RATIONAL DIET

One of these bands that found its way onto the September 2010 RIO festival in France was RATIONAL DIET that came all the way from Brest, Belarus (situated on the Polish border) and joined company with other outsider artists such as Art Bears, Gong, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Jannick Top / Infernal Machina, Thierry Zaboitzeff (ex-Art Zoyd), Full Blast, Miriodor, Genevieve Foccroulle and Aquaserge at the same event. RATIONAL DIET formed in 1996 and disbanded in 2012 but left in its wake five distinct works that include three official albums and two earlier self-made and promoted albums titled "From The Grey Notebook" and "The Shameless." These two earliest albums have been nearly impossible to track down as they were only released on CD-Rs and are nowhere for digital download or free listening so in effect this debut simply titled RATIONAL DIET should be considered the official debut album.

RATIONAL DIET qualifies as both avant-prog and RIO but express these styles through the art of chamber music which includes a large number of participants. The musicians who appear on all seven of the tracks include Vitaly Appow (bassoon, tenor sax, accordion), Maxim Velvetov (guitars), Cyrill Christya (violin), Dmitry Maslovsky (bass), Eugeny Alexeyev (keyboards) and Nicolay Gumberg (drums) with several others who participate on a a track or two. These include Alla Pustchina (cello), Cyrill Yelshow (vocal), Maria Lagodich (vocals), Andrew Bogdanow (vocals) and Oleg Gorbatiuk (vocals). The band's sound is very reminiscent of the classic chamber rock bands of the past which include Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, Present and Henry Cow but RATIONAL DIET takes on a lot more classical elements than the typical RIO chamber rock band with influences from Stravinsky and Shostakovich as well as home grown Slavic gypsy folk and even some Soviet era poets in the sparse lyrics found spoken and sung throughout the album.

Thanks to the Italian AltrOck label which is home to the avant-freakery of Yugen, RATIONAL DIET which went from a relocated Minsk based local act that toured its native land of Belarus to a more international phenomenon and this eponymously titled album is the culmination of the band's ten years of practicing, gigging and compositional creativity which finds most of the tracks lifted from the "From The Grey Notebook" and "The Shameless" releases. In fact out of the seven tracks that make up this 61 minute album's running time, only "Stop Kolpakoff!" didn't appear in some form on the first two local releases. It doesn't take long at all to realize that out of all the dishes on RATIONAL DIET's menu that the chamber rock / avant-prog complexities of Unviers Zero, Art Zoyd and Present are the sound de jour and the sextet with a few guests for those "extra" touches deliver with all the gusto and dexterity of Cirque du Soleil members at a trampoline factory. In other words, this band has seriously honed its chops.

Despite RATIONAL DIET's appetite to consume the chamber prog of yore, the band did an excellent job of bringing it into the 21st century with some local flavors to keep it from sounding like some sort of hero worship cult album that insinuates posters of Roger Trigaux and Daniel Denis on various band member's ceilings! While the chamber rock is the dominate flavor of this DIET, the actual compositional presentations are a bit more IRRATIONAL than the band's name suggests. Firstly, the band's instrumentation a lot different than its influences with a heavier emphasis on the core instruments of the bassoon (think a more energetic Lindsay Cooper) and a creepy violin (think Paganini meets Can) which conjure up bizarre contrapuntal dualisms that find one taking the lead and the other drifting off and then snapping back to the main gist of things. Second of all, while mostly instrumental, RATIONAL DIET also has vocal sections that find guests vocalists, both male and female reciting avant-garde Soviet poetry as well as "singing" at times in very, very weird styles.

Add to all that RATIONAL DIET dishes out a side serving of local gypsy folk rhythms that create nice harmonic structures although the riffing is clearly rooted in the chamber rock / avant-prog universe which makes for an interesting contrast. The rhythms also have a slight zeuhl vibe as well which at times almost bubble in symmetrical martial bombast. Best of all, the album starts out more in the traditional camp but gets more comfortable branching out into strange new worlds by the time it gets to "Don't Swing A Wheel" and the final "From The Grey Notebook - Part 2." The closing numbers provide not only the traditional but hairpin turns into the frenetically unstable and back again into a more pacifying false sense of calm before the violins screech out in ecstasy and Slavic folk influences in the form of the wild vocal gymnastics are allowed to flitter around in experimental glee. The complexities don't detract from the rhythms and melodic developments that occur nor vice versa. Somehow the band juggles all elements fairly smoothly. When all is said and done, RATIONAL DIET does an excellent job on this debut of paying homage to the greats that came before and by adding its own stamp to the world of chamber rock oriented avant-prog / RIO. Highly recommended.

