Ken Baird -
Martin Road ($11.99)
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Ken Baird -
Martin Road ($11.99)
Ken Baird - August ($11.99)Ken Baird’s album Martin Road (2004) continues his remarkable career arc, from instrumental Mike Oldfield-influenced solo works to more ensemble-oriented Renaissance/Genesis-inspired songs with confident vocals. Baird’s warm vocals are now to the point where he could get a gig solely as a singer, and Sue Fraser again contributes her lovely backing vocals. Multi-instrumentalist Baird, primarily a keyboardist, gets help from several other musicians on drums, bass, and guitars (one of whom, Steve Cochrane, is a fine recording artist in his own right). Both the folky side as well as the symphonic side of Renaissance are suggested here, and the Genesis/Tony Banks influence first heard on Fields continues, but Baird’s songs are more personal and intimate than either of those references would suggest. Needless to say, highly recommended.
Orion is Ken Baird’s 3rd album, not only a quantum leap forward for this artist, but one of the best symphonic rock albums of 2000. Orion features a greater role for singer Sue Fraser; she and Ken share vocal duties and when they sing together, the harmonies are sublime. While the Mike Oldfield and Genesis influences are still present, the music now feels closest to Renaissance, with some Rick Wakeman-like synth leads.
The music on Fields (1998) is situated between Mike Oldfield and Genesis/Tony Banks, closer to the latter in fact, a very warm vocal symphonic rock album with touches of folk, both Celtic and otherwise. The emphasis is on melody, arrangement, and texture. Ken’s voice is pleasant and intimate, and Sue Fraser’s backing vocals are most welcome when they appear. She sings lead on the album’s centerpiece, the 11-minute Into Night, and her voice is exquisite. Ken is an accomplished keyboardist and also plays recorder, whistle, guitar, bass, trumpet, and percussion. Other musicians assist on drums and guitar. August (1996) is Ken’s first album. It is more strictly in the early-Oldfield style, less rock-oriented, instrumental save one track. Consider it Baird’s Ommadawn. These albums exude such analog warmth - they just don’t make them like this any more.
Robert
Beriau - Falling Back to Where I Began ($9.99)
SALE!On the Ipso Facto label, this 2005 CD is the work of French-Canadian Robert
Beriau on piano, synths, acoustic & electric guitar, bass, and drums/percussion.
It is an instrumental work somewhat similar to the first Clearlight album,
spacey and classically-influenced, with biting electric guitar leads, generally
ponderous and serious-sounding. 63-minutes.
The
Box - Black Dog There ($14.99)
The Box is a Montreal-based band that was active during the 1980’s as a pop
band, with one album going platinum in Canada. The Box disbanded in 1992 after
having sold 400,000 albums, but the original vocalist Jean-Marc Pisapia has returned in
2005 with a new lineup and behold, Black Dog There is a progressive rock
concept album that has little to do with the pop band. Actually the band had
prog rock roots, and as Jean-Marc says, “This was the record I wanted to make
when I was 20. I grew up listening to Gentle Giant, Genesis, Pink Floyd…
those were big groups in Quebec.” The musicians all appear to be
French-Canadian, but aside from accordion in one song and a Cirque du Soleil
influence in another, the style here is Anglo. It is often spacey with a dark
ambience and comes closest to Pink Floyd, though it ends up being rather unique.
There is a Marillion influence in the final song at least; The Box had played
with Marillion in Montreal. There is some excellent songwriting here, especially
the majestic choruses of songs such as So Beautiful and Watching Over You,
and the whole album has grown on us each time we’ve played it. The only negative
is that it’s a short album by today’s standards at 38:19. Digipack.
Brégent - Partir Pour Ailleurs ($15.99)
In the early 1970’s, well before joining keyboard/percussion duo
Dionne-Brégent, keyboardist Michel-Georges Brégent fronted the group Brégent
with brother Jacques on vocals. Following the dissolution of Dionne-Brégent,
Brégent reformed to produce a 2nd album, 1979's Partir Pour Ailleurs. The poetry of
Verlaine, Léo Ferré and Felix Leclerc are given dramatic treatment by Jacques
and set to an adventurous symphonic and electronic rock music, resulting in an
album that was ahead of its time. Or maybe from a different time stream
altogether. The dramatic/poetic French-language vocals may remind some listeners
of Ange, though there are times when they sound more like a French David Byrne.
The music is progressive rock with an avant-garde edge, not in the sense of
dissonant and unlistenable, but more in a Zappa sense of taking chances and
constantly surprising the listener. This reissue on the ProgQuébec label comes with eight unreleased
bonus tracks recorded live in concert in 1977.
Capharnaüm
- Le Soleil est une Bombe Atomique ($14.99)
This is the 2007 edition on Unicorn Digital of a CD released independently in
2006. Capharnaüm is an instrumental progressive rock quartet from Montreal
featuring two guitarists, bass and drums. Their sound is centered on the
interplay of their two guitarists, who are brothers with distinct but
complementary styles. The music is intricate but always melodic, with the
variety of guitar tones giving the band a full sound. There is some heavy
guitar, but more often they use cleaner, ringing tones. It’s a fresh sound that
is not overly technical but rather full of atmosphere as well as energy.
