PSYCHEDELIC/SPACE ROCK

Besides that, the album features different things, with Master of the Universe being the closest to what would be known as the trademark Hawkwind sound, while You Know You're Only Dreaming and We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago are very spacey, but gentler and even a bit folkier, giving a nice flavor for the album, with it's different moods. It is like they were doing calm and contemplative counterpoints to the intense and denser songs of the album.

The band would still need some years to evolve to the more recognizable and polished sound of their mid and late seventies album that became their trademark sound. But X in Search of Space is a raw diamond that makes it one of the most interesting prog albums of 1971.

1. "Panis et circenses" (3:40) a song that demonstrates the huge influence THE BEATLES' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band era has had--even on Brazil! The female vocals present a nice change for prog world. Also, I'm very glad that the band decided to sing in their own native language rather than picking up English. I love the little musique concrète finish. (8.875/10) 2. "A Minha Menina" (4:45) an odd but very entertaining (and even humorous) little peephole into a kind of mamba Beatnik psychedelia that may have existed in Brazil! I like this very much! Something that previews David Byrne's work of the late 1980s and 1990s as well as the Gypsy rock of bands like Les Negresses Vertes? (9/10)

3. "O Relógio" (3:32) gentle, bare-bones musical support for angelic reverb-voice of Rita Lee opens this song for the first 90 seconds--beautiful! But then the band jumps into a different room/universe of joy and ZA! partying for a minute before giving way to the somnambulant music of Rita's heaven. Brilliant! (9.5/10)

4. "Adeus Maria Fulô" (3:06) opens with some eerie cemetery/garden music with musique concrète inputs before Brazilian percussion group jumps in with a group choir presentation. Not really prog or rock but definitely interesting. (8.875/10)

5. "Baby" (3:02) an odd take on an early British approach to organ and electrified pop music. Not great--and certainly not innovative--but highly entertaining for its (intentional?) poke of fun at the early 1960s Anglo love song. (8.75/10)

6. "Senhor F" (2:36) another excessively clever and humorous interpretation on the pop music coming out of the Northern Hemisphere in the late 1950s and early 1960s (even 1920s!) Part parody of The Beatles, part of New Orleans and Parisian jazz pop. Even the fade out, fade in, and re-fade out at the end is totally cheeky/disrespectful of The Beatles. (8.875/10)

7. "Bat Macumba" (3:10) surfer pop rock that sounds so much like the music revived by Spanish psych-rockers ZA! in the 2010s. Infectiously fun. (8.875/10)

8. "Le premier bonheur du jour" (3:40) a turn to 1960s French Ye-ye dream pop with some brilliantly paired musical and vocal arrangements. I could live off of this type of music! It's almost Gamelan! (9.75/10)

9. "Trem Fantasma" (3:19) more wild ZA!-like indigenous music to open this one before stopping and resetting into a musical form that is more of a Brazilian Hollywood-surfer rock. Very nice vocal arrangements to accompany (and parody) this jazzy musical form. It sounds so much like a Brazilian/Beach Boys rendition of Donovan's "Sunshine Superman." (9/10)

10. "Tempo No Tempo" (1:49) opens like a sleepy reluctant-wake up song, it turns into something much more caffeinated with the complex, lightning fast group vocals. (4.5/5)

11. "Ave, Gengis Khan" (3:51) more totally sarcastic parody of British rock forms and styles, the facetiousness of the lyrical topic seems to give notice that the Brazilians get how corny and ludicrous some of the British song topics are. (8.875/10)

Total Time 36:30

What I LOVE so much about this album is the total freshness of the Brazilian mind and cultural interpretation of rock, prog, psychedelia, parody, sarcasm, etc. Retention of their own cultural and musical backgrounds is the key to my enjoyment of these songs, even when they try to go Anglo ("Panis et circenses," "Baby," "Senhor F") . Plus, the engineering/production of this music is so interesting!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of early Southern Hemisphere proto-prog. this is an album that I think any and every prog lover would find very entertaining and humorous, no matter your linguistic background. One of South America's first contributions to Prog World.

