L'ÉTRANGE MR. WHINSTER

Jean-Pierre Massiera was one of the most controversial figures of the French Experimental/Prog Rock scene of the 70's.He was involved in several obcure projects and bands like After Life, Atlantide, Visitors, Human Egg, Working Progress, Wapassou and others as an instrumentalist, singer or sound engineer.Horrific Child could be regarded more of a personal project, a collective of Massiera, some guest musicians (like bassist Tony Bonfils from Working Progress) and instrumentalists from the Nice Music Conservatory, as it was revealed on later reissues of the album, as on the original Eurodisc vinyl edition no credits were displayed.The album was titled ''L'etrange Monsieur Whinster'' and came out in 1976.

A complete oddity of the 70's, a downright weirdness in the fields of Experimental and Avant Rock with extensions to Horror Film and OST Music, this one comes as a combination of orchestral manifests, spoken poetry, multi-ethnic influences and Fusion experiments.Not what you would call a Prog album, but it has some links to ''Atom Heart Mother''-era PINK FLOYD and several of Battiato's works on Experimental Rock, Avant-Garde Music and Minimalisim.Three long tracks, where ''H. I. A.'', about 16 minutes long, contains the most interesting themes with several grand orchestrations and proggy edges on instrumental parts, but also too much haunting soundscapes with wordless vocals and sound effects, an extreme attempt on experimental composing with acoustic, electric, noise and minimalistic moments.Could be good for a related movie soundtrack.''Frayeur'' starts quite nicely, recalling the legendary compatriots CATHARSIS, featuring some strong electric moves, quasi-Classical dated organs and sinister voices, before becoming a tribute to African Music with use of local languages, African percussion and wind effects.I can't see how these styles could be complementary to each other, it does not matter, Massiera certainly found a way in his own mind.I am really sceptic about the existence of ''Angoisse''.Eight minutes of French narration with background electronics and some sporadic piano dissonances and percussion.No way I will ever figure out what's the true point behind it.

Trully exaggerate and dark music.Prog touches blended with African Music, noises and effects and outlandish vocals, highly improvised and extremely bizarre.Requires a certain mood for a proper listening, even if you're fan of the most sharp music experiments.Original copy goes for triple-digit bucks at auctions, reissues exist.