Contraction
- same ($15.99)
These are the third and fourth releases on the ProgQuébec label, whose
mission is to reissue 1970’s Québec progressive albums on CD. Contraction’s self-titled debut (1972) captures the beauty,
originality, and adventurous nature of a group recognized as one of Quebec’s
greatest progressive rock bands. One long thread permeates the entire album,
blending beautiful songs and instrumentals. There was an English version of this
album, but this is the French version. Contraction’s second album La
Bourse ou la Vie (1974) features another long cycle of progressive songs
highlighted by the 18-minute title track, which has a bit of a King Crimson
influence. Contraction is fairly representative of Quebec’s 1970’s progressive
scene, with beautiful female vocals in French (and sometimes wordless), a very
organic 1970’s sound bordering on fusion at times, merging complex rock with
delicate, folk-tinged passages emphasizing acoustic instruments, plus touches of
funk and blues.
Conventum - À l'affût d'un complot ($15.99)
These are the 2006 reissues on the ProgQuébec label. Conventum was
formed in 1973 by several of Quebec’s best self-taught, counter-cultural musicians. On their
first album À l'affût d'un complot (1977), guitarist and singer-songwriter André Duchesne is joined by guitarist
extraordinaire René Lussier, violinist Bernard Cormier, bassist Jacques Laurin,
and guests such as Louise Forestier and Charles Kaczynski. There are seven live bonus
tracks, and this edition includes a 16-page booklet. Their 2nd, Le Bureau central des utopies
(1979), has two bonus tracks (one live) totaling 16-minutes. The music of Conventum
blends acoustic chamber music with rock as well as traditional folk and early
music, all masterfully played. It is full of delicate passages and an enticing
classical-folk fusion, so while one can label it avant-folk-prog or something
like that, the music is not inaccessible. That is, except for the live bonus tracks,
which are much weirder and may be of no value to non-French speakers what with all
the dramatic, theatrical speech.
Dagmähr - As Far as We Get ($13.99)
It’s time that French-Canadian band Dagmähr get the recognition they
deserve, as their 2nd CD As Far as We Get (2001) is a modern day Van der
Graaf Generator record, with a few forays into Gabriel-era Genesis territory.
This is a great album, and the faithful 1970’s sound makes it a sure bet for
fans of classic progressive rock.
Dionne-Brégent
- same (2CD, $17.99)
This 2CD set reissues the complete works of Dionne-Brégent, the Québécois duo
of Vincent Dionne (drums/percussion) and Michel-Georges Brégent (keyboards).
Their two instrumental albums Et le Troisième Jour (1976) and Deux
(1977) are actually quite different from each other. The first is an electronic
music work that begins symphonic and spacey, with some influence of Terry Riley,
but much of it is abstract and menacing a la the earliest Tangerine Dream. Deux is a beautiful progressive rock album, though there
are still touches of electronic music such as sequencers incorporated into a
driving rock piece. It has a much fuller sound, with the addition of a string
quartet, harp, and brass. In addition to remastered versions of both of these
albums, there are two bonus tracks. One is a performance of a Karlheinz
Stockhausen piece by Vincent Dionne, the other a lost Dionne-Brégent soundtrack
which never appeared on LP. A lavish 20-page booklet completes another essential
reissue from the ProgQuébec label.
Vincent
Dionne - Nil Bleu Nil Blanc ($15.99)This 2006 CD reissues two of Vincent Dionne’s solo albums on one 70-minute
CD: Destinations (1998) and Parade (1991). Both these albums have
aspects of sequencer-driven electronic music, symphonic jazz, progressive rock,
and you may as well throw world music and new age in there as well.
Destinations is mostly a trio work with Dionne on drums/percussion/synth,
Paul McCandless of Oregon on woodwinds, and Roxanne Turcotte on keyboards.
Parade is Vincent aided by five or six musicians on different tracks with
similar instrumentation plus bass and tabla. None of that preceding description
conveys how good this music is, the way so many diverse influences are fused
into something original, remaining melodic and energetic. Dionne is influenced
by Steve Reich, and one can hear that in this music, but it is not minimalist,
repetitive, or boring. Here are audio samples from
Destinations
and Parade.
Dionysos -
Pionnier 1969-1994 ($15.99)
A compilation from this pioneering French-Canadian progressive rock band, believed to
be the first rock band in Quebec to have a repertoire entirely in French. (This
CD has one song in English.) It appears these are re-recorded versions of their
songs, because despite the date range in the album title, the latest tracks are
from 1978. Dionysos have a powerful vocalist, and with the French lyrics,
English-speakers at least will probably be reminded of Ange, though the music is
not the same. Naturally, the earliest material is the more blues-based early
progressive style, and with the songs sequenced chronologically, you can hear
their music evolve through the 1970’s.
Direction
- 13 ($14.99)
Direction is a Québec City quartet (keys/vocals, guitars, bass, drums) with
strong vocals in French, playing progressive rock along the lines of Morse Code. All their CDs
have very simple titles: the first was R, the 2nd was O, and their
2007 3rd CD is titled 13. On 13, the Rush influence is easy to spot, more so
during the instrumental passages, as once the French vocals enter the character of
the music is changed considerably. A cross between later Ange and classic Rush
is a fair approximation.