1." Let There Be More Light" (5:38) opens with a guitar and bass riff that must have been an inspiration and model for Grand Funk Railroad's iconic song "I'm You Captain (Closer to Home)," but then the instruments fill out with organ and drums, both slowly panning across the sonic field in opposite directions until 1:25 when the music thins out and settles into a CREAM-like blues rock pattern over which some two different and unusual vocal approaches alternate, on with multiple voice whispers and soft accompaniment, the other with background and very aggressive organ-led rock bombast. A long guitar solo occupies the fifth minute with one standard guitar soloing up front (constantly panning around) and another freak-out guitar squealing away in the back left. Interesting song that definitely goes beyond the usual psychedelia of the day. (9/10)

2. "Remember a Day" (4:33) an interesting song for its many familiar riffs and parts that have been masterfully synthesized into something totally new and fresh. Piano and guitar play together while Richard Wright occupies the mercurial lead vocal spot with a gentle, breathy style. Syd's slide guitar is all over the place, but then, Richard's Colin Blunstone-like vocal is sliding all over the wide sonic field. The use of really odd minor chords within a context of more standard pentatonic blues is really fresh--giving the song a kind of classical music feel. Quite ingenious songwriting and production. (9.25/10)

3. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (5:28) this is perhaps the only song from the Syd Barrett-era of Pink Floyd that I've actually ever really liked. I love how well-recorded Richard Wright's vibes and keys are. (9/10)

4. "Corporal Clegg" (4:12) with this heavier song the band seems to be reaching back into THE BEATLES' repertoire for inspiration "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," "Yellow Submarine"), but, as usual, the band doctor it up with plenty of inventive sound engineering and stylistic juxtapositions. The song is very theatric, using multiple voices in stage-like character performance roles. The use of kazoos and marching band drums at the end are so Sgt. Pepper/"Yellow Submarine." I don't dislike it but it loses its novelty in the face of all that the Beatles had done before. (8.5/10)

5. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (11:57) timpani and other percussive noise thingies populate the sound feel behind a macabre soundscape of organ, brass, Mellotron, and effects for the first four minutes of this one, giving the listener the feeling of being either in an amusement park's "house of horrors" or else a Loony Toons-imagined version of other planets. Around the four-minute mark cacophonous butt-sitting piano play and militaristic drumming are embellished by plenty of fly-by guitar squeals, screams, and crashes. Storm thunder interrupts the song around 7:15 allowing a kind of reset/start-over as organ, timpani, and percussives begin to repopulate the soundscape over the next minute. Progressing sustained organ chords then dominate--almost solo--for the next 90 seconds before other incidentals begin returning to the field's background. At 10:15, choral vocal "ahhs" and Mellotron join in, amplifying the organ's chord progression, multiplying as the song continues right up to the end. I can definitely see where Mike Oldfield got some of his inspiration for his first two or three albums. Quite a remarkable expansion of what is possible with musical expression! (23/25)

6. "See-Saw" (4:36) to go into this dreamy, French-sounding psychedelic pop song (something that must have inspired the founders of STEREOLAB immensely) is quite a ballsy move. Piano, jazz bass and drums, with Mellotron strings. Brilliant! This happens to be Richard Wright's second turn on lead vocals and I must say he's very effective over and within the controlled chaos going around him in the sonic field. What a delightful, fun, and truly beautiful song! (What killer chord sequences!) Not the most innovative music or song but it hits all of my pleasure buttons (including the incorporation of a little The Soft Machine's self-deprecating humour). (9.6667/10)

7. "Jugband Blues" (2:59) were the Beatles playing jugband music when they did some of their silliest, most "drunken" psychedelic songs? The "la-la-la" infinite choir and village square oompah band is brilliant. And then Syd returns with a solo-with-acoustic guitar verse. (8.6667/10)

Total Time 39:23

This is definitely the proggiest album I've heard from 1968--maybe the only one that could/would qualify as a true progressive rock album (as opposed to proto-prog or prog-related).

