FM

Despite having lost their original (and very original) frontman Nash The Slash, FM managed to find some kind of deal that had them enter a studio and engrave directly a disc. This DTD process had become quite rare by the late 70's and was sometimes still used for demo acetates. This process implies that the direct engraving forbids any kind of mixing and production work, even down to overdubs, etc? So whatever was played in the take was final. Sure the band actually took four takes of each tracks of this "EP", and chose the better one. As you can guess, the "untouchable" results can be relatively raw and even have a jam feel at times, but fear not the overall results is astounding: difficult to be more demanding, and while not improvised, the music takes a slight JR/F slant at times, to counter (or complement) the space rock; the latter still being their main influence.

Just two lengthy instrumental tracks over this EP (lasting just about a half-hour), but both of them are divided in four or five movements. Opening on Headroom (giving the album's other name), the trio embarks on a breakneck speed movement, where Billy Cobham would not disown Deller's drumming. Yes, the feeling is very much JR/F during the Tyra movement, but as soon as the composition calms down the Reflections movements, the mood goes spacey (but not cosmic), but once the tempo picks up, it gets jam-like, notably in the closing movement Scarberia (a nickname for the eastern-county Scarborough, extending the Toronto city limits way out east). On the flipside, Border Crossing also reaches towards JR/F sonics, Mink almost pulling a Santana-like solo around 2:30. More spacey effects (sometimes dissonant) are happening during the second movement, The only time vocals are to be heard, they're muffled in deeply in the mix at the start of the third movement, but this doesn't mean that the track comes back to a sense of normalcy. Indeed, when FM crossed that border, there was no turning back, but the trio almost loses itself two thirds of the way into their cosmic expedition. Once they finally find their way, it's a slow jazzy violin (between Ponty and Lockwood) return to base.

This limited-number release DTD album had become quite rare (I lost my vinyl copy somewhere crossing the pond), because it had never seen, a reissue, beit in vinyl or on CD, until early 2013, when Esoteric finally released it, along with the splendid Black Noise and the band's following two albums (also never released legit), still with Ben Mink. Personally, if DTD/HR is absolutely essential, I find that both Surveillance (79) and City Of Fear (80) fail to maintain the level of their first two albums, so unlike this essential album, they're quite expandable, partly because they hold shorter AOR-formatted songs. In the meantime, despite the change of violin/guitarist (always a big gamble), DTD is definitely worthy of the excellent debut Black Noise.

A lost gem, eh?

Indeed, these canucks are a rather pleasant surprise since I thought having heard everything Canada had to offer. FM is canadian as a moose with a Maple Leafs shirt dipped in maple syrup. The sound is typical Canada 80's and I might add that it's the closest sound to Rush' Signals I've heard so far. Good thing, I'm mad about Signals. Oh, and Neil Peart wore a tee of the band in an old Rush interview...that's what got me curious.

Everything is very well played, and even if they're only 3 (e-violin, drums, keys), they pack a rather thick sound. Not everything is perfect taste unfortunately, some parts are what I call a 'space-ballad' (alderberan and such) that only the 80's could regurgitate. Apart from the occasionnal cheese factor, this band is original (underlined) and somewhat spacey...think dry ice smoke with green laser.

In the recent years I fell for a band called Singularity. I thought their approach was irresistible, with lots of hypnotic synths and reverb vocals. Well I'll be damned, they ripped off FM. Like big time. It's sad to find that one of your favorite band is a clone, but I'm consolated by the finding of the anthologists of that particular sound!

Classic and original etherial sound. Colorful as the laser shows of the early 80's.

Run! Do not walk to pick this up. It has now been officially released on CD on the great Esoteric Recordings label. 2 long tracks of prog rock greatness from the underrated year of 1978. It has all the hallmarks that fans of King Crimson, SFF, UK, mid-period Hawkwind and jazz rock have come to enjoy. If you relished FM's "Black Noise"...this one really kicked the door down for what FM was capable of. Tight, super-human drumming from Martin Deller, stratospheric vocals/spaced out keyboards from Cameron Hawkins and the warm yet at times rustic sounding electric violin of Ben Mink taking it over the top (yeah...THAT Ben Mink! The guy on Rush's "Losing It" from Signals). A little on the improv. side at the times but nothing too crazy like the crash and bang of Henry Cow. This is all "space". A soundtrack for riding the rings of Saturn. Recorded live directly to a lacquer in the studio with no overdubs. This is the real deal. Definitely a Canadian prog rock classic.

Third album of FM named Surveillance from 1979 is equaly loved by me as previous one. This time they gone almost Saga in manner of composing in places with more AOR atmosphere on some pieces with more mainstrema sound, but overall is more then ok , really, no bad moments at all. Still plenty to enjoy here, for prog listners like short Orion, Sofa back both excellent instrumental pieces showing that they are still in bussines. Also I like the vocal arrangements, nice smooth vocal parts, warm tone providing by Cameron Hawkins specially on Random harvest, really nice tune. Closing track Destruction is another highlit for me, strong one, intelligent instrumental parts. Seventh heaven has some great synthesizers, a nice one. All in all I like it, to me is same succesfuly as Direct to disc even as a clear mainstream direction. 3 stars rouned to 3.5.

