ANTIQUE SEEKING NUNS

It's Pissing Don opens with percussion and is joined shortly by chill keyboards and bass. This song is very much so about building an atmosphere. There are some stops that ultimately return to the same mellow soundscape albeit seen through the eyes of different instrument sets. The song ends with tinkling, maybe water, maybe pee?

Little Machines opens with acoustic guitar and soft vocals. At around 3:30 some synths play lead which is probably the highlight of the EP for me.

M.O.D.A.R strikes me as really annoying, it's pretty much just five minutes of synth pad plus extremely distorted snare (you'll hear it and know what sound I'm talking about).

Keeny Woka Phoola is a brief track with a bit of vocals towards the end that start glitching out.

Earth Song With One Sugar opens with a staccato synth providing rhythm while other instruments slowly develop the song. At around 2:30 a full set of instruments join hands. This subsides pretty soon and the electronic ambient returns. The last minute has an argument added on plus "munchkin voices". Actually really annoying to me because the track till this point has done nothing to earn anything odd like this.

Overall this is a somewhat unpleasant release in my opinion due to all the ambient spacey moments and some of the moments of Earth Song With Sugar/MODAR are straight up agitating enough to move this down to 2* territory. One should come expecting a really strong post rock/electronic influence.

Canterbury Sound Score 2/5

1. "Double Egg" (4:25) nice pop tune with quirky Canterbury-like lyrics and phrasing. (8.5/10)

2. "Son Of Cheese" (5:59) a bluesy opening with bluesy guitar betrays an odd song despite the Canterbury-esque singing and lyric. The chorus is good followed by some nice guitar, keyboard, and percussion work. Ends nicely with some cool upper octave vocalise. (8.25/10)

3. "Son Of Bassoon" (3:26) brilliant little Satie-like étude (10/10)

4. "Shatner's Bassoon" (5:19) a raunchy full-band, electrified, avant garde version of the "Son of Bassoon" étude. Works okay. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 19:09

B+/four stars; rated down for brevity (this is an EP).

1. "It's Pissing Don?" (6:26) part Post Rock, part Canterbury, part neo-classical jazz, this piano/keyboard and xylophone-led song features the very solid support of chunky bass, military-styled drums and guitars. (9/10)

2. "Little Machines" (4:50) my favorite song on the album has some very catchy melodic, structural and vocal moments. (10/10)

3. "M.O.D.A.R" (4:50) ambient techno-space house music for the first two minutes, pauses for a very spacey section before reacquiring the weave of techno sounds that it opened with. MIDIed solo from lower mid-register keyboard is mixed in with all the other. Is this the soundscape the Canterbury artists of old would be experimenting with if they were still doing their stuff in the 21st Century? Interesting if not great. (7/10)

4. "Keeny Woka Phoola" (3:08) sounds much more Canterbury-ish--even the squeeky synth taking on part of the lead melody making. At 1:35 it becomes much more poppy with the "beautiful people everywhere" vocal section--kind of like a 60s song from or from one of today's retro-psychedelic groups like Tame Impala or Arcade Fire. (9/10)

5. "Earthsong [With One Sugar]" (7:03) opens with a repetitive mid-to-high pitched electro-pulse over which electric piano plays a kind of étude with two series of chord progressions. Then, at 2:25, the song shifts into rock mode with full band and a very familiar Canterbury sound and structure--like something from the debut Hatfield and the North album. Catchy bass, drums, and keyboard lines form the foundation over which guitars and multiple synth sounds contribute. The song slips back into electronica experimentalism in the fifth minute while drums and other support instruments create their own melodies which eventually merge into a fairly cohesive weave. Recordings of a domestic argument are introduced over the final minute and a half. Interesting! (13.5/15)

Total Time: 26:17

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music--this one in the psychedelic experimental spirit of the 1970s Canterbury artists.

'Careful! It's Tepid' was the last of the 3 EPs. After this EP, the famous duo of Baber and Winks would go on to form the band 'Sanguine Hum', which is interesting music in and of itself. This little EP starts with 'Leave Us a Message' which begins with a simple acoustic guitar and vocals, but gets joined by all the rest of the band shortly, with their nice sound of folk and jazz thrown together in a tasty combination supported by guitars and keyboards. 'The Foulness! The Stench!' is a quick instrumental track with a nice simple keyboard melody surrounded by a mellotron and a happy feeling not reflected in the title.