1. "From The Grey Notebook - Intro" (0:23) 2. "From The Grey Notebook - Part 1" (5:05) very smooth flowing Avant Gard/RIO in the vein of many of France's most adept and adventurous jazz explorers. Definitely music that involves more rock instrumentation and form than UZED or Present. (9/10) 3. "Stop Kolpakoff!" (9:57) now this has more in common with the work of AFTER CRYING and FIVE-STOREY ENSEMBLE as well as Claudio Milano's NICHELODEON: performance art and cabaret noir. (17.66667/20)

4. "I Refrained From Closing My Ears" (12:15) Far more similar to dissonant, boundary-pushing 20th Century classical chamber music than avant prog. Not an electrified rock instrument to be found. A little too lacking in melody for my tastes, but interesting from a theatric, cinematic noir perspective. (I kept waiting for more narration.) Becomes more Eastern European in the second half--almost klezmer like. (21.25/25)

5. "An Order For Horses" (8:52) This one reminds me of early UNIVERS ZERO music--especially the first two albums--though the slurring violin and electric guitars are different. Vitaly Appow's bassoon is like a distant swan or goose squawking incessantly in the background. Maria Lagodich's frenetic peasant vocals in the fourth, fifth, and seventh minutes are interesting--an offshoot of Yoshimi P-We's work with OOIOO, perhaps? Again, I would love to see the stage or film expression to accompany this music. (17.5/20)

6. "Don't Swing The Wheel" (10:37) by this point in the album I am struggling to make out the differences between the songs, especially this one: it feels and sounds exactly like the previous one--even down to more of Maria Lagodich's crazy peasant rants. What is the band's intention here? Thankfully, there is a change in motif and, a little later, pace starting at 2:45, but this just makes the music feel even more as if it is more likely intended as accompaniment to a a narrative, short story, film, or stage performance. Like the more cinematic music of UZEd and Present, I find myself enjoying this--more if I allow my own vivd imagination to conjure up the silent film footage to attach to this music. (Fritz Lang, of course, though images from films by Orson Wells and Alfred Hitchcock also arise.) (18/20)

7. "From The Grey Notebook - Part 2" (13:48) I like the smoother, more drawn out nature of the weave of this one--at least, until the 45-second mark when the band most-assuredly counters my sentiment with some fast-capitulating note salad making. Settling back a bit, the chaos again takes over at the two-minute mark. Again, for some strange reason I feel myself comforted by the presence of the familiar rock instruments--especially the electric bass, electric guitars, and drum kit. The militaristic morale-boosting anthem that begins with Cyrill Yelshow's singing at 4:45 is another interesting and unexpected turn. Again I am reminded of some of the more odd (and, I'm guessing, colloquially Eastern European inputs similar to those of Hungarian band AFTER CRYING). Barroom piano helps transition the music through one venue to another: the streets; a chase scene! Electric bass, guitar, bassoon, and drums convey the elements and agonists involved in the run and hide--and it is a stop and go affair through the darkest, dirtiest, and most clandestine alleys of old Minsk (pre-WW2, of course). More (purposely bad) narrative singing from the military man telling the story in the 13th and 14th minutes brings us back to the present--to the story's finish. Interesting. Another situation in which I wish I could have a band member's insight into what is really going on here or that the story's printed words could be found in a good English translation. The music is okay. The story is unknown to me but, I have to admit: I am curious. (26.25/30)

Total time: 60:57

This is the last album before the arrival of young keyboard player, vocalist, and composer Olga Podgaiskaja which, after two albums, resulted in the eventual leadership struggle that would lead to the band's demise (and eventual creation of two bands: FIVE-STOREY ENSEMBLE and ARCHESTRA).

B/four stars; a very solid display of cinematic avant gard/RIO music in the tradition of and of the level of Univers Zero and Present.

How lucky are we that Francesco Zago and the AltrOck Productions record label were supporting musics like this in the late Naughties and early Teens?

