Avant-prog binge 2020

[Mascodagama]

re: Höhlenmusik Ensemble.

Wayside Music used to sell both releases when new. I remember liking them but I hadn't heard them since then and played that youtube clip.

Very good music but mastered at ear and soul crushing levels, at least on that clip; even though I was enjoying the music on youtube, I had to take it off because it sounded so horrible to me.

Is the CD like that?

I don't have the CD handy, but I have it ripped to iTunes and since it's my lunch hour just gave it a comparative listening test via my Sennheiser HD650's using tracks from Algernon's Ghost Surveillance and the cellar and point's Ambit as references. All come across as being mastered at roughly the same level. The Höhlenmusik Ensemble is a touch louder, but nothing ridiculous.

[NogbadTheBad]

Synkoke.

Almost overlooked Norwegian 'pronk' quintet who released one of the very best albums from here in 2009, Hokjønn, the same year as Wobbler's Afterglow and Jono el Grande's Neo Dada, both of which were excellent as well. But what set Synkoke apart was the absolutely ferocious energy of performance and gut, paired with an exemplary sense of arrangement and execution (rather close to bands like Uz Jsme Doma or Fukkeduk) - and not the least the fact that they registered the young Ellen Andrea Wang among their ranks. This was prior to her Pixel/solo/bigname expositions in contemporary jazz and post-pop and arguably her earliest foray into rock along with the coinciding White Willow involvement. Hokjønn sees her whip it out on both electric and double bass for some immensely intense honk'n'hump.

Get it if you can!

Thanks, love this kind of stuff, reminds me of Gutbucket. Looks like its reasonable on discogs.

[Mascodagama]

Synkoke.

Almost overlooked Norwegian 'pronk' quintet who released one of the very best albums from here in 2009, Hokjønn, the same year as Wobbler's Afterglow and Jono el Grande's Neo Dada, both of which were excellent as well. But what set Synkoke apart was the absolutely ferocious energy of performance and gut, paired with an exemplary sense of arrangement and execution (rather close to bands like Uz Jsme Doma or Fukkeduk) - and not the least the fact that they registered the young Ellen Andrea Wang among their ranks. This was prior to her Pixel/solo/bigname expositions in contemporary jazz and post-pop and arguably her earliest foray into rock along with the coinciding White Willow involvement. Hokjønn sees her whip it out on both electric and double bass for some immensely intense honk'n'hump.

Get it if you can!

This is excellent. I never knew of it - thanks.

[Kcrimso]

Today I have been enjoying album <185> (1981) by The Muffins. It is a wild ride. Album is produced by Fred Frith and it is kind of sister album of Frith's own Gravity except it really is not I dunno... it is good anyway. Maybe even my favourite The Muffing album.

[Kcrimso]

John Greaves: Passage du Nord Ouest (1993/2020)
Ok this is not strictly avantprog but more like progressive singer-songwriter stuff played by virtuosic jazz musicians. But as the main honcho is avantprog pioneer John Greaves I think record fits the headline. This is brand new release and contains very good (and well recorded) gig from the early nineties. I love Greaves's songs and interpretations here are marvellous.

Info about album: https://www.darkcompanion.com/post/t...-du-nord-ouest

[Kcrimso]

Aksak Maboul : Figures (BE, 2020)
I haven't seen much discussion here about this fine comeback album. This is very different kind of music than Aksak Maboul's classic Un peu de l’âme des bandits (1980). Figures is much more smooth and poppier but still retaining some of Bandits' weirdness and avantgarde edge. One thing that bothers me is that there is little bit too much reliance for drum machines for my taste.

[XavGel]

Now playing, one of my favourite albums of the last decade:



Sufficiently adjacent to “avant-prog” to be of interest to some here, I think.

I like that

[Mascodagama]

New EP by Stop Motion Orchestra:

https://stopmotionorchestra.bandcamp...ent=fanpub_fnb

On first listen this is excellent, and a bit more overtly in the "avant" bag than the previous albums.

