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SUPERSISTER

Canterbury Scene • Netherlands


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Supersister picture
Supersister biography
Founded in 1967 in The Hague, Netherlands as "Sweet OK Sister" - Active 1970-1975, 2000-2001 and 2010-2011
Reformed in 2019 as "Supersister Projekt 2019"

SUPERSISTER had a sound very much in the Canterbury scene, and if I had to compare them to another band it would with no doubt be CARAVAN. They blend their own Dutch ideals and a touch humor into a unique mixture of progressive rock. Plenty of flute or sax or both can be heard weaving in and out of the varied organ and piano. Influences from FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION, some WIGWAM (lots of organ) and from THE SOFT MACHINE (especially from the time when THE SOFT MACHINE was a trio) can be heard.

"Present From Nancy" (1971) is a incredible debut-album featuring greats tracks, lots of flute and distorbed organ and a vocalist who sounds quite a bit like Richard SINCLAIR. "Present from Nancy" and "To the Highest Bidder" are generally the recommended starting places and work your way forward. One of the absolutely best groups from the Dutch progressive rock scene.

See also: HERE

SUPERSISTER Videos (YouTube and more)


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SUPERSISTER discography


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SUPERSISTER top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.04 | 269 ratings
Present from Nancy
1970
4.26 | 324 ratings
To the Highest Bidder
1971
3.96 | 170 ratings
Pudding En Gisteren [Aka: Pudding & Yesterday]
1972
3.55 | 131 ratings
Iskander
1973
3.30 | 87 ratings
Sweet Okay Supersister: Spiral Staircase
1974
3.71 | 63 ratings
Supersister Projekt 2019: Retsis Repus
2019

SUPERSISTER Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.60 | 22 ratings
Supersisterious
2001
3.64 | 11 ratings
Long Live Supersister!
2013
5.00 | 1 ratings
Live in Scheveningen 1972
2021

SUPERSISTER Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

4.15 | 13 ratings
Sweet OK Supersister
2006

SUPERSISTER Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.75 | 21 ratings
Superstarshine vol. 3
1972
3.75 | 4 ratings
Startrack Vol. 1
1973
3.17 | 6 ratings
Iskander / Spiral Staircase
1990
3.94 | 9 ratings
Present from Nancy / To the the Highest Bidder
1990
3.50 | 6 ratings
Pudding En Gisteren / Superstarshine
1990
2.86 | 14 ratings
m.a.n. (Memories Are New)
2000
3.63 | 8 ratings
Universal Masters Collection
2002
3.67 | 3 ratings
Dreaming Wheelwhile
2012
4.00 | 1 ratings
Looking Back, Naked
2020
5.00 | 1 ratings
The Sound of Music - The First Fifty Years 1970-2020
2021

SUPERSISTER Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

3.00 | 3 ratings
She Was Naked / Spiral Staircase
1970
2.22 | 8 ratings
Fancy Nancy
1970
3.83 | 6 ratings
No Tree Will Grow
1971
3.67 | 6 ratings
A Girl Named You
1971
4.00 | 2 ratings
Radio
1972
5.00 | 2 ratings
Wow / Drs. D
1973
4.50 | 2 ratings
Bagoas / Memories Are New
1973

SUPERSISTER Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Fancy Nancy by SUPERSISTER album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1970
2.22 | 8 ratings

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Fancy Nancy
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by Matti
Prog Reviewer

2 stars And here's the other non-album single appearing as a bonus in the CD reissue of Supersister's debut album Present from Nancy (1970). If 'Spiral Staircase' annoys me by its "horror humour", 'Fancy Nancy' annoys me with a 50's rock and roll imitation, up to silly Elvis Presley manners in the vocals. Luckily it's very short, under two minutes.

'Gonna Take Easy' continues in the humorous direction, this time reminiscent of Frank Zappa's parodic songs (that I dislike). I don't like the tinkling piano either. There's some nice organ for a little while. Over-extended in nearly three minutes, judged against the musical substance, this throwaway song is something I prefer forgetting.