From the very first note, the album grabs your attention and don't let it go until the last sound is blown. It breathes unstrained composing geniality, mathematical preciseness of performing and tons of rehearsing sweat.

The sound of RD is more a classical chamber ensemble than an electric band. Even electric guitar sounds basic, played without devices. Strings, reeds and piano are dominating. This probably makes RD sound out of any time reference point. This music could be made in the beginning of 20th century or somewhere in 23rd. In other words, it is ageless. However, it is unmistakably a rock music!

Rational Diet is based in Minsk, Byelorussia. The band was formed in 1996. The first album dates from 1999 - "From the grey notebook". The group collaborates a lot with modern artists, participates in theatre performances. It is a pity for us, listeners in the West, that it is so hard for a musician to get abroad of the last European dictatorship. Luckily, they were discovered by Italian label Altrock somewhere in 2007. In that year, Altrock reissued "The Shameless", recorded earlier in 2004. After that, RD managed to perform a few shows in Poland, Germany and Italy. They took part in Altrock fest in Milano, Italy in 2008 and in Rock In Opposition Fest'2010 in Carmaux, France. Unlucky for me, I missed all these events. I am definitely going not to repeat this mistake again!

Besides the fabulous "On Phenomena and Existences", I ordered their previous album, "At Work" from 2008, also available at Altrock.it. And I enjoyed every bit of it too! It sounds a little different, but not less fantastic. By the way, have you already discovered other bands available at Altrock.it? If everything there is on the same level as Rational Diet, Yugen and Aranis, than it is a very good place to be, for a lover of alternative rock music!

Without doubts, 4 out of 5, absolutely recommended for funs of experimental classic or rock music.

The previous reviews pretty much tell the tale. I would agree that there are a lot of RIO groups that do tend to (it's the nature of the style a bit) to be a bit vulgar and maybe over the top (although I like that stuff too!) This on the other hand is a beautiful combination of RIO, but the Samala Mamas influence, it makes the outcome quite unique and their own voice. Speaking of voice, this is unusual also, as there is a different style of singing between the songs (do to the fact that this represents a couple of albums I think,) but is still totally cohesive and fitting. I wish I understood the language though, as it's sung with passion and clarity.

Overall, this is a must have to me, as it comes from yet another angle in the challenging and yet "can't get enough of" music of avant guard/rock.

Thanks to those that continue to support the music industry that really produces music out of love of life and art - we couldn't hear this wonderful dreams into reality without them! And now, I must have Rational Diet's other albums! (my wife just doesn't understand:)

Rational Diet from Belorussia is not a new band. They have been around for a long time. But I have not been aware of them until recently and through the interview I did with them. On Phenomena and Existences is their fifth album and the first one I have heard from this band.

Rational Diet does an acoustic chamber orchestra type of avant-garde/RIO. The nearest reference for a novice like myself is Aranis. Afenginn is also another reference point. But Rational Diet plays a lot darker music on this album than you will find on any Aranis album. They are pretty close to Present and Univers Zero at times. Not to mention the Zeuhl genre when female vocals is applied to this music. Though I would not say this album is a totally dark album. It also has it's light sides too. But is it leaning more towards Richard Wagner than Johan Sebastian Bach, let me put it this way. It also have a lot of speed and fluency too. Very much fluency, I would say. It also draws in jazz and fusion elements in some melodies too.

The quality of the material is great throughout. Most of all; the music is fascinating with a lot of layers. This album is like peeling an onion (without the tears, that is). You think you have got it and then there is another layer below it. That is all the hallmarks of a quality product, in my view. Hence my sprinkling of stars over this album.

4 stars

Not many bands manage to astonish me with how they progress and evolve from album to album; little opportunity do I get to hear bands that while keeping their core sound and style, are able to bring something new into their palate, produce an updated aural image of themselves.

Rational Diet is one such group.

I've read that this band's music poses a challenge to some listeners, a barrier of disharmonic noise and orchestral chaos. I for one hear magical harmony, mysterious and eerie ambiance and highly calculated and intricate composition, arrangements and stellar musicianship. The production is also of high quality and brings forth all the small details and intricacies that can easily get lost in such a rich and layered album.