The
D Project - Shimmering Lights ($14.99)The D Project is the new band of Stéphane Desbiens, who is the guitarist and
principal composer of Sense, the primary musician in Mélia, and has been a member of
Qwaarn, Ère G, Red Sand, and Jupiter9. Desbiens sings (in English) and plays acoustic and
electric guitars (including a designer guitar) and keyboards. Several other
musicians assist, including some familiar international names. Tomas Bodin (The
Flower Kings) plays keyboards on two songs, Fred Schendel (Glass Hammer) plays
keys on one song, and Martin Orford (IQ) plays keys on one song. The music is
the high grade symphonic progressive we’ve come to expect from Desbiens, marred
only by a small amount of tuneless metal. (Fortunately the old adage about
adding a teaspoon of sewage to a barrel of wine doesn’t hold true here.) Genesis
is the primary influence, one track is pure Pink Floyd, and there’s a bit
of Yes and King Crimson, but by and large it is original and creative.
Dream
Aria - In the Wake ($12.99)
Dream Aria’s debut CD In the Wake (2005) is maddeningly
difficult to describe. A quartet of singer Ann Burstyn, keyboardist/composer Don
Stagg, guitarist Jozef Pilasanovic, and drummer Gary Gray, their music revolves
around Burstyn’s magnificent voice. She shifts effortlessly from soaring and
operatic to Egyptian to Kate Bush-style to pop vocals worthy of early Heart. The
songs are often driven by high-energy drum loops, introducing a techno edge,
while the sound palette is cinematic. It’s pretty clearly progressive rock, but
there are elements of rock, pop, new age, electro, gothic, ambient, and world
music in this unique blend. Fortunately there are extensive audio samples, so
listen for yourselves. Read the review at
Musical Discoveries (scroll to bottom).
L’Engoulevent -
L’Île où Vivent les Loups ($15.99)
L'Engoulevent was formed by guitarist Michel McLean and keyboardist Pierre
Moreau, with the core band fleshed out by violin and cello. They were aided by a
number of musicians from Conventum on their first album L'Île où vivent les
loups (1977). It’s a magical music, graced by McLean's French-language
vocals and occasionally a choir. There are few comparisons for this style of
music, which blends classical, traditional-style folk, and rock. There are some
drums and some percussion, but often the rhythmic drive comes from the acoustic
guitar. The album is about half instrumental. Moreau sticks mainly to piano and
McLean to acoustic guitar, so the music is primarily acoustic, but immensely
rich, beautiful, and sophisticated. This CD also includes the entire 2nd
L'Engoulevent album Étoifilan (1979), composed by Moreau and McLean and
played by the entire group, accompanied by many guest musicians. The 2nd album
is closer to progressive rock as conventionally defined, higher-energy with
drums on most tracks, some brass, and female vocals supporting McLean’s.
Étoifilan is rare on vinyl and little-known, so it will be a very pleasant
surprise for many. This CD is another gem from the Quebec 1970’s progressive
scene, the likes of which we will probably not see again.
Ère
G - Au-delà des Ombres ($14.99)
Ère G’s 2002 debut CD is the best French-Canadian progressive album in ages, one
that sounds like the great Quebecois prog bands of the 1970’s such as Harmonium.
Influences of 1970’s Genesis and Yes are combined with the characteristic
French-Canadian 70’s style. Beautiful French harmony vocals, loads of Mellotron,
flute and 12-string guitar remind one of Harmonium’s Les Cinq Saisons, as
well as early Genesis. There is also electric guitar, Rickenbacker and fretless
bass, and drums. All told, a beautiful, delicate and refined progressive album
full of melody and atmosphere.
Et Cetera - same ($14.99)Et Cetera is the reissue of an album from 1976, perhaps the best of all the Gentle Giant copyists. The lovely
French-Canadian vocals give it a unique quality though. Highly recommended.
Daniel Gauthier - Above the Storm ($13.99)
Above the Storm (2000) is a terrific album by Daniel Gauthier, who
was once the bassist and singer for a Yes tribute band. Here he handles vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar and bass, while two other musicians
add electric guitar and drums. The music sounds like a mélange of 1970’s Yes and
Pink Floyd, with other Euro-prog influences (Eloy, Wallenstein, Clannad) added. Gauthier’s voice is close
to Paul Ford’s of Multi-Story. 57-minutes. Note the mp3 icon
above links directly to a single mp3.
Jim Gilmour -
Great Escape ($12.99)
Saga keyboardist Jim Gilmour’s 2005 solo album Great Escape simply
goes for it, an unabashedly progressive rock album that shows off Gilmour’s
keyboard chops but within great songs that include touches of jazz-rock and pop.
These keyboards are exactly what had been missing from the Saga albums of the
previous years,
and Great Escape eclipses most if not all of the Saga albums in proginess.
Gilmour is assisted by a guitarist and a female backing vocalist, while two
drummers divide the drum duties. There are five instrumentals and five vocal
tracks, with Gilmour doing a very respectable job on vocals, not surprising
since he handles backing vocals and some lead vocals in Saga. Think of Eddie
Jobson / Zinc - The Green Album but without the wimpiness that kept that
album from being as good as it could have been. This cover is green too.