FM from Canada were a quite promissing band in late 70s opening concerts for Rush, Saga, etc and releasing a handfull of albums untill disbanding in 1988 as far as I know. Direct to disc was the second offer from this discret band issued in 1978 on vinyl and only this year 2013 the album saw the re issue on CD on Esoteric. Here we have only 2 pieces clocking around 32 min both, one piece for each side, and they are like a long jam session where each musician done a fairly decent job. To me FM sounds ike a combination of Jean Luc Ponty, because of Ben Mink violin giving a jazzier atmosphere, some spacey moments with intresting keyboards and all melted with prog rock ingredients, the result is intresting for sure. Specially the second track Border crossing is more close to my taste, but aswell the first is ok for sure. I like it, maybe as much as their next one Surveillance even they almost gone Saga in that period. 3.5 stars to this one, quite underrated band .

I guess there was room in the late 1970s for only one superstar Prog Rock trio from Canada, and FM wasn't it. Their reputation never extended very far below the 49th parallel, maybe because the band employed a violin / mandolin ace instead of an electric guitarist, and played (at least on this album) a style of jazzy but accessible Space Rock that didn't lend itself to the increasingly narrow radio format referenced in their own name.

It's unfortunate too that the band's best album remains their least heard. The studio master disc was apparently lost, leaving only a limited handful of now very rare vinyl LPs to represent FM at its creative zenith (my own digital copy is a secondhand dupe, only recently re-acquired after stupidly purging the record from my music library long ago).

But the album was a unique achievement for the group, and well worth the detective work needed to find it today. The lack of magnetic tape in the original recording process provided a state-of-the-art clarity rarely heard in the pre-digital dark ages, but more than that the technique liberated their music in a way the band would never recapture. The performances, and the music itself, was looser here than anywhere else in their sporadic discography, and at the same time tighter than ever, presenting two LP-sides of spontaneous yet well-rehearsed jams, miles away from the more commercial, song-based output of other FM albums.

The authoritative punch of the opening bass lines (imagine Geddy Lee auditioning for a spot in the Mahavishnu Orchestra) paces off an introductory duel between keyboard / bass guitar player Cameron Hawkins and new violinist Ben Mink, replacing Nash the Slash after the latter defected to pursue a solo career. Each suite flows smoothly from one (mostly instrumental) movement to the next, seamlessly blending rockier synth and violin workouts with episodes of cybernetic, free-form Space Rock, showing none of the clichés (musical or lyrical) of the band's earlier "Black Noise" album.

It's hard to believe the entire thing was performed live in the studio, and even harder to reconcile the exciting results with the relative sellout of "Surveillance", released by the same line-up the following year. Call it what you want: bad timing; marketplace pressure; a lack of confidence in their own abilities...for whatever reason, it's a two-fold pity that a) the sound of the album was never developed further, and b) the original disc was misplaced. This kind of negative karma never happened to that other Canadian Prog trio.

Guilty pleasures don't get much guiltier than this prime slice of Canadian Prog Rock. And not only guilty, but hereby convicted in the court of hindsight and sentenced to a slow, painless death by analog nostalgia.

Any overview of the music is going to read like a damning litany of Progressive sins: the ham- fisted sci-fi themes (including a song titled "Phasors On Stun", complete with Star Trek sound effects); the cheesy synthesizer runs (left over from the last Rick Wakeman album); and other assorted transgressions against good taste, like a violin/mandolin player with the dubious nom-de-prog of Nash the Slash, who would later tour alongside Gary Numan while swathed head-to-toe in surgical bandages, like Claude Rains portraying "The Invisible Man" (take a look at his undisguised mug shot on the inner LP sleeve to see what he was hiding...and why).

The musicianship is what saves the album, and the contagious songwriting. Every track has its hook, and every hook is catchy as hell. Nash the Slash (real name Jeff Playman, which apparently lacked the necessary rock star cachet) was a talent to be reckoned with, always challenging keyboard wizard Cameron Hawkins with his virtuoso electric violin solos, most effectively in the ten-minute title track. And Martin Deller was one of the smoothest drummers this side of Bill Bruford or Curt Cress, practicing an assertive yet swinging style that never failed to rock, even at its most subtle.

I loved the album as a kid, when I was too young to know any better. But only now, as a more jaded adult, can I fully appreciate its proggy charms, precisely because of (and not despite) all the dated clichés. It helps, of course, to have been there when the album was new. But, unlike a lot of music from the mid-1970s, the FM debut can still be heard without prejudice.