Rational Diet's music has a diverse range of sounds. From ominous and disharmonic sounding sections to more rock-oriented segments, from slow and relatively calm to a chaotic-like frenzy-driven rhythmic bit. Their music is such that it's eerie, sharp and in-your-face one minute and then it gradually morphs into a softer-edged sound with a more harmonic nature. This album presents a variety of these sounds, much like a diverse and well-balanced diet. Each of the 14 compositions on the album presents varied and distinct pace, mood and approach, all unified by the band's sound and playing. This array of templates is at times applied in one song (Sleep Is A Teasing Man, and Passcaglia In Beautiful And Furious Worlds are two examples).

Moreover, the instruments themselves are wisely used to achieve this effect, as the violin is usually the lead "offensive" and abrasive sounding instrument while the piano and organ serve the opposite end and the rest serve both "camps" as needed. This group does a wonderful job of composing modern classical music and presenting it in a rock-like setup.

Some of the pieces on the album, poems of sorts, show an interesting development for the band; A Man Went To Sleep, Sleep Is Teasing A Man and In Five Steps are such songs. These have a more intimate and exposed feeling to them in the sung parts, though they also contain the instrumental frenzy that characterizes the group. The other tracks are prime example of this group's playing prowess and arrangements skills. Take for instance Bet On A Marked Card. Rational Diet takes a theme, layer it with all their instrumental lineup, add a second thematic section to which the melody shifts, play it fast and furious and the result is a bombastic musical punch to the face. What I find most admirable here is the writing for each instrument and adding it all up to fit together and achieving harmony between them and one effective sounding musical short piece. Another feat I appreciate is that they write mostly short and succinct pieces and don't linger on unnecessarily. I would however, like to hear how they would tackle a longer composition, how would they construct and arrange it (they had longer pieces in earlier albums but I'd like to hear what they would write now).

A feature I find wonderful in their music and in this album in particular is the interplay between the instruments. Take for instance, track 10, Private Secrets of Machine; hear how the violin and piano interact, pose each other a phrase and the other answers or counteracts it. All the while, the drums provide a propulsive beat, maintaining suspense and tension, aided by the bassoon and guitar. Some would probably say that at some point, the violin and piano lines become just random babblings, aimless meanderings; however, I hear carefully composed opposing streaks of melodies. These may sound disjointed at first, but upon repeated listening will reveal their "intention" and projected melodic paths unveiling their magic.

I must say a good word about the production, which provides a clear and crisp sound in which I'm able to hear all the instruments, even those whose volume is such that they tend to be at the back of the mix and both low and high ends are heard well in this recording.

On Phenomena And Existences is a dense, odd and intense listening experience. This is an album that requires full attention to grasp all of its richness as well as small intricacies. I find it to be a wonderful step forward in the band's output, a great follow-up to their previous release, At Work.

The lineup consists of a basic rock unit of guitar, bass, keyboards and drums along with a classical lineup of saxophone, bassoon, cello, violin and piano, giving them a range of opportunities to create a wide musical "palate" of sounds. There are also female vocals on some tracks.