Greylevel
- Opus One ($13.99)
Greylevel is a Canadian (British Columbia) outfit debuting in 2006 with
Opus One. This is a beautiful progressive rock album close to the melancholy
(older) Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief styles, spacey and soaked in
atmosphere. Greylevel have their own take on the style though, including a
classical influence in the keyboards and the use of beautiful female vocals to
complement the vocals of bandleader Derek Barber. One could argue that there is
more of a traditional progressive rock element present than in the P.T. bands,
and the ambient aspects are worthy of Vangelis and Tangerine Dream. Barber says
that although it’s not a concept album, it does follow a general theme of lost
love and of finding hope in looking beyond one’s self. Very sophisticated for a
debut, it is richly textured with compelling melodies and an almost spiritual
quality. 59-minutes.
Grey Matter - Long Distance Singer ($14.99)
Grey Matter is a French-Canadian instrumental heavy progressive and
prog-metal quartet (guitars, keys, bass, drums), influenced by Dream Theater
certainly, especially in the guitar, but not overly metallic. There’s a lot of
quality symphonic progressive here as well. This 2000 CD is their only release
to date. 74-minutes.
Harmonium
- En Tournee mini-LP (2CD, $19.99)
Excellent price on this legitimate Korean mini-LP 2CD edition of Harmonium’s
final album. En Tournee was originally a double-LP released in 1980,
after the band had ceased activity. It is a live version of Harmonium’s final
and most progressive studio album, the double-LP L’Heptade (1976). This
live version though differs significantly from the studio version and has much
more energy. Harmonium, for those who don’t know, was the most important
Quebecois progressive band. They cannot really be compared to bands from any
other country, and one could make a strong argument that this is the best
progressive rock album to ever come out of La belle province.
Interférence
Sardines - Spot de Rue ($15.99)
Quebecois
avant-progressive band. Spot de Rue (2007) is their third, Zucchini
(2001) their 2nd, and Mare Crisium their 1997 debut. The mp3 link next
to Zucchini provides a review and bio from the All Music Guide. French
speakers should visit the
band’s website.
Irrgarten
- Home and Sanctuary ($14.99)Home and Sanctuary (1997) is the only album to date by this
French-Canadian band singing in English. It blends 1970’s British-style
symphonic prog with some of the neo-prog directness and some guitar-driven hard
rock. It tends to be dark and plodding, but the addition of sax, flute, cello,
and choir adds welcome complexity to their sound.
Jelly
Fiche - Tout ce que j’ai revé ($14.99)
This is the most exciting new band to come out of Québec since the golden age
of the 1970’s. Montreal’s Jelly Fiche debut with Tout ce
que j’ai rêvé (2008, 63-minutes), a concept album that takes some inspiration
from the great 70’s
Québec prog bands such as Maneige and Harmonium, but could just as easily have
come out of France. The other influences are diverse, but it is all classic
70’s-style progressive. One can hear Pink Floyd, Yes, touches of early-70’s hard
rock and, during the few occasions when the keyboardist switches to sax, Van der
Graaf Generator or Clearlight may come to mind. These are eight beautiful tracks of pure progressive
rock and French poetry, with stellar vocal melodies and harmonies. If these
songs were sung in English, the vocals would lose most of their beauty and
grace. (Also the paper the booklet is printed on smells really good, so make
sure you get a copy while they’re fresh.) C’est magnifique! Note the first mp3 icon above links directly to a single mp3,
the complete 8:43 title track.
Jupiter9 - same ($14.99)
This is the 2005 debut of Jupiter9, the band of bass player Mathieu Gosselin (Sense), here
responsible for bass, Chapman Stick, keyboards, acoustic guitar, E-Bow, and
loops. Joining him are Sense bandmates Danny Robertson (drums) and Stéphane
Desbiens (guitar). The music lies between instrumental progressive rock and jazz-rock,
generally atmospheric and highly textured. Sylvain Laberge
plays flute on two tracks, one of which blends Celtic and bluegrass with the
rock, while a few tracks are Gosselin solo. 55-minutes.
Charles
Kaczynski - Lumière de la nuit ($15.99)
Here is another much-needed reissue of a collector’s item from the Quebec
1970’s progressive scene, courtesy of the ProgQuébec label. Classically-trained
violinist Charles Kaczynski first appeared on record as a guest with Conventum
in 1977. His sole album is the epic Lumière de la nuit (1979), on which
Kaczynski plays over 20 instruments himself as well as singing in French. It’s a beautiful work of symphonic and chamber music with some folk
touches, multi-layered and rich in instrumentation. Even if drums are only used
sparingly, it is a rock album in that
it would never pass for classical, and it is something that could only have come
out of the progressive rock era. Digipack.
Kaos
Moon - The Circle of Madness ($14.99)
Canadian progressive band Kaos Moon traces its roots to the early 1980’s but
didn’t release their first album until 1994’s After the Storm. It took
more than another ten years to release their 2nd, but The Circle of Madness
is well worth the wait. The label (Unicorn Records) has suggested this is for
Marillion fans, but this really has nothing to do with neo-prog or the British
1980’s bands other than that it is melodic and has songs. It reminds us of the
first Ambrosia album or (for the two or three of you familiar with them)
Canadian band True Myth. A large number of musicians complement the four core
members, and the playing is top notch. The keyboardist favors vintage sounds,
and the violin on two tracks is a great addition. This album will remind you
that great prog rock songs continue in your memory after the disc has finished
spinning.