'Dead Cheese' is more complex with guitar and a complex tonal percussive riff. The track is a great example of the progressiveness of the band and has a bit of heaviness to it. This also proves that this band was amazing. The meter is tricky and the instrumentation is quirky and it is all under-layed with a jazz sense. 'The Bearded Bag Lady' continues with the jazz fusion feel, this time it is with a mellower approach with plenty of the happy tonal percussion. 'Ointment for Flies' is the other song with lyrics and nice harmony. More of that rock and jazz fusion with complex and out-of-the-ordinary sound.

You could try to explain what this music is like and who to compare it to, but it would be tough. Take some of Frank Zappa's jazz music and mix it with The Flaming Lips and mellow it down a bit with Super Furry Animals, then add a bit more complexity and you might have something close. The best way to administer this music to yourself is to try to find all three EPs and play them one after the other. Oh for the day when all of this will be re-released on one single album, preferable on vinyl. But for now, we will just have to do it all digitally. By the way, the only reason it is rated at 4 stars is because it is an EP and way too short.

I can't believe it took me so long to hear these guys' music. With this EP and the first one they have become one of my favourite Canterbury Scene bands, I wish they had recorded an actual album, that would be really amazing. However, I'll only give it three stars, because it is not an essential piece of Prog Rock music.

The music is great, this four musicians had made an amazing work; the songs are short (for a Prog Rock band) but are also very well played and interesting (they don't become boring).

Canterbury Scene gave us its most amazing bands in the seventies, but this young guys from this century have made something very unique. Maybe if they would have recorded a few more songs and they have made a whole album starting with the idea of this EP the results would have been even more interesting. They had a great potential.

I'll rate this EP with three stars.

The first two tracks are complex progressive numbers with a full band, the 3rd is a nice soft piano-led instrumental and the 4th track a full-band FZ inspired instrumental. What you get here is a thimble-full of excellent prog music. When I saw this was considered Canterbury, I expected something akin to Blondel with acoustic instruments and folk-sounding vocals. That's a completely false idea. This music is mostly electric, probably closer to Spock's Beard but much better and more authentic, plus the vocals are not as annoying. How can it be that more people haven't discovered this?

Highly recommended music to all. There is nothing really difficult to grasp in this music, but it is conventional prog at it's finest. Well-done and these nuns are definitely worth seeking. 5 stars. Not too many E.P.s out there can have the distinction of being rated 5 stars. The only other one I can think of is from GY!BE. Find this now and let's form a revolution to get more music like this! I can't do this on my own people!

Five tracks and 25 minutes of dreamy, contemporary Progressive Rock with an obvious Canterbury influence was the proposal of Antique seeking Nuns in their debut, definitely a very attractive and special blend of two different worlds.The overall approach is atmospheric, esoteric and highly ethereal with strong Post Rock and Art Rock vibes in the vein of TORTOISE and RADIOHEAD, but what really makes the difference is Baber's unique keyboard offerings, as the notes seem lost somewhere in an old Canterbury Prog album.The guitars are distorted and sharp, the rhythm section is hypnotic and the band uses a lot of electronic effects, on the other hand the keyboards have a strong 70's approach.Beautiful instrumental themes with nervous synths, vibraphone and piano add to the album a beautiful vintage feeling.Finally the vocals are also quite sensitive, clear and warm to complete a nice first effort by Antique seeking Nuns.

Not your ordinary Post and Art Rock affair.If you can imagine a combination of contemporary, atmospheric Progressive Rock full of Canterbury-like keyboard textures and this seems cool in the paper for you, ''Mild Profundities'' is definitely an album to go after.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Finishing up their ep trilogy, we find Careful it's Tepid with yet another catchy, melodic, humorous, bouncy, well-written, suave, cool, fun, jazzy, rockin', danceable, propelling, British, low brow, twitchy, infectious and intriguing release!