I am being kind and give a second star for this Dutch band not taking themselves too seriously and toying around with various styles, even though my personal rating would be one star for the annoyment.

 She Was Naked / Spiral Staircase by SUPERSISTER album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1970
3.00 | 3 ratings

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She Was Naked / Spiral Staircase
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by Matti
Prog Reviewer

3 stars This single was released the same year as the debut album (Present from Nancy) of this Canterbury-styled Dutch band. The album however doesn't contain either of these songs, but naturally they appear on the CD reissues.

'She Was Naked' is related to the album's 8½-minute prog highlight 'Dona Nobis Pacem' but they really are very different pieces. 'D.N.P.' is an instrumental and pretty esoteric organ-centred piece slightly reminiscent of 'Sauceful of Secrets' by Pink Floyd. At its peaceful beginning 'She Was Naked' has a CARAVAN reminding elegance with lots of flute and tender vocals not so far from the style of Richard Sinclair (or Rick Wright in his early non-album Floyd songs). Then at 1:40 the intensity suddenly speeds up with a faster tempo and a fuzz guitar, and soon slightly Gregorian-inspired vocals sing briefly in latin ("Dona nobis pacem..."). Some frenzy instrumental playing finishes this peculiar song that seems to end too suddenly. Keyboard player and vocalist Robert Jan Stips (later a member of NITS, which I always like to mention) and his band were most clearly influenced by The Soft Machine, Caravan and the late 60's Pink Floyd.

'Spiral Staircase' is a rather annoying piece of humorous intentions. The music in itself is silly with the staccato electric piano, but the mock-horror narrative read in a monotonous voice is nothing but a joke that wears out quickly. 3½ stars for the A side and 1½ stars for the B side, but for the non-album contents I round the ratio upwards.

 To the Highest Bidder by SUPERSISTER album cover Studio Album, 1971
4.26 | 324 ratings

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To the Highest Bidder
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by WJA-K

4 stars I never knew about Supersister. Except for the fact that Stips - a locally famous Dutch musician and singer - used to be part of this group. Wow. I truly missed out.

Because Supersister embodies the type of prog a favour: quirky, playful, beautiful.

To the highest bidder has been my first real intro to Supersister. A relatively short album with four tracks.

A girl named you - starts playfully and keys, bass and drums go wild. When the song shifts gear and mellows out, it's truly atmospheric. 9/10

No tree will grow (on too high a mountain) - This is a beautiful slow song about a sad topic. The laughter at the end is far removed from the atmosphere of the song indeed 9/10

Energy (Out of future) - This is the highlight of the album as they are firing from all registers 9.5/10

Higher - This song is a nice closing of a near-perfect album 8.5/10

I love this. The chauvinistic me wishes to grant 5 stars, but 4 stars is a better depiction of my praise for the album.

 Supersister Projekt 2019: Retsis Repus by SUPERSISTER album cover Studio Album, 2019
3.71 | 63 ratings

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Supersister Projekt 2019: Retsis Repus
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by Beautiful Scarlet

4 stars What a pleasant and welcome addition to this bands discography. I like that Robert Jan Stips who I believe wrote a lot of Supersisters music included the sound he had developed in the band Nits here.

Memories are New IV is a reference to a Nits song and is a chill opener with really neat breaks away from the main idea of the song.

Track 2 has a great keyboard opener and the classic lazy echo vocals of Robert Jan Stips. The contrast between singing and keys is fantastic.

Sister Talk 1 is a brief interlude of vibes, yeah it's pretty,

For You And Nobody Else is a cool song and the longest on the album. It features some sublime catchy vocals and violin. One of the highlights of the album for me. A lot of the song has this sublime chamber feel and just exudes character throughout.

Max Eco is a pro nature song that I find to be of average quality. It isn't bad but isn't good.

Hope To See You There Again is a cool instrumental with atmospheric leads over a thumping drum groove.

Yellow Days is a three part song clocking in at four minutes, absolutely beautiful. Opening with a section sort of keeping up the vibe of the previous track it sounds like a full band effort, full attention to the composition. The second part contains vocals and is keys/violin with haunting singing.. The final part is an electronic section that came as a total surprise and oddly enough works very well.