Karcius
- Kaleidoscope ($14.99)
Karcius is a quartet (guitar/keys/bass/drums) from Montréal playing
complex instrumental music in the vein of Liquid Tension Experiment or Planet X, a mix
of progressive rock and fusion with some heavy passages.
Kaleidoscope (2006, digipack) is their 57-minute 2nd. It demonstrates a
good deal of growth in two years, with a level of originality that makes it
difficult to describe their music, but there are plenty of audio samples on the
band’s and Unicorn Records’ sites.
Yves
Laferrière - same ($15.99)
Former leader of the group Contraction, Yves
Laferrière released his first solo album in 1978. This impressive and tasteful
album includes several compositions that had been
destined for a 3rd Contraction album. Yves is accompanied by a who’s who of
Quebec musicians from the 1970’s, hailing from Harmonium, Beau Dommage,
Conventum, and L’Orchestre Sympathique. This edition adds a bonus track that includes several
pieces from the soundtrack of the film La Cuisine Rouge. Yves’s work on that
soundtrack is from the same era as this album but remained unreleased in audio
form until now. The music is in the characteristic jazz-tinged Quebec 1970’s
progressive style, featuring one song with lyrics and the rest instrumental with
some wordless female vocals. Don’t overlook this album because it’s under an
individual’s name (and because the original label didn’t spend much on the LP
cover art). This album is on a par with most of the better-known albums from that very rich
scene.
Lasting
Weep - Le Spectacle de l’Albatros 1976 ($15.99)
Lasting Weep was a seminal French-Canadian band. Two of their members went on to form Maneige in 1972, a third ended up in Conventum and L’Orchestre Sympathique, and the fourth played with Bregent and formed the band Zak. 1969-1971 (75-minutes) compiles their best tracks, eight studio and two live. The music is instrumental, jazzy proto-prog with psychedelic touches and some flute and sax. Lasting Weep began integrating flute before knowing of Jethro Tull; later they performed some of Tull’s early songs. The early Maneige sound can be heard emerging in some of these tracks.
Le Spectacle de l’Albatros (71-minutes) was recorded live in 1976 and features
all the members of Lasting Weep and Maneige, plus Raoul Duguay, members of
Conventum, L’Orchestre Sympathique, L’Engoulevent, and more. Jerome Langlois
began writing this epic in 1970 while with Lasting Weep, finished it in 1976
after leaving Maneige, and it was performed live several times that year. A
progression from their early days, Le Spectacle de l’Albatros was
Jerome’s magnum opus in Lasting Weep, and marries progressive rock, jazz, and
classical music. There are some French-language vocals, but the music is heavily
instrumental.
Maneige -
Maneige ($16.99)
Maneige was one of the best-known
French-Canadian progressive bands, an instrumental band whose first album appeared in 1975, with the
band continuing into the early 1980’s while shifting towards jazz-rock.
The ProgQuébec label has reissued Maneige and Les Porches, their
highly sought-after first two albums, both released in 1975. Co-founder Jérôme
Langlois (see above) was a member for only these two albums, and they remain
Maneige’s most ambitious, featuring sprawling compositions with a variety of
instrumentation dominated by piano and flute, classically-influenced with
elements of jazz and folk. The first album contains two live bonus tracks, one a
previously-unreleased track and the other a live version of one of the album tracks.
Morse
Code - La Marche des Hommes ($15.99)
Morse
Code - Les Grands Succès de ($11.99)These are the three classic albums from one of the top Quebec symphonic progressive rock bands, issued on CD for the first time in 2007 by the ProgQuébec label. File these next to Pollen and Opus 5. Morse Code began as a psychedelic rock band singing in English, under the name Morse Code Transmission. They shortened the name and initiated their progressive phase with La Marche des Hommes (1974), also switching to French lyrics. This album shows influences of Genesis and Ange and the characteristic Québecois magic. The CD contains two bonus tracks: Qu'est-ce que t'as compris? (single version) and Cocktail (disco mix), the latter an instrumental featuring Mellotron, flute, and funky clavinet, second only to Mike Oldfield’s Guilty for Best Disco Song Ever.
Procréation followed in 1976, highlighted by the 26-minute title track. In addition to the Genesis/Ange hybrid style, a Yes influence can also be heard. This CD adds two bonus tracks: Punch and Image. Capitol sent the band to England to record Je Suis le Temps (1977), which resulted in a more polished and streamlined prog sound, and of course the times were changing, Morse Code with them. Still an excellent album. All three CDs are fairly indispensable, but if you have to pick only one, go with Procréation.
Les Grands Succès de Morse Code is a 12-track compilation drawn from
these three albums, issued earlier on EMI.
Mystery - Beneath the Veil of Winter’s Face
($14.99)
SALE!
Mystery - At the Dawn of a New Millennium (Best of) ($14.99)With Destiny? (1998), this Canadian band has taken the most progressive elements of Rush and Saga and married them with a more symphonic and ambitious approach to produce this gem of a concept album. To their credit, Mystery use delicate passages for contrast, something Rush and Saga never spent much effort on. The previous album, Theatre of the Mind (1996, revamped in 1998), leans slightly more to the melodic rock side. The vocals really remind one of Journey, though the music is more elaborate than that. At the Dawn of a New Millennium is a 71-minute compilation CD drawn from Theatre of the Mind and Destiny? plus the rare 1992 self-titled first Mystery album.