FM were/are a trio from Toronto, I think they still tour but haven't released any new music in ages. This is their second album. They are only on PA as 'prog related' but their first two albums are 100% prog IMO. The debut album Black Noise was one of the first to be recorded digitally. It only had a limited release originally, so Headroom was actually more widely available than the debut for awhile. However, this one never got a CD release. It was mixed live with no overdubs and recorded, as the title says, direct to disc. Original violinist/mandolinist Nash The Slash left after the debut to start a fairly successful solo career. One of the reasons he left was because he didn't like working with a drummer; he preferred the early days of FM when it was him, bassist/keyboardist Cameron Hawkins and a drum machine.

Nash's replacement here is Ben Mink (who like Nash also plays electric mandolin). He has worked with some other Canadian musicians such as Rush and k.d. lang. Despite the one member change this album sounds like the same group who made Black Noise. Although this is actually more 'proggy' and fusion-y. Only two side-long tracks are included. This is mostly instrumental music but there is a little bit of vocals. Drummer Martin Deller does some of the synth duties. In fact, on the second track he uses an alpha wave brain monitor plugged into a synthesizer so you can hear his brainwaves. No, seriously.

"Headroom" starts the album off as some kind of countrified fusion. Later the drums die out with just a little bit of percussion and the violin does a low-key solo. Some great synth sounds follow before the full trio comes back and there is some singing. It gets more experimental sounding towards the end before finishing on a blues-rock jam. "Border Crossing" begins as great maple-syrup covered fusion. Love the bass and mandolin tones here. It really sounds like a guitar but as far as I know they didn't use one. The synths sound great as well. Gets atmospheric and ambient sounding for awhile. Then it gets trippy and spacey.

A sequencer repeats a hypnotic pattern along with some percussion as some singing begins, one or two syllables at a time. While this is going on the drumkit comes back. A drum solo for awhile. Later a laid-back groove with some emotional violin soloing. Gets more jazzy as it goes along. Other than tracking down one of the original vinyl copies, I don't think you would have much luck finding this album. I'm not sure if it's available as a paid download anywhere. A real shame because the music here is great. After Headroom FM start to become way more commercial sounding. This is worth hearing if you get a chance. 4 stars.

This was FM's second album released in 1978. Nash The Slash the violinist has left to go solo so enter Ben Mink. The band decided for this album to do a live in-studio recording. So they composed the music and practised the two long pieces which combine for about 31 minutes. They recorded many takes and kept the one they felt was best and there were no overdubs. This recording is highly valued for a couple of reasons. For one apparently the master tapes were lost so this has just been released on vinyl only, so it's rare. Also the way they recorded it, and the fact we get two long suites certainly will appeal to Prog fans out there.

"Headroom" kicks in right away with drums, bass and violin. A calm 1 1/2 minutes in with mournful violin. It then picks up with violin. Percussion, vocals and synths(moog) lead after 4 minutes then drums and violin join in. A calm 7 minutes in with synths. It starts to build 8 1/2 minutes in then we get another calm 12 minutes in, this time it's spacey. It kicks in again with drums, bass and violin. Vocal melodies join in late to end it.

"Border Crossing" is upbeat early with synths and drums standing out. I think that mandolin or maybe synths that sound like guitar. A spacey calm after 3 minutes. Moog before 6 minutes as the synths twitter. Violin before 6 1/2 minutes then percussion as it stays laid back. Vocals 7 minutes in as it picks up. Drum solo before 10 minutes. A calm with violin 11 1/2 minutes and this continues to the end.

Well i'm not as impressed as others seem to be. It isn't nearly as good as the debut "Black Noise" in my opinion. I'm giving it a low 4 stars, not for my enjoyment factor but because of the Prog spirit they showed here and certainly a lot of talent went into this recording as well.

3.5 stars. FM's third release sees the band going into more of a commercial direction so it's hit and miss for me. Still it has that warm and uplifting vibe that I so love about this band. I think it's the vocals and synths that give off that flavour i'm talking about. Ben Mink who many will remember for his guest appearance on RUSH's future "Signals" album offers up some killer electric violin and mandolin solos.

"Rocket Roll" is by far my least favourite as it seems like the band was trying to write a hit single and it just didn't turn out very well. I do like the bass though. "Orion" is excellent with prominant drums as the mandolin solos over top. It blends into "Horizons" where it turns spacey with vocals. Nice. You know i'd swear there is guitar on here but it's either distorted violin or the electric mandolin. And this goes for several of the tracks where it's difficult to tell what i'm hearing. "Random Harvest" has some nice chunky bass as the vocals join in. The violin or mandolin is lighting it up then the vocals return. "Shapes Of Things" is a YARDBIRDS cover and one that I heard often on the radio up where I live North of Toronto back in the day. It's an excellent cover, it makes me feel good.

"Seventh Heaven" is one of my favourites with those synths and a beat as the vocals join in. So good. "Father Time" puts the focus on the vocals until we get an instrumental interlude half way through. "Sofa Back" is a good instrumental with synths that remind me of RUSH. This was before RUSH was using synths though. "Destruction" ends it and I like when it picks up after 3 1/2 minutes. Good song.

There's so much that I do like about this record, especially the mood but this is a mixed bag.