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of early progressive rock music that deserves major credit and kudos as a major innovator in the possiblities of both multi-track recording and song expression.

The contributions by Bob Calvert as ringmaster are wonderful along with a plethora of cameos. Nektar are driven by harmonies, accomplished musicianship, and weird lyrics that maybe an allegory that is hidden in the meaning beyond the surface. That's Life deserves a mention for its tasty baseline and innovative structure. Nelly the Elephant is also a favourite with its plodding pace feeling like an elephant stalking towards you.

Overall Down to Earth is a decent eclectic album, if not as brilliant as Recycled, Remember the Future or Tab in the Ocean that are the masterpieces that may never be surpassed in the Nektar catalogue.

Starting out as CATHERINE RIBEIRO + 2 BIS and then switching out to + ALPES on the second album, RIBEIRO and her dedicated musical maestro composer Patrice Moullet cranked out an album each year ending with what's considered the band's crowning achievement, the much revered "Paix" in 1972. After a year's break and a complete lineup change the ALPES returned in 1974 with the band's fifth album LE RAT DÉBILE ET L'HOMME DES CHAMPS (The Feeble Rat And The Country Man). While RIBEIRO and Moullet were back and remained the only constant members throughout the band's nine album run, this release featured an expanded lineup with a wider array of instrumentation and dynamics. The new ALPES included Jean-Jacques Leurion playing orgolia (a large metallic violin), Daniel Motron on organ / piano, Gerald Renard on percuphone and bass as well as Denis Cohen on various percussion instruments and timbales.

Structured very similarly to "Paix," LE RAT DÉBILE ET L'HOMME DES CHAMPS featured four tracks with the entire B-side of the original vinyl swallowed up by one epic multi-suite movement. As usual the lyrics are written by RIBEIRO and set to Moullet's hypnotic musical flow that featured self-made instruments such as the percuphone. Compared to "Paix" though LE RAT is both more psychedelic and features more aspects of progressive rock. The eerie violin performances add a completely new element with Jean-Jacques Leurion giving some of the most unhinged performances like a Paganini on steroids. RIBEIRO nurtures her Portuguese roots with a fado type of mood setting approach that fuels her passionate delivery of her poetic prose. Often considered one of the most dynamic albums about ecology and environmental issues, the album's musical content is every bit as wild and dynamic amplified by CATHERINE's vocal intensity that offers desperate passionately delivered pleas, dramatic intensified shouting sessions and the occasional blood-curdling screams.

Beginning with "La Petite Fille Aux Fraise (The Little Strawberry Girl)" the band showcases a more intense infusion of energy with a busy percussive drive and a psychedelic church organ melody sound straight out of the wild swingin' 60s and also features RIBEIRO in full-on singing mode rather than frantically delivering her usual sermon in pseudo-narrative form. This bouncy track is quite catchy and easily the most accessible of the album's incrementally weirder and wilder tracks that follow. The first lengthy track "L'ère De La Putréfaction - Concerto Alpin En 4 Mouvements (The Age of Putrefaction - Alpine Concerto in 4 Movements)" features a knotty proggy time signature rich "Prelude" followed by two epic movements that rock the Farfisa organ and features a feisty bass groove that sounds like something you'd hear Jannick Top perform in a zeuhl-fueled Magma frenzy. Psychedelic and emotive, this piece features no percussion at first but ends with a dramatic build of of tension where all the instruments go nuts and deliver a final outburst of pure chaos including a delayed percussive presence.