Beneath the Veil of Winter’s Face (2007)
features new singer Benoit David, who participated in the recording of Mystery’s
tracks on the Pink Floyd tribute album Signs of Time and the Moody Blues
tribute album Higher and Higher. This is the best, most symphonic Mystery
album to date. It seems to lie at the midpoint between Saga and Genesis, still
with touches of Rush, pomp rock and AOR, but solidly progressive. 63-minutes.
Nathan Mahl - Shadows Unbound
($12.99)
Nathan Mahl - Heretik Vol. I: Body of Accusations ($12.99)
Guy LeBlanc - Subversia
($12.99)Formed at the end of 1981, Nathan Mahl (a totally fabricated name) is now one of the longest-lived and most accomplished Canadian progressive rock bands. Parallel Eccentricities is the reissue of their 1982 LP, remastered in 1997. The CD audio portion is short, running only about a half-hour, but the disc includes an interactive CD-ROM portion (Mac & PC). The music is top-notch 1970’s-style vocal prog rock; in fact the first track runs through Yes, Genesis, and Camel styles within the first minute-and-a-half, and these are the styles that dominate the album, with some slightly harder stuff later on. Organ sounds prevail.
Shadows Unbound (2003) is intended to replace the now out-of-print The Clever Use of Shadows, but is pretty much a different album. This is the way it was originally intended by Guy LeBlanc, with four of the original tunes re-recorded plus four new ones and the original band lineup! This is a return to Nathan Mahl’s fusion-tinged, (mostly) instrumental prog rock style with lots of solos from keys and guitar.
The Heretik trilogy is Nathan Mahl’s crowning achievement, drawing very much on classic 1970’s progressive styles, and incorporating more influences than ever before. Some of the fusion style of LeBlanc’s Subversia album has carried over to these works. Heretik Vol. III: The Sentence (2002) plays as one monumental 54-minute piece of instrumental music (with a few wordless female vocals), the creative vision of keyboardist Guy LeBlanc, now also a member of Camel. This time out, Nathan Mahl’s fusion-tinged prog rock seems to mix National Health, Camel, Gentle Giant, and a little ELP. For all its complexity and its epic length, the music flows effortlessly, leaving the listener feeling inspired rather than tired. While Vol. III is instrumental, there are some vocals on Heretik Vol. I: Body of Accusations (2000) and Heretik Vol. II: The Trial (2001), with LeBlanc’s warm vocals sounding a bit similar to Andy Latimer, except for occasions where he does a credible Peter Hammill. As Progression magazine says: “dazzling in terms of sheer instrumental prowess, ensemble interplay and clever arranging... these are long tracks, mind you, but there’s so much going on you barely have time to catch your breath”.
Guy LeBlanc is Nathan Mahl’s leader and keyboardist, and on the first album under his own name, he is joined by guitarist extraordinaire Scott McGill and three other musicians. Subversia (1999) is much more of a fusion album than the Nathan Mahl albums. In fact, it’s probably safe to say Subversia is the closest any album has come to the classic Bruford albums. Since Scott McGill’s playing is very much in the Allan Holdsworth style, the integration of McGill into LeBlanc’s more structured approach is quite similar to Holdsworth’s role in Bruford. The album is mostly instrumental, but there are some excellent vocals from LeBlanc. Highly recommended to fans of Bruford and Holdsworth.
LeBlanc’s All the Rage (2004) has little to do musically with Subversia. It appears more than anything else that Guy’s tenure as Camel’s keyboardist has rubbed off on him, as All the Rage is musically and vocally closer to Camel than anything he has done before with Nathan Mahl or solo. There is even some Genesis influence present. We’ll go out on a limb here and say that this is our favorite of all the Nathan Mahl and Guy LeBlanc albums. It is the most carefully composed, and it shows a maturity in songwriting that may have come from playing Andy Latimer’s songs. There is more subtlety here and a greater depth of emotion, a composer’s album rather than a player’s album like Shadows Unbound, just an excellent symphonic progressive album from a tremendous talent. 71-minutes.
The Odysseys - same ($12.99)
This young Toronto band has made an amazing retro album for their 2006 debut.
Amazing because it sounds like a British prog album from circa 1970, and the
band members hadn’t been born by then. This is dreamy early progressive
rock with a psychedelic feel, or in their own words: “These songs are journeys
through the mind. They are an explosion of sounds from a time long past.” With
the Mellotron strings & flute and the harmony vocals, The Moody Blues (at their
most progressive) are often evoked, although the vocals actually sound more CSN&Y...
if CSN&Y ever used Mellotron. There are also suggestions of the earliest King
Crimson, early Genesis, even a little Black Sabbath. They even get the period
drum sound right, that is, the sound of wet cardboard being slapped. For those
into vintage synths, one of the videos on their myspace page (mp3 icon above)
shows them playing a Crumar! Intoxicating stuff for those who love the
sound of progressive rock first emerging from psychedelia.