Sister Talk 2 is like the it's previous instalment. It's an interlude y'know?

Next Door Movie opens with Marimba and alongside brass forges a cool instrumental.

Cuckoo is a sillier number, it's got this over the top female choral part that I really dislike yet also has a majestic spoken word piece. I get the meaning behind this song is why it sounds like it does but I care about sound over meaning and it's not worth it for me. I would prefer this song as like a digital bonus track.

Hope To See You Again ends the album with slow drumming and dramatic violin. An effective closer.

Overall one of the best things about this album in my eyes is how despite being short songs these are still well developed changing/engaging songs. I don't think anything on this album is below average and when the music is at its best it is absolutely excellent.

 Iskander by SUPERSISTER album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.55 | 131 ratings

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Iskander
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by Beautiful Scarlet

3 stars My middle favourite Supersister album, Iskander. This album moves in a different direction than the previous three which is a welcome change as that style had reached a dead end with pudding en gistereen. Here Supersister presents a delectable mostly instrumental affair. The closest sounding band to this is definitely National Health, specifically their second album. That being said both bands sound like their own band, Iskander uses the Saxophone to great effect alongside the Nadaswarm to create timeless music befitting the story of a great conqueror such as Iskander.

Overall this a great album, no duds just great music. A shame they didn't continue on with this kind of music, who knows what masterpiece could have been made.

 Pudding En Gisteren [Aka: Pudding & Yesterday] by SUPERSISTER album cover Studio Album, 1972
3.96 | 170 ratings

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Pudding En Gisteren [Aka: Pudding & Yesterday]
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by Beautiful Scarlet

2 stars A step backwards.

To the highest bidder is great, this is not.

The opening is a short Supersister song that changes midway into a deeper/darker song with a narrator providing rather lame narration. The second song is not a song, although It's potentially my favourite track on the album. Psychopath is no 3 and is a another short song with vocals that are again delivered in a meh manner, not as bad as radio, 3/5. The fourth song is where the album begins getting bad. It consists of deep drones for minut after minute with a small respite then back to the ambient. The last song is by far the worst and why this album get 2/5. It is a sprawling mess of 20 minutes that is arduous to get through. No beauty to be found, all the stereotypes about this kind of music come true, riff salad, excessive length, terrible.

 To the Highest Bidder by SUPERSISTER album cover Studio Album, 1971
4.26 | 324 ratings

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To the Highest Bidder
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by Beautiful Scarlet

5 stars This album is beautiful.

Initially I considered this to be 4/5 as the first two tracks didn't speak to me. The second side was jaw dropping instantly and had me check out the bands discography. Energy is the perfect long track, angular sections, soul tingling vocals amazing. Higher is arguably the best short song I've ever heard, again breathtaking. Now, the first two songs are not what I was looking for when I fist tried this album which is why I rated it 4/5. I was looking for music to satiate a specific itch, which was unsatiated by the first two songs which caused me to write them off immediately after hearing the second side. Fortunately the good music shone through my lapse in judgment, the songs make this album 5/5 by having their own character. A girl named you transcends jazz and progressive rock, just fantastic, I don't know what I used to hear this song sounding like. The second song I initially found dull. Then I found myself singing it a lot, memorable and the aaahhhs in it are haunting, lovely track.

All in all I love every song here and they complement one another so well. 5/5, highly recommended. Oh the bonus track "Groupies Of The Band" is hilarious btw.