"Un Regard Clair (Obscur) / A Clear (Dark) Look" follows and offers a bit of relief from the freneticism with a folky sing-songy performance by RIBEIRO and an atmospheric backdrop playing over a folky guitar strumming session. Once again the bass virtuosity of Gérald Renard whizzes up and down the scales in contrast to the otherwise chilled out mood setting. The grand finale is the side swallowing "Poème Non Épique - Concerto Alpin En 6 Mouvements (Suite) / Non-Epic Poem - Alpine Concerto in 6 Movements" which finds RIBEIRO in her usual ritualistic mode of delivering a frenetic sermon where she slowly builds to a series of screams and vocal outbursts unparalleled in the world of prog. Likewise through the various movements the the momentum slowly accrues and reaches a climactic frenzy after a staggering 25 plus minutes of psychedelic freakery. It all begins with the busy percolating percussion of some unorthodox instruments with the organ slowly oozing in with a stealth violin presence creeping in and slowly usurping control. The psychedelic frenzy just builds and builds until RIBEIRO finally joins in after six minutes of warming up. Likewise she goes on her usual tangents and the entire track ends in a thundering crescendo with the sickest most frenzied violin performance EVER! I swear that ole Jean-Jacques was possessed or something!

A woefully overlooked album in the ALPES discography, LE RAT DÉBILE ET L'HOMME DES CHAMPS is really a step up in many ways from "Paix" with a more diverse array of sounds and stylistic approaches while carrying on the same general layout. This is probably the most rocking of the ALPES canon with fiery virtuosic performances and more electrified instrumentation with less emphasis on the folky flavors of the past. Perhaps the complexities in this one make it even more alienating as even the most accessible moments of CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES can be intimidating for a first timer however this one is a grower that creeps its way into your soul and takes hold. Steeped in the furthest reaches of psychedelia that will most appeal to lovers of lysergic Krautrock, ALPES scored another masterpiece in my book with this utterly unique mix of experimental prog. The album is probably the most demanding and trippy of the band's nine album run and the only one to feature the demented violin sounds that would make Paganini take notice. A triumphant and declarative album hindered only by the language barrier for those who don't speak French however RIBEIRO's emotive performances pretty much convey her passion regardless of actual lyrical content.

The band also suffered a unstable lineup throughout its existence that lasted up to 1981 after releasing seven albums. THE DAWN ANEW IS COMING is the only album to feature the lineup of Tom McGuigan (vocals, sax), Billy Tabbert (guitar, spinet, vocals), Allan Murdoch (guitar), Horst Stachelhaus (bass) and Gerhard Schaber (percussion, vocals) along with James Allan Freeman who added extra mellotron and vocals. While comparisons to Nektar may ring true on the second album, this debut is less psychedelic and rather delivers a mix of more energetic rock that alternates with slower folk inspired motifs with English Tom McGuigan's vocals sounding a bit like Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson in the way he enunciate's his lyrics. The composiitons are somewhat complex with intricate chord changes and unpredictable meanderings into lengthy jamming sessions especially on the 8 1/2 minute title track and the near 10-minute "Heaven Knows."

While the opening "Changes" features some psychedelic elements, "When I'm Coming" and "Evil Faith And Charity" are more akin to more straight forward English hard rock. Despite being British dominated, THE DAWN ANEW IS COMING still evokes a sense of German Krautrock in its looser delivery system and heavy use of mellotron. Although lead singer Tom MCGuigan is a native English speaker, he still delivers somewhat of a faux broken accent of some kind however the British presence left an indelible mark on the band's sound making it sound like a hybrid of some sort which it clearly was. While the music itself isn't nearly as colorful as the beautiful album cover art work, the band was amazingly competent in its instrumental interplay and the album is an interesting collection of five tracks although the album is rather on the shorter side at only 33 1/2 minutes of playing time. Like many classic albums of the era, THE DAWN ANEW IS COMING features bonus tracks on various reissues.

While some could write off MESSAGE's debut as a somewhat generic representation of hard driving rock from the early 1970s as it lacks an abidance of progressive elements at this stage, the performances are still rather unique and most importantly pleasant. Tom McGuigan delivers passionate performed vocals that sound rather unique and the album sounds like a strange chimeric beast that slipped in between the world of British organ-driven hard rock from the likes of Deep Purple, Black Widow and hints of Van der Graaf Generator along with the German sounds of early Eloy, Birth Control and Wind. The occasional saxophone embellishments further add a bizarre sense of lack of direction as the album does feel a bit scattered as it progresses from beginning to end but overall i find this to be a very addictive mix that is tied together by strong rhythms, brilliant melodic songwriting and bet of all McGuigan's animated vocal style.