L’Orchestre
Sympathique - En Concert à la Grande Passe ($14.99)
L'Orchestre Sympathique was a progressive jazz-rock quartet founded in 1976
by classically-trained vibraphonist/percussionnist Jean Vanasse, flutist/pianist
François Richard, and drummer Mathieu Léger. They were joined by various bass
players through the years. From 1981 to 1986, L'Orchestre Sympathique was based
mainly in Paris and toured Europe extensively with several different drummers
and bass players. They released no studio albums but did release three live
albums between 1979-1981, of which En Concert à la Grande Passe is the
first. This album is of particular interest to progressive music lovers,
sounding very much like early Maneige, with flute and mallet percussion
providing their signature sound. It may as well be a studio album, as the audio
quality is flawless and there is no crowd noise until after each song.
Osmosaïc
- Un ($14.99)
Osmosaïc is a Québec male/female duo of multi-instrumentalist/singers playing
acoustic and electric guitar, keys, bass, and some programmed drums. The vocals
are split between English and French. Un (2004) is as yet their only CD.
This is lovely folky progressive with symphonic textures, close to the style
that Harmonium made famous. The French-Canadians do this style better than
anyone. Short CD at 35-minutes, but nearly perfect.
Pangloss - Joe Barr ($14.99)This 2002 release is a great debut of a Québécois band who play a theatrical
progressive rock that will invariably get compared to Ange or Mona Lisa, since
the vocals are in French. Despite a few heavy passages, this is generally
lighter on its feet and more dexterous than Ange, also harkening back to the
great French-Canadian bands of the 1970’s. 70-minutes.
Pollen -
same ($15.99)
This 1976 album from a Québec band is one of the finest progressive rock
albums to come out of North America. It was issued on CD in 1994 but did not
remain available long as the label folded. This is the 2005 reissue on the ProgQuébec
label, which has been remastered from the master tapes and features an expanded booklet. Pollen sounds most like a
French-Canadian version of early PFM, with a stronger vocalist (singing in
French). There are a few touches of Gentle Giant (Pollen toured Québec with them
in 1974), but for the most part, this adheres to the Italian progressive style
while including elements typical of the 1970’s Québécois progressive bands.
Progzy
- Men Were Brave ($13.99)
Progzy is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Alain Bergeron, who spent five years as the
drummer of Nathan Mahl, recording two albums with the band. Men Were Brave
(2004) is the first Progzy album, with Bergeron handling everything aside from a
little rhythm guitar from Guy Leblanc: vocals, keyboards, electric guitar, bass,
drums and percussion. The music is a respectable progressive rock blend that
doesn’t strongly resemble any one band. As with many such solo projects, the
weakest link is the vocals. Bergeron is a passable vocalist, but his
French-Canadian accent does show through in spots, and the vocal melody lines are somewhat vague.
Instrumentally though this is a fine debut.
Quartik -
Hecho a Mano ($14.99)
Quartik are a new jazz-rock band from Québec
City; Hecho a Mano is their 2005 debut. The instrumentation is guitar, bass, drums and vibes.
The use of vibes naturally invites comparisons to Pierre Moerlen’s Gong, but Quartik lacks
the melodic richness of Pierre Moerlen’s Gong, so Gongzilla is a better
comparison.
Qwaarn
- Aberrations ($14.99)
On their 2004 debut The Word of Qwaarn, this Québec prog band features some familiar names in the Quebec scene: Mathieu Lessard (Dagmähr, Red Sand) on vocals and Stéphane D. (Red Sand, Sense, Ère G) on bass, but the core of the band is the other three musicians on guitars, keys and drums. The cover artwork on their debut CD is by Paul Whitehead, and that alone gives you a pretty good clue what the music is like. It’s a Genesis-inspired concept album sung in English, based around an original story about, er, a guy named Qwaarn. It’s inaccurate to call this a neo-prog album as some have; if Marillion, IQ, and Pendragon had never existed, it would make no difference to the music on this album. Their inspiration is from the 1970’s but Qwaarn have not set out to sound as retro as possible. So even though they do use a lot of vintage sounds, the music is stamped with their own identity. A fine 55-minute debut.
After some lineup changes including a new singer,
Qwaarn return in 2007 with
their 2nd concept CD. Aberrations continues the story of Qwaarn begun on The Word of Qwaarn. The lyrics
are again in English, but the musical style has evolved since their debut, less
overtly Genesis-influenced, more (for lack of a better word) unusual. The music
is a rich symphonic progressive, not at all retro but often dramatic and
bombastic in the 70’s tradition, with frequent Mellotron. There is a very slight
Marillion feel, and there are also more contemporary elements. In fact there is
such a wealth of ideas here that it’s difficult to get the sense of it in just a
couple listens. No songs really stand out individually; the album is best
appreciated as a whole. 59-minutes.
The
Rebel Wheel - Diagramma ($12.99)
Ottawa’s The Rebel Wheel expand to a quintet for their 2nd full-length CD.
Their brand of progressive rock is more instrumental than vocal and favors dark
ambiances -- dark but not despairing or ugly. Though nothing sounds unfamiliar,
the level of originality is high; The Rebel Wheel don’t sound quite like any
other band. Ultimately one has to call their sound contemporary. There is a lot
of classic symphonic prog here as well as a little fusion, but they mix that up
with modern sonics and current technologies. It is atmospheric, cinematic,
dense, and complex, yet it is also melodic and emotive. 60-minutes, digipack.