All their proceeds from the record are being donated to the ACLU.

[NogbadTheBad]

Cool

[Mascodagama]

I just found this from Sam Eastmond:

https://gulgoleth.bandcamp.com/album/gulgoleth-2

The album starts out with some fractured avant-jazz-rock, but it covers a lot of bases from there. I'm digging it. Eastmond is a London-based trumpeter / composer / bandleader who has, with his Spike Orchestra, recorded albums in John Zorn's Book of Angels and Book Beri'ah sequences. In Zornish fashion he doesn't actually play on this album but is the sole composer and "director".

[walt]

I just found this from Sam Eastmond:

https://gulgoleth.bandcamp.com/album/gulgoleth-2

The album starts out with some fractured avant-jazz-rock, but it covers a lot of bases from there. I'm digging it. Eastmond is a London-based trumpeter / composer / bandleader who has, with his Spike Orchestra, recorded albums in John Zorn's Book of Angels and Book Beri'ah sequences. In Zornish fashion he doesn't actually play on this album but is the sole composer and "director".

This is top drawer stuff.Inside/outside but done with conviction and the chops/ideas to pull it off.Thanks for sharing.If only they had a cd.No matter.

[Zappathustra]

I just found this from Sam Eastmond:

https://gulgoleth.bandcamp.com/album/gulgoleth-2

The album starts out with some fractured avant-jazz-rock, but it covers a lot of bases from there. I'm digging it. Eastmond is a London-based trumpeter / composer / bandleader who has, with his Spike Orchestra, recorded albums in John Zorn's Book of Angels and Book Beri'ah sequences. In Zornish fashion he doesn't actually play on this album but is the sole composer and "director".

He's English, he's a trumpet player, he is a composer and bandleader, he is associated big way with Zorn, his band's name is Gulgoleth (which makes HP Lovecraft blush with embarrassment) and you suggested all this. But the most crucial factor is they're London based.

It's better than its high credentials.

[Mascodagama]

He's English, he's a trumpet player, he is a composer and bandleader, he is associated big way with Zorn, his band's name is Gulgoleth (which makes HP Lovecraft blush with embarrassment) and you suggested all this. But the most crucial factor is they're London based.

It's better than its high credentials.

Did I mention that he's from London? London!!!

To my shame, until I started on a recent Zorn binge I'd never heard of him - and have doubtless missed numerous opportunities to see his groups live through sheer ignorance.

Another really excellent album, by his big band, is here:

https://spikeorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/ghetto

It's Radical Jewish Culture, but from London.

[walt]

This is top drawer stuff.Inside/outside but done with conviction and the chops/ideas to pull it off.Thanks for sharing.If only they had a cd.No matter.

I emailed Sam Eastmond and he referred me to a site for a cd-r of this session.


http://kunaki.com/sales.asp?PID=PX00Z2PKAM


I've heard rumors that this band is from London.Please keep me advised.

[moecurlythanu]

^ Frankly, I doubt it. There are very few bands in London.

[Mascodagama]

I emailed Sam Eastmond and he referred me to a site for a cd-r of this session.


http://kunaki.com/sales.asp?PID=PX00Z2PKAM

Thanks for the link, that's useful to know. Sam should have that on his Bandcamp page really...

[alanterrill]

New EP by Stop Motion Orchestra:

https://stopmotionorchestra.bandcamp...ent=fanpub_fnb

On first listen this is excellent, and a bit more overtly in the "avant" bag than the previous albums.

All their proceeds from the record are being donated to the ACLU.

Great band and a surprise to find a cover of a Wha Ha Ha tune on this! Did you know about their Ugly Numbers EP that they sort of sneaked out a few weeks back? Its stuff from before they changed their name to Stop Motion Orchestra, but the same style and includes a track for four steel drummers! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u99q5ke62...3wKNLcvwa?dl=0

[Mascodagama]

Great band and a surprise to find a cover of a Wha Ha Ha tune on this!

Until now I did not know Wha Ha Ha was a band - an admission that does me no credit, of course. One to investigate further.