Honestly, i've never experienced another album by PERILYMPH but this one is like going to an alternative timeline where Pink Floyd emerged in France rather than England. While the Floydian influences are clearly the #1 point of reference here with musical motifs that reference back to various chapters of Pink Floyd's career, the lyrics are sung in French and the music which is divided up into ten tracks with a running time of over 41 minutes is laced with other ingredients to totally throw you off. While the opening "Intro" paints a dramatic reference to Eloy styled keyboard excess, the first vocal track "Les Yeaux" sounds more like a Canterbury Scene track with keyboard runs that remind me of Supersister as does the vocal style however it doesn't take long for PERILYMPH to deliver a series of arpeggiated guitar chords that evoke various tracks on Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

The album flows brilliantly with every two tracks bridged by an interlude. These interludes will remind you most of classic Pink Floyd especially with the vocals at times however the keys evoke more of a Eloy vibe with oscillating trills and a heavier presence. "Loin De Bruit" ups the tempo with a staccato guitar stomping intro and then a somewhat jazzy return to the Supersister stylistic approach on the band's first two albums "Present From Nancy" and "To The Highest Bidder." The track also offers a lot of faster space rock styles more reminiscent of Hawkwind meets Eloy rather than Pink Floyd with a much more dynamic percussive drive than any of those bands actually. The keyboards are actually more like Ozric Tentacles than anything from the 70s. "Interlude 2" continues the Floydian guitar arpeggios which leads to the album's lengthiest track, the eight minute "Aventure" which sort of starts off like Eloy and then evokes "Hey You" from the wall before upping the rock guitar heft but then offers some of the most trippy French versions of Pink Floyd possible.

The album ends with two more interludes sandwiching "Un Instant Ou Deux" with a quickened guitar riff followed by bombastic synths and Hawkwind synth swirlies. Despite upbeat tempos, the undisclosed vocalist always is on mellow mode thus the album breezes by in a relaxed mode despite the music featuring varying styles of prog, mostly in the symphonic realms. Well, i find retro prog releases a bit hit and miss and blatant references usually rub me the wrong way but for some reason this album works for me mostly because it offers that alternative reality timeline approach much like a What If? episode of the Marvel animated series. In this case What If? Pink Floyd had emerged from France? Well, here's the answer! Overall the music is well performed with catchy melodies, feisty keyboard performances and a nice use of analog equipment to give it that authentic retro fitting. In short, pleasant and worth returning to.

There is a surprising amount of vocals on here, although that's nothing new when it comes to CIRCLE's music. The opener and second track are both over 9 minutes and both have the same vocal style which reminds me of the singer for OUT OF FOCUS. These guys really do jam continually but with the large cast of musicians we get some different flavours. Love the sax on this record and the guitar as well. Lots of spacey synths and swirling music. Kind of like the OZRICS but much better, and I'd say that about CIRCLE as well, in fact their "Pharoah Overlord" and "Terminal" records are incredible from the mid 10's.

The two long tracks also impress big time. Again for the same reasons, and that third song "Kaski" features vocals that are chilled like on the first two songs. Trippy music with some great sounding guitar after 8 minutes and sax around 13 1/2 minutes. It gets intense late. The closer also has vocals but here they are more in the extreme style, yelling out followed by guitar that also cries out. A beautiful sound to this one early on, and by the half way point it's powerful pretty much to the end.

If your into that jamming, psychedelic style of music like CIRCLE, the OZRIC TENTACLES, ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE and the like, you might just fall for this one. Remember this has vocals though. They apparently did many live shows mostly in Finland, but also in Belgium before calling it a day. A solid 4 stars.