9 tracks and songs are in here, mostly short, or not too long, with a charming atmosphere, beautiful melodies which are surprisingly catchy and at times sound like Stravinsky gone electric. The music is always changing, there is constant experimentation, but not for experimentation's sake, but to find more ways for the music to advance and achieve another effect, another point in its route of progression, another beautiful peak. The music, while at times can seem chaotic, is always under control, always meticulously performed and orchestrated. The brilliant parts, such as in Pukhow, where the piano seems at times to go berserk, are beautifully in line with the music, gorgeously arranged to lead the music onward, brilliantly composed to sound both out of line and in line with the rest of the band. A track like Dear Kontrabandist evokes the intensity and accuracy of Univers Zero with the madness and oddness of Le Silo. The zany saxophone goes wild while the rest of the lineup is punctually playing allowing its rogue member to express himself. The piano is the basis for this song, giving excellent bouncy and catchy rhythm. The vocals which might evoke a Magma-ian chant fit perfectly with the music. Even the very short tracks like Wet Moss have more meat and power to them than a lot of epic length tracks on other progressive rock albums. Those could and probably should have been longer as they contain great ideas that could be expanded. But if you take Wet Moss together with The Mourners, which is another short track, you might get that exactly. On Closed Case, there is a Miriodor-ian feel, as the saxophone paves the way forcefully with a highly dynamic rhythm section backing it. Then they make way for a calmer yet eerie section where the bassoon, whose sound I love, makes abrupt appearances with the strong section along with the piano creating the spooky and quirky feeling that dominates this part. The alternation between aggressive and passive is another appealing feature in this piece. Ariel's Last Dream is a violin lead track, more peaceful in nature, but still full of dynamics and passion and fabulous musicianship (as the entire album is). Horse Enemy is yet another gem here, with more Univers Zero and Present influence (at times a Univers Zero and Present on amphetamines), but not only these bands. Also, by now giving those references seems to not do justice to Rational Diet as this is their own sound. Condemned, the centerpiece of this release, is the longest on the album (almost 11 minutes) and is dominated by the "classical" side of the band, with great rhythm provided by the drums, which fit flawlessly with the whole sound and aided by the angry guitar riff as well. There are segments here where the music becomes furious and seems to overflow the speakers and then scatter all over and you hear the various instruments playing chaotically, as if looking there way back to the original path. It is very well orchestrated and so well played that I could think there's no score here at all and they're just randomly playing (they might be, who knows?). They then proceed to assemble all the pieces back together and carry on in their original path and the music gets more and more energetic, becomes more and more forceful and insistent and moves forward in a very "cubic" structured manner to the crescendo-like ending. The ending track On Tuesdays is a more peaceful song, with a nice keyboards playing pattern. It goes on cyclically and maintains the same level to the end and it is probably the only track here which remains constant and doesn't evolve (aside from the sax joining in for a few blurred fuzzy improve-like lines towards the end).

Their music splendidly combines the intensity of rock with the beauty and appealing nature of a classical lineup. The mix of the two as Rational Diet does it is simply astounding. The words Chamber Rock are probably the best description for this music, since they do exactly that. The music they create is diverse, taking from many influences, and will appeal to fans of the aforementioned bands above and fans of this style of music overall. The musicianship is spectacular as is the development of each track and the beauty of each theme presented on all the pieces on the album. The album also presents their manner of being succinct and to the point and not to overdo and prolong segments or whole tracks that do not need it. They do not fall into the needless trap of creating long pieces that tire the listener and for no reason. Knowing how to create an appealing piece of music is an art, and knowing how to not ruin it (by over-doing it) is the other side of this coin. Rational Diet seem to know this "secret". This album, to me, puts the band on the top of today's active bands in this scene. This album is one of the best I've heard this year and is quickly becoming an all-time favourite. Get it!

The album is bookended by 3 pieces from The Grey Notebook, all composed by guitarist Maxim Velvetov, while the filling in the sandwich comes from The Shameless and the pieces were composed by reeds player Vitaly Appow and violinist Cyrill Christya. There's quite a marked contrast between the pieces from the two different sessions. On the Grey Notebook pieces the core trio of composers work as a sextet with keyboards, bass and drums and the music is largely instrumental, recalling Univers Zero and Henry Cow. The pieces from The Shameless see the band working as an entirely acoustic quartet (cellist Alla Pustchina augmenting the core trio) plus guest vocalists, and here the music is closer to the chamber rock of Art Zoyd's first three albums. Although there are clear influences from several key RIO bands, Rational Diet have a definite identity of their own. A lot of the music draws as much on their Slavonic heritage as it does on contemporary avant rock, with elements of Shostakovitch and Bartok clearly audible. The Slavonic feel is reinforced on the acoustic tracks by guest vocalists reciting the work of avant garde poets over the music, a bold move which works remarkably although it could have gone badly wrong in less capable hands. The closing track, a 14 minute piece from The Grey Notebook, is something of a RIO masterpiece with a powerful, near-zeuhl vocal from guest Cyrill Yelshow. Maxim Velvetov's guitar work is particularly impressive on the electric tracks, while Vitally Appow's contributions on bassoon, sax and accordion add a distinctive edge to the imaginative arrangements throughout.

Despite being compiled from 2 different and quite distinct releases, Rational Diet works very well as an album in its own right. There's a high standard of composition and performance throughout, and the contrast between the acoustic tracks and those with a full band is highly effective. The three main composer/performers all bring something of their own to the RIO sound, and hopefully there is more to come from this intriguing Belarussian outfit. Recommended to anybody with a taste for chamber rock, in particular fans of Art Zoyd, Univers Zero and Henry Cow.