Did you know about their Ugly Numbers EP that they sort of sneaked out a few weeks back? Its stuff from before they changed their name to Stop Motion Orchestra, but the same style and includes a track for four steel drummers! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u99q5ke62...3wKNLcvwa?dl=0

I didn't know about it but I will check it out, thanks. I do enjoy the sound of steel pans and have often thought they could be well employed in more challenging musical contexts than one usually finds them in...I think I've got an old Ernest Ranglin album somewhere that integrates them into a modern jazz group quite effectively, but can't think of a lot else.

[alanterrill]

Until now I did not know Wha Ha Ha was a band - an admission that does me no credit, of course. One to investigate further.


I didn't know about it but I will check it out, thanks. I do enjoy the sound of steel pans and have often thought they could be well employed in more challenging musical contexts than one usually finds them in...I think I've got an old Ernest Ranglin album somewhere that integrates them into a modern jazz group quite effectively, but can't think of a lot else.

Wha Ha Ha could reasonably well be called obscure -they did a couple of albums on a Japanese label in 1981, then Recommended released a compilation of those two in 1983 and that was it. The rec label one was only on vinyl so I don't know if there's anything on CD, however, youtube has the first two albums in full.
Steel drums -I love them in a prog context but as you say they don't exactly pop up a lot - apart from a brief intro on National Health track, I can only think of the Czech band Fru Fru if you don't know them start with "..az prileti tucnak" also 'Never Tichu' is good but their latest (Freak Show) doesn't seem to feature steel drums. Their singer is also a steel drum player and they appear on most tracks.

[Scrotum Scissor]

re: Wha Ha Ha. Everything I've heard by them was worthwhile - a completely unclassifiable act if there was one at all. I'm immensely fond of that Recommended Records sampler of their stuff. Together with YMO, Mizutama Shobodan and After Dinner they made for a zenith of Jap 80s art-pop/rock/whatever, and much of their music was also a highly accessible listen.

[aith01]

It's apparently been out of print for ages now, so YT is likely one of the very few places where you'll get the chance to hear this thing - albeit in its entirety. I still think it's one of the best releases of the 90s, and one of those albums where you'll discover anew on each and every little listen; the detailed refinement of these songs, yet so simply put to reel in the most direct manner imaginable - and incredibly well produced. When I blast this from my apartment speakers, floors shiver and tremble in euphoric ecstasy. Or nearby. Pavel Fajt's cymbal patterns in "v Bilém" (song 5, starts at 12:03) makes for some of the most creative percussion I ever heard in rock. And Iva Bittova… Well, she was always a goddess, nothing less.

Dude, this is really interesting! I listened to the first 5 or 6 tracks, and was paying attention for the percussion work you mentioned on track 5 (very cool).

Went looking and found what appears to be a legit(?) Bandcamp page for Dunaj, with this album (and others) for sale digitally. I've added it to my wishlist, because I think I'd like to have this one in my collection. Many thanks for posting this, as I'd probably have never heard of it otherwise.

[Mascodagama]

Went looking and found what appears to be a legit(?) Bandcamp page for Dunaj, with this album (and others) for sale digitally.

Linky?

[thedunno]

Is it so hard to type 'Dunaj' in the bandcamp searchbox? [emoji6]


http://dunaj.bandcamp.com/album/pustit-mus

[Mascodagama]

Is it so hard to type 'Dunaj' in the bandcamp searchbox? [emoji6]

It isn't, but I reckon it's always a good thing to have a link in the post - that way more people will go there, and maybe end up buying something, who might not have bothered if they had to make the effort themselves.

Admittedly in this case we are probably not talking big numbers of people either way...

Thanks for the link!

[aith01]

It isn't, but I reckon it's always a good thing to have a link in the post - that way more people will go there, and maybe end up buying something, who might not have bothered if they had to make the effort themselves.

Admittedly in this case we are probably not talking big numbers of people either way...

Thanks for the link!

Sorry about that. No idea why I didn't include the link in my post.