ARKHAM

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Would probably get one more half-star if the sound was not so poor . Not that the outstanding Cuneiform Label hides it but some of the tapes I would hesitate to publish just because of the state they are in. But the music on the tape is among the hidden gems from Belgium, as this is the first group of Daniel Denis (from Univers Zero) . He and Manderlier make the backbone of this group who played at Amougies Festival in the early 70's along so many Canterbury bands and other. They never put out an album at the time so , this can only interest completist of those years. Worth a spin for whomever enjoys Soft Machine, Nucleus , Matching Mole and Placebo - not the actual one - the early 70's Belgian jazz-rock band fronted by Marc Moulin that did such a masterful three record never re-edited on cd .

This is going to test the patience of most music fans, even those who consider themselves devoted prog fans. Its isn't so much the fact that the music is weird or bad, but the sound quality, at best, is fair. And at worst, very poor. All these tracks were recorded live and by the looks of things, not professinally. Don't get me wrong, the music is orginal and even talented but greatly marred by obvious recording limitations. If you like canterbury circa Soft Machine Volume 3 with some RIO flavor thrown in, this group is for you. Otherwise, this cd may be to challanging for the average music fan. 2.25 stars.

Arkham was a very important early organ-prog group out of Brussels and though this record may not be an essential or pristine document, the band was key in the development of European progressive rock. Formed by keyboardist Jean-Luc Manderlier and drummer Daniel Denis (founder of Univers Zero) in 1970, they were joined by bass player Patrick Cogneux in October of that year. The band were local favorites in Belgium and eventually opened at Magma's first live appearance on September 4, 1971. During their final days, Arkham added trumpet player Claude Deron (co-founder of Univers Zero) and went through a string of bassists.

Brooding and macabre, Arkham was doing gothic before it was hip but sported a classical sensibility in Manderlier's dark organ dirge and Canterbury-style lines. This CD is a hodge-podge of old studio and live cuts ['70 thru '72] and starts with the excellent 'Upstairs in the Granary', a solid hunk of Prog, still a child as a musical format, with great playing and the classical-meets-jazz feel these early proggers produced. 'Eve's Eventful Day' is equally good with top notch syncopation and nice melodies. The eight-minute 'Monolithic Progression with Anticipated Rapture' is aptly named, slows down a bit and allows a better look at this accomplished outfit with a Doors homage and some freakout jazz. 'Brussels Shortly After' is a muddy affair of little note, and 'Bleriot: Visibility Poor' plays out like some ancient B&W horror flick. An early form of minimal rock fusion is also heard here, as it is throughout the music on this historic retrospective. The driving 'With Asays of Bias' (featuring a tremendous live drum solo from Daniel Denis) continues the twirling neo-classical workout and surprisingly tight kinetics-- at over 10 minutes, it is this collection's epic. Part 3 of 'Eve' is spectacular quasi-symphonic rock, 'Riff 14' is a remarkable, lovely warble a la Steve Reich, and 'Tight Trousers' finishes with some terrific carousel jazz rock. Crucial in the context of Prog history and a great band regardless, Arkham is highly recommended to those seekers of a beloved music when it was an unsteady but determined toddler, ready to walk on its own and take on the world.

It's really too bad that this band never put out a studio or live album back in the day. What we have here are songs that were recorded live from concerts or rehearsals between 1970-1972. I say it's too bad because the sound quality is a lot like some of the bootlegs i've heard. Not very good at all. Fortunately some songs are better than others and at least we can appreciate how talented this band was. There is a real Canterbury flavour to thier music which isn't surprising considering SOFT MACHINE was their biggest influence.The band originally consisted of Daniel Denis on drums, he would go on to form UNIVERS ZERO with Claude Deron who coincidently was also part of ARKHAM(later on) playing electric flugelhorn. Deron is featured on the last 2 tracks.Jean-Luc Manderlier played piano and organ and would later join MAGMA and play on the MDK record. Daniel Denis would join MAGMA at the same time as Jean-Luc but only play a few concerts before leaving. The bass player was Claude Berkovitch who would leave and be replaced by Patrick Cogneaux who would go on to play for a great band called PAZOP. ARKHAM opend for MAGMA the very first time they played in Belgium in 1971. Obviously Vander was impressed. I want to touch on the 3 tracks that sound ok and also impressed me a lot.

"Monolithic Progression With Anticipated Rupture" opens with piano playing solo as bass and drums start to make some noise 1 1/2 minutes in. This is such a cool melody. A fuller sound 3 1/2 minutes in as the organ comes in and steals the show. Strange effects 5 1/2 minutes in as melody has stopped and then different sounds come and go. Piano and then a melody 7 1/2 minutes in. Amazing tune. "Eve's Eventful Day(Part 3)" has this uptempo intro that calms down to piano only rather quickly. A fuller sound 1 1/2 minutes in as drums enter. I love the melody 3 1/2 minutes in of dark and melancholical organ, bass and drums. Nice.

"Tight Trousers" is one of the classic Canterbury titles. It opens with organ sounds and some flugelhorn before we start to get this great melody before a minute.The organ and bass play is outstanding 2 minutes in and the drums are all over the place. Flugelhorn comes and goes. Piano 4 minutes in.

For me this more of a historical document that I do value. There are certainly more songs than the three I mentioned that are worthy of conversation.To be honest though, you need to know that the sound quality is poor at times.The music would be 4 stars easy, but considering the sound of it 3 stars is fair.