so as some of their music was available as sheet music that we could work from. We weren't good enough to be able to transcribe Egg from the records. The Rascal Reporters sent me several cassettes of unreleased material of which this school concert was a part. I was staggered, not only at their musical ability, but also that someone had actually recorded the gig and in good quality too.

[Jacob Holm-Lupo]

Watch out.
I have today heard the new album from Norwegian Needlepoint (of jazz origin).
There is lots of Canterbury there. I'm not sure there is any intention, but lots of times I thought of SM, Hatfield and Gentle Giant.
But its definetely something else.
Its not yet in the stores.

I've heard it too, and I can assure you it's very intentional - I'm writing the press release as we speak, and there are some prog stories to be told there. It's a fantastic album that will blow a lot of minds, I think.

[Jacob Holm-Lupo]

^ ^ ^ ^

Vanessa "Black & White" reminds me a bit of The Muffins, so I guess that that's Canterbury. And they were Norwegians.

Yes, I keep forgetting about Vanessa. What a great album.

[Progbear]

Vanessa "Black & White" reminds me a bit of The Muffins, so I guess that that's Canterbury. And they were Norwegians.

Both the Vanessa albums are very Soft Machine-influenced. City Lips is a little more funky, but both are worth checking out. And allow me some side-praise for the Compendium label; they released some fine stuff!

Mr. Sirius - Barren Dream. 'All The Fallen People' is about the best Canterburyesque tracks not from the UK I've ever heard.

I’m afraid I don’t hear any Canterbury in any Mr. Sirius, least of all this track. They were in that Japanese mega-symphonic sound that was all over back then. To be fair, they were far and away the best of the purveyors of that style; not just because of the quality of Hiroko Nagai’s vocals (she was in Pageant as well, and I didn’t like them quite as much) but the quality of the composing and arranging. They were just leagues ahead of their competition in terms of songwriting chops.

[bill g]

There was never anything quite like Hatfield. IMO they were The Beatles of the Canterbury sound. They are one of the very, very few bands I ever heard that hit hard instantly and then just endured in head & heart. I'll never tire of them, and they never cease to amaze, surprise or teach me anew. The concept of "working on multiple levels" has attained such an aura of clichè about it, but with HatN this is the exact case.

Indeed. Although they may not have been my favorite band in the 70s (although I quite liked them), for me they have grown into everything you describe.

[Udi Koomran]

There was a great canterburesque project by one of the memebrs here which the name eludes me right now good stuff

OK I just remembered
Bill Graham's ASCENDED MASTERS
I remember loving their demos circa 2008
Anyone remember ?

[Sonia_Mota]

This is a great none British but very Canterbury feel Belgium Prog Band from the early 70's
Bonfire - The Sage Of The Running Nose 1975

[Scrotum Scissor]

^

That Bonfire album is really good! Like the 'Canterconnection' between Finch and Focus.

The Pseudonym reissue of this was in my very first Wayside order back in '96, btw.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Richard, help me out - did we ever have anything truly Canterburyesque here?

Well, I've got both the Vanessas and actually contemplated posting that one short track off of Black & White, but (incidentally) that's the least Canterburian on the record. City Lips isn't all too Canter'ian, though. Sometimes I hear people mentioning Let Your Light Shine by Ruphus or even Transition by Moose Loose, but even though I enjoy both of those I hear preciously little Canterbury there.

Modern days? Yes, you touched upon the Pappzis and Jazzists, and there's the odd moment on that final Wibutee album, and the debut Tuna Laguna mini album. Jarle's tune for Pappzi, "Ugler i Moseboka" (one of the best things they've done, IMO), comes pretty darn close. Some Needlepoint, although it's very overtly "vintage" (espec the second album; really anticipating the upcoming one) in sound.

There are parts of the Alf Emil Eik record (Joy & Breath of Eternity, a rather dodgy affair) where you can hear the more Camelesque Canterism, and there are a couple of songs on the equally dubious Saluki record where they strive for it without actually succeeding.

Jacob, come to think of it, there's that Canterburian flux in "The Reach" on WWillow's Sacrament and - HEY! YOU wrote that!

Circles End suffered from the same sickness as some 75% of other "new" prog acts in Norway, in that the end result was always just so damn uneven and the standards incoherent. I suppose this is what sets some bands positively aside, like the aforementioned JJazzist, WWillow, Wobb and a few others.

[Trane]

This is a great none British but very Canterbury feel Belgium Prog Band from the early 70's
Bonfire - The Sage Of The Running Nose 1975

Remind me to tell you how precious you are next time I speak to you

[alanterrill]

This is a great none British but very Canterbury feel Belgium Prog Band from the early 70's
Bonfire - The Sage Of The Running Nose 1975

I loved that -sort of Samlas crossed with Gilgamesh. Seems to sell at high prices, even the CD re-issue -does anyone know if its available as a download anywhere?

[Scrotum Scissor]

Not sure I would call Esperanto Canterbury

I never implied that, Hugues - I simply noted that Abraxis had a member connection.

I'd say Esperanto were far more towards the Stoke sound. We should have a separate thread on that. Neo Stoke, for instance. Or Post-Stoke.

[Trane]

I never implied that, Hugues - I simply noted that Abraxis had a member connection.

I'd say Esperanto were far more towards the Stoke sound. We should have a separate thread on that. Neo Stoke, for instance. Or Post-Stoke.

I'm all game for this, as I'm not aware of what the Stoke sound is.

[Scrotum Scissor]

^

The early, more progressive stages of Rick Astley's stuff.

[Trane]

^

The early, more progressive stages of Rick Astley's stuff.

who??

Isn't he some kind of 80's disco king??