This is indeed Canterbury for the modern peeps out there, and while you quite easily spot the quirky shifts and turns of said genre - the inevitable British 'ratherness' and poise, you are also served with that special flavouring that runs through the two eps leading up to this. Sure you get lots of exotic touches - be that marimbas or xylophone meanderings cooking up a melodic storm, as well as the remnants of classic bands such as Hatfield and the North and Caravan especially in the frolicking electric piano or almost reggae like rhythm sways of gutar, - yet there's always that sense of futuristic refinement - at times akin to Porcupine Tree. Still you won't find any straight up references here, because everything seems to be kneaded into the batter in a way that makes the instruments and feel endemic to the band. It's the combination of well-known musical ingredients that together form this awe-inspiring act. Hell, just like any other unique band out there - or every little thing in the universe for that matter - everything is put together by small invisible building blocks - we as humans have alarmingly much in common dna wise with an everyday coffee-table, but it is the way the little molecular suckers are put together that in the end defines them and magically creates diversity and difference. Music is no stranger to this concept.

I rate this just as highly as the debut ep, and just like John here, I too like to listen to all of these in one setting - making for a brilliant full scale album. Together these 3 releases would get a masterpiece rating in no time. Even for people who find little of interest inside the strange and oddly bouncy pastures of Canterbury, -YOU my dears are probably going to love this band. In fact I'll wager my cut of Borneo and throw in a couple of sand-arrows to boot - you'll like this. It's music for an evening out on a boat - or spent lying on a floor somewhere. You could also use it for a hovercraft soundtrack, but whatever you do - listen to the bloody thing! Get excited about the music -jump, dance, sing and remember how you felt back when you slushed around in the kiddy sized plastic pool... That is essentially what I get from these guys.

I may just have found one of my new favourite bands here! Continuing with their incredible melodic approach, Antique Seeking Nuns' second ep is nothing short of amazing. I keep whistling hooks and choruses off of these ep's whilst at work - so when I'm sitting on the see-saw or lying in a self made pillow castle, I'll suddenly be whistling or singing absurd lines about eggs and cheese. The kids love it though, but then again they tend to love people who love music - whatever that music may be. Music makes us better human beings - let's just face it.

There's an emphasis on electric keyboard and piano here driving the tracks forth with a hard edged guitar howling and grunting - backing up the sprawling rhythm section with some crunchy riffing. Speaking about those guitars, I do feel they've been incorporated more into the mix on this one - sometimes even relegating a distinctive lead role akin to a Canterbury version of Jimi Hendrix - without ever really bursting into a solo on their own. They're teasing and twisting, though never convoluted and obscure - as a matter of fact, you won't find anything on here that makes your brain catapult and somersault in sheer impossible gymnastics. The songwriting is just too good and honest for that to happen, and the prevailing carefree attitude and general feel good vibe trumps any other hidden agendas.

Like the first ep, this one too sports the Monty Pythonesque humour - with loads of priceless one liners and tongue in cheek lyrics, - yet just like the predecessor, Double Egg with Chips and Beans steers clear off all the loose mumbo jumbo - and does actually on occasion shift to utter beauty - remarkable stunning piano textures that alone twinkle twinkle little star - like serenading the moon in a cold windless night. Goosebumps for sure.

So this record is really a tale of two cities, where the fun maniacal tendencies intertwine most successfully with the grown up persuasive sprees of bone-chilling music. On the last cut this meeting is at its most obvious, as the music itself incorporates both sides of the fence - taking in the calypso vibe of the xylophone and mixing it with a mad swaying duo of soloing guitar and a synthesizer that both rise and rise - continuing to do so until they form some kind of rhythm foundation, whilst still continuing to float and bob relentlessly. This is just out of this world, and I commend any band who are able to stay this tight and focused while venturing out on ledges - playing unconventionally effervescent and soaring.

Like I said in my previous review of this band, I find it hard picturing myself rating an ep with 5 stars, but this one truly questions my reasoning. It's fun, engaging, memorable, melodic like you wouldn't believe and then some. The perfect soundtrack for sunshine, chocolate women and colourful drinks with umbrellas. Now how's that sound for a breakfast eh? Hell I'll give it 4.5 stars...