Canterbury Sound Score 4/5, I think Supersister started out with a straight up Soft Machine clone debut but progressively moved away from that with each album, really finding their own voice that reminds me of Avant Pop at times (The High Llamas, Testbild, Etc)

 Present from Nancy by SUPERSISTER album cover Studio Album, 1970
4.04 | 269 ratings

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Present from Nancy
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by sgtpepper

4 stars The excellent debut album of these young lads brings us partly very energetic and frenetic Canterbury sound but also touches of classical music. The closest connection would be Soft Machine around 1969 but Supersister had slightly less jazz feeling, were more accessible, less academic, and had classical music elements. I like fast pieces better, be it the fast-paced title track that has all a Canterbury listener can long for - irregular rhythm, leads by multiple instruments, great flute/keyboard and certain psychedelic tone. "11/8" is another frenetic busy track especially for the drummer/bass and some keyboards. Organ is used similar to the way Soft Machine did. This track shines through with progressive rock explorations beyond Canterbury and it is a pity that it only lasts 3 minutes. "Mexico" has a clear Soft Machine influence with vocals and fast-paced second half.

Shorter tracks are of lesser importance but a good change to cool down.

"Dona Nobis Pacem" is like by a different band and style - a solemn reflective piece with almost a religious atmosphere, completely owned by keyboards - Hammond, organ, synths. It does not fit the album really.

 Present from Nancy / To the the Highest Bidder by SUPERSISTER album cover Boxset/Compilation, 1990
3.94 | 9 ratings

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Present from Nancy / To the the Highest Bidder
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by Squire Jaco

4 stars I used to erroneously believe that another Dutch band (Earth and Fire) were some kind of funk band, and that this Dutch band was a disco band fashioned after Rick James! ;-) So much for questionable choices in band names.

First, the negatives: The cd cover art here is lousy, and you get basically zero information in the liner notes about the band or the making of these albums; that would have been a nice plus. But I don't mark off for it...

The big positive is that you get two fantastic albums (probably the band's two best) in one affordable package. And this is a band that should be known to all progressive lovers. If you're a fan of Canterbury bands like Caravan and Hatfield & the North, this should please you. Lots of flute and sax, and the vocals are well done - I'm not even a huge fan of the wackier or "avant garde" stuff out there, but I do find this band a joy to listen to. There's a fair amount of dissonance and jazzy rock moments, especially on the "To The Highest Bidder" half of the cd. That second album seems to be a little more mature or thought out, but I love the way the first album ("Present From Nancy") sort of segues seamlessly from track to track. This is very fun progressive music with a surprising show of virtuosity and songwriting. Find it cheap someplace and give yourself a "present to the highest bidder"!...

 Supersister Projekt 2019: Retsis Repus by SUPERSISTER album cover Studio Album, 2019
3.71 | 63 ratings

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Supersister Projekt 2019: Retsis Repus
Supersister Canterbury Scene

Review by BrufordFreak
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars Robert Jan Stips is the founder and key composer, keyboard player, and singer of the early Canterbury band, SUPERSISTER. Once he left the band around 1974 (to join GOLDEN EARRING--after their world-wide hit album, Moontan with the monster hit, "Radar Love") it didn't take long before the band disintegrated. Here, in 2019, Robert Jan reveals a collection of songs that are either holdovers from that early 1970s period of his life or recent compositions that demonstrate how deeply the SUPERSISTER spirit has held steadfast within him. Many of these songs are refreshing in their upbeat, fun, and beautiful melodies, reminding one of just how special those 1971-73 Supersister albums were.

1. "I Am You Are Me / Transmitter" (4:44) (10/10) 2. "Memories Are New IV" (3:26) (8.5/10) 3. "For You And For Nobody Else" (7:59) (12.5/15) 4. "Sister Talk 1" (0:44) (4/5) 5. "Max Eco" (3:00) (8.25/10) 6. "Hope To See You There Again" (5:28) cool song that plays out like a cinematically emotional Post Rock song. (9.25/10) 7. "Yellow Days" (4:31) (10/10) 8. "Sister Talk 2" (0:35) (4.25/5) 9. "Next Door Movie" (3:12) another nice soundtrack song (8.5/10) 10. "Cuckoo" (3:58) live one room stage recording? Too goofy--though I like Robert Jan's narrative in the second minute. (7/10) 11. "Hope To See You Again" (1:24) (5/5)

Total Time 39:01

B/four stars; a welcome contribution from one of the early leaders of the Canterbury sound and a nice addition to any prog lover's music collection.

Thanks to ProgLucky for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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