"Pillar's Dust" is the combo's second record after "Liminal" in 2022, which has completely passed under my auditory radar. THE SLOW LIGHT presents itself as the musical vehicle of Jack BOLINGBROKE accompanied by various musicians who have already played together in different indigenous and little-known groups, or even at all... The major influence of the group is undeniably PORCUPINE TREE first era (the only one that me suitable) until "Fear of a Blank Planet", mainly for the guitar, BOLINGBROKE had to give himself WILSON infusions!

Two ultra short titles (1 and 7), a single long one "My Regret" and the other seven with a duration between 4:02 and 6:43, here is the menu. The pieces that particularly caught my attention, the devilish Wilsonian "Paradigm" (guitar, synthesizer, voice), then "Throw My Life Into a Fog" with the piano of Nathan CHURCHES and the mellotron of guest James Robert IVANYL, the superb and the word is weak "Silhouette" which we can listen to on loop without weariness, "My Regret" as written above the only long title of the album, just as beautiful as the previously mentioned, with keyboards at the top (piano, synthesizer, mellotron) the complete range is there, a candy cane to be savored slowly.

On the other hand, I moderately appreciated "Encased" calm and even too lymphatic (this remains subjective of course) and "Burning Omen" which is part of the same movement with the very present fretless bass of Morris EWINGS and a six-string who knits and which I had some difficulty appreciating and finally "Pillar's Dust" the eponymous piece too basic for my taste.

Conclusion, a significant gap between the two essential pearls and the three average tracks mentioned, a good record but not an excellent record. Nice discovery nonetheless. Originally published on profilprog.com

The idea for MOTHER GONG was in the works as far back as 1974 when Smyth left the parent grouping but officially took form in 1978 after the release of Smyth's solo album "Mother" which gathered her political ideologies and poetic inclinations. The next step was yet another offshoot in the Gong universe called MOTHER GONG where this time Gilli steered the ship and took things into arenas never envisaged by Allen and his cohorts. The debut album FAIRY TALES arrived on the scene and found the unlikely pairing of symphonic prog, Canterbury jazz, folk music, Gong inspired space rock and children's FAIRY TALES of all things~! An oddball mix to be sure, FAIRY TALES featured three tales that were subdivided into seven or eight parts.

While most narrated in spoken word prose by Smyth, the backing music features an all-star lineup including Gong saxist Didier Malherbe, Hawkwind woodwind player Nick Turner and a host of other musicians offering various sounds including rock guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, percussion and ethnic touches such as the harp, muzma and Uilleann pipes. Broken up into three major tales: "Wassillissa," "The Three Tongues" and "The Pied Piper," the album features Smyth in story time hour with her own soundtrack of seasoned musicians wailing away in the background. A bizarre mishmash of styles that weave in and out of the background with varying effects while Smyth stoically reads to the audience as if we were in a grade school class.

Despite the oddball combo pack of prog rock and folk mixed with children's FAIRY TALES, Smyth found some interest in the weirdness of it all and toured with artists such as Bob Dylan and Big Brother and the Holding Company as well as recording audio books for children! Perhaps the most out of the box thinking performer in the entire history of progressive rock, Smyth continued the band with various lineups pretty much until her death in 2016 in one form or the other. This music is really hard to categorize as it sounds like nothing else. The music is more like a collage effect sounding more like the whacky spastic tendencies of Frank Zappa than anything in the Canterbury umbrella however there's that too!

Well, it's a novel idea for sure but one i'm not overly excited about as i tend to dislike spoken word poetry accompanied by music with a few exceptions such as Current 93's unique approach. Children's tales offer bizarre subject matter for a prog album but i guess everything should be tried at least once however the music doesn't seem to jive well with the storyline and the monotonous diction of Smyth seems to diminish the overall effect. I wish she would have offered some of these recitals in her classic space whisper mode or at least offered some more musical singing styles to break up the rather uniform presentation at hand. It's an OK album and one that deserves kudos for its brash experimental approach but like many excursions into the unknown doesn't necessarily work out as much as i had hoped. Personally i prefer the following "Robot Woman" to this one.