PAZOP

The music is very intriguing and at times mildy complex. In addition to drums, bass and keyboards there are lots of flute and especially violin on Psychillis of a Lunatic Genius. There are no guitar on the album, but don´t worry you won´t have time to miss it as there is always something exciting going on. The most Canterbury influenced songs are What Is the Further Purpose, Mirela, Bami, Lychee, Si ( even though it has a weird RIO like ending), Can It Be Sin and M.M.M. while the RIO influences can be heard in songs like Harlequin of Love, Freedom Dance, And the Hermit Will Be the Master, In the Army (Devil Likes Smoke) and Airport Formalities and Taking Off... All Songs are very good IMO. There are no weak songs on Psychillis of a Lunatic Genius and as a consequence this is an excellent album that comes close to being a masterpiece.

There are a few flaws that doesn´t suit my taste though. A lot of the songs fade out which I find annoying. SOngs should be finished properly IMO. It´s very seldom fading a song out works for me.

The musicianship is outstanding on this album, so look forward to listening to the many details these musicians play. This is really great. I have to mention Dirk Bogaert as he is an excellent musician. He has got a really good voice and he masters many different singing styles. His accent is hardly hearable and when it shows it´s kind of charming IMO. The polish violinist Kuba Szczepansky also has to be mentioned as he is great too. Listen to some of those fast runs and strange sounds he makes. Just brilliant.

The production is good. It has that soft Canterbury sound that we´ve all come to expect from bands within that genre.

I´m very impressed with Psychillis Of A Lunatic Genius and if you like your Canterbury prog rock with a weird twist this should also appeal to you. This is highly recommendable IMO. It ´s definitely one of the more original albums I have heard in a long time. At this time there are very few ratings on this album which is very undeserved if you ask me. Try this one out you won´t regret it. The 4 big stars are well deserved.

"Le La Loo Loo Le La" is a good, uptempo, instrumental track with keys, violin and drums leading the way. "Harlequin Of Love" is where we first hear vocals, and it took me a while to get past how much they sound like David Clayton Thomas from BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS. This is a complex track with lots of tempo shifts. It's Zappa-like at times with lots of flute. "Crying For Disaster's Hand" features a jazzy sound with fragile vocals to begin with. Organ, bass and flute lead the way. Cool song.The tempo picks up after 3 minutes when drums and piano become prominant. "What Is The Further Purpose" is very jazzy with fast paced vocals. Great sound. Nice bass lines. "Swaying Fire" features outbursts of violin that come and go in contrast with the soft vocal passages. Vocals do get stronger, and the drumming becomes more prominant. "Mirela" is an instrumental that has Canterbury written all over it. Nice. "Freedom Dance" opens with flute and theatrical vocals trading off before an uptempo melody arrives. "Lovelight" has some very JETHRO TULL sections on it. Great tune !

The next half starts with an instrumental called "Bami, Lychee, Si." I was reminded of ZAO as it is very smooth and jazzy. Some vocal melodies come in. Some mellotron as the sound is building. Crazy spoken words to end it. "Harlequin Of Love(second version)" is like a reprise of the first one. "Can It Be Sin" is the longest track at almost 7 minutes.This is a slower paced, solemn song but with funny lyrics. Mellotron on this one as well. "And The Hermit Will Be A Master" opens with keys. Violin, drums, bass and vocals soon join in. Jazzy. Vocals get theatrical after 4 minutes. "M.M.M." is an uptempo instrumental with lots of flute. It calms down before 2 minutes with flute still leading the way. It becomes quite jazzy later. "In The Army(devil likes smoke)" would make Zappa proud. Hilarious lyrics and a crazy instrumental background. Well played of course. "Airport Formalities And Taking Off / Stewardess And Breakfast" is a true Canterbury song title no ? It definitely sounds like classic Canterbury anyway. I love this track. Check out the organ work ! Spoken words to open and close the song. "It's The End" is a silly little number that would have been perfect to end a concert with.

This is one of those obscure albums that makes the search all worthwhile. A must !

Another pristine-perfect re-issue from Musea records with a thorough search on the life of the band's adventures both before , during and after PAZOP's short life. Musea even pushes the honesty by not including the four commercial tracks they had recorded before their first album (one of which was called Merry Jungo) because they thought this might ruin the enjoyment of the album. They do however include many tracks from their second unreleased album and I cannot thank them enough for it. Pazop came to form out of the ashes of Wallace Collection, Waterloo and Arkham but never really managed any real success because of bad management and non-respectful records label managers.

The music developped here is somewhere between Canterbury and some fusion bands of those same years and they are fairly distinctive-sounding because they have no guitarist in the line-up. The lead instruments are the flute, violin (played by polish origin Kuba Szczepanski) and keybooards. In the vocal dept , Dirk Bogaert is simply one of the better rock singer from Belgium at the time along with the lead singer from Irish Coffee. Jacky Mauer is a fantastic percussionist using all sorts in this record. Pazop is a perfect example of Belgian Zanyness on record and obviously they listened to Zappa and Robert Wyatt's Matching Mole. Crying From Disaster's Hands is an early peak in the album , Can It Be Sin nother and the hilarious In The Army another soon followed by Airport Formalities .

A real lost gem from 70's Belgium.