LONG LOST RELATIVES

Progressive Electronic meets Rock in Opposition, in Canada, 1971.

A masterwork which against all odds, prevails up to this day.

Against the odds of sharing their name with 2 other bands (one of them is also included here in PA), being way, way ahead of their time music wise and coming from a not exactly "Electronic nor Avant Garde/RiO" country like Canada in 1971 (Tim Hecker and Aidan Baker came much later ).

Not to make a big fuzz, but this work would have been by far, more appreciated in the more "open-minded" , Avant Garde/Prog and RiO sub-genre.

It deals a fair amount of synths and electronics, but basically, its music structure is not exactly electronic-like based or better yet, it is the perfect balance between both sub-genres (although the RiO spirit outweights the electronics.)

John Mills-Cockell who makes his synths sound like "real" strings (not joking), headmaster of this SYRINX, had an electronic project in 1968 which went by the name of "INTERSYSTEMS" , which only release appeared the same year, by the same name. So it is undisputable, that Syrinx has an "electronic" upbringing. But bandmate Doug Pringle's bold, , strong yet subtle saxophone lines, makes this kind of "magic blend" happen. In short, in this, their second 1971 last release, they went for all the marbles. (of course the percussions of Malcolm Tomlinson and Alan Wells (deceased November 3, 2010), build up this alternate structure.)

Daring, original, brilliant, well balanced, way ahead of their times in both sub-genre's musical composition language and absolutely unpretentious. The mark of the true geniuses

*****5 "flawless" PA stars in both sub-genres. What else can you ask for?

This is the second and final album by this Canadian trio based in Toronto. And what an unusual setup of electric sax, keyboards and hand percussion. The self-titled debut was released in 1970 and was dominated by synths. The electric sax and hand percussion certainly weren't given equal billing by a long shot. They were more like guests on that one. No dynamics either, and as we know the result is no nose bone. A 2 star record in my world.

This followup from 1971 sounds more like I thought that trio would sound like. Everyone is getting their moment in the sun, very much an equal billing thing happening. We have nose bone as well. Now I must admit that I really don't like the tone of the electric sax. So it becomes be careful what you wish for at this point. We get eight tracks over almost 38 minutes. They brought in an orchestral string section which is heard briefly on "Syren" but in a much greater way on "December Angel". Strings later on "Ibistix" as well, and it's the second longest song at 8 minutes.

The opener and closer feature a memorable melody, but that's it. We do get some experimental sections that I like. And I like that eerie start to the longest tune "December Angel" which is 9 minutes long. The 3 1/2 minute closer called "Aurora Spinray" might be my favourite. It's just nice to have some warmth in the form of those organ sounds. And there's some vocals very late. I should mention the short "Tillicum" which was recorded for CTV and the TV show "Here Come The Seventies". It does sound slightly familiar as I no doubt as a kid heard this opening theme for that show. We were only able to get two TV channels back then, so the odds are pretty good I heard it and saw that show.

So a much better album than their debut, but this just fails to do much for me at all. This just isn't a band that I was able to get into unfortunately. Maybe I still have a bad taste in my mouth from my recent time sent with their debut. I like that other trio from Toronto though that would arrive a few years after this release.