Red Sand - Mirror of Insanity ($14.99)
Mirror of Insanity
(2004) is the debut by French-Canadian band Red Sand. The main force
behind the band is guitarist Simon
Caron, who wrote all the music and lyrics (which are in English). The music is
fairly obviously modeled on Fish-era Marillion, but there hasn’t been much of
that style coming out of Québec before, so there is a slightly unique flavor to
it, and it is almost all very well done. This is the jewel case
edition.
Jacques
Tom Rivest - same ($15.99)
This is a reissue that connoisseurs of the Quebec 1970’s progressive scene
have been craving for years, and another example of the unique style that
flourished during the golden age of prog in Quebec but that is in danger of
being lost. Jacques Tom Rivest was singer and multi-instrumentalist in the
quintessential Quebec progressive rock band Pollen. He regrouped the first
Pollen line-up plus bassist Daniel Mathieu (Solstice) for his 1979 first solo
record. It blends progressive rock with Harmonium-style folk and pop and
French-language vocals for a melodic album considered to be the continuation of
Pollen, though with more acoustic timbres. This CD also includes a bonus track,
a single released just prior to the album.
Michael
Sadler - Clear ($13.99)
This 2004 solo album from the frontman of Saga is surprisingly good. As
progressive rock goes, yes it’s mainstream, yes it’s accessible, but it is
completely professional and remarkably well written, played, and recorded. A
host of other musicians participate. Not just another Saga album, the songs here
are more personal, and there is a bit of a 1980’s pop flavor, though few of the
80’s synth-pop bands ever made anything this good!
Saga -
10,000 Days ($14.99)
10,000 Days (2007) helps mark Saga’s 30th anniversary as a band. Sadly it also marks the final CD that Saga will record with co-founder and lead singer Michael Sadler. But fittingly, it is a great Saga album, not quite Worlds Apart, but close. This is Saga’s trademark melodic progressive sound, something they seemed to rediscover circa 2004’s Network album, and 10,000 Days is a testament to the band’s resurgence. This is the lavish digipack version, limited to the first 3000 CDs worldwide.
This special edition of Saga’s 2006 studio album Trust comes with a
bonus DVD (NTSC, all-region) entitled The Making of Trust and is housed
in a tri-fold digipack with 20-page booklet. Following their strong showing with
2004’s Network album, Trust may be the best Saga album since the
1980’s. You can go home again, sort of. Here are a couple reviews:
Review 1
• Review 2.
Saga - Network (CD+DVD,
$14.99)
Saga -
Worlds Apart ($11.99)
Saga - same
(1st) ($11.99)Saga is the best known Canadian progressive rock band after Rush. Their sound is more streamlined and song-oriented than the classic prog bands, but Saga began in the late 1970’s, when the first-generation prog bands weren’t doing any better themselves. Saga’s first five albums are their classics: Saga (1978), Images at Twilight (1979), Silent Knight (1980), Worlds Apart (1981), and In Transit (1982). Saga made steady progress on their first albums, peaking on Silent Knight and Worlds Apart. In Transit is a live album that covers their first four studio albums. They later went through a period during which they became less progressive and lost key members, but their popularity continued to grow, more in Europe than at home. These are the latest remastered editions with new booklets and liner notes and bonus video tracks on Images at Twilight, Silent Knight, and Worlds Apart.
This is the 2005 Special Edition of Saga’s 2004 Network album, which comes in a jewel case with outer sleeve. In addition to the CD, this edition adds a DVD (NTSC, all-regions) containing a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix of the entire album. That might not be a great thing if not for the fact this is the best Saga album in quite a while. This actually sounds like the same band that made Silent Knight and Worlds Apart, which could not be said of some of their later albums.
Those familiar with Saga know that most of their studio albums have had
tracks subtitled Chapter x, where x is an integer between 1 and
16. The chapters were not released in order, so the story behind them was not
the easiest to discern. On this double live The Chapters Live CD, all 16 chapters are performed in
order for the first time, and the whole story begins to make sense. Check our DVDs page for
Saga’s DVDs.
Seismic
Cry - Reverence ($13.99)
Seismic Cry is a unique progressive project, primarily the work of Philippe Gaudet, now residing in
Montreal. Reverence (2006) is the 2nd Seismic Cry CD, a conceptual work
regarding the gold rush to Alaska and the Canadian northwest that makes use of poems by Robert W.
Service. It features male and female vocals (in English) throughout. Gaudet handles most of the instruments with the assistance of a drummer, the
other vocalists, and a guest on accordion. It’s difficult to compare this to
anyone else. The music occasionally breaks out into rock but is usually gentler,
melancholy, evocative and surreal, with a slight folkiness but also an almost
Genesis-like pastoral flavor. The music is as poetic as the lyrics, and some of
the Karda Estra feel of the first album has carried over.
Sense - Going Home ($14.99)
out-of-stock
Sense - Madness ($13.99)
Madness, the 2002 debut CD from this Québec City prog band, is very good 1970’s-style progressive rock, closest to Yes (especially the Rickenbacker bass) but far from being derivative, and with modern-sounding production. The prominent acoustic guitar immediately sets them apart from most current prog bands, bringing to mind Harmonium and the other great 1970’s French-Canadian bands. The English-language vocals are up front in the mix, and the harmony vocals can sound like those of Starcastle, America, or Barclay James Harvest, adding a slight folk/pop element. Guests on Irish flute, recorder, and violin add distinctiveness to the band’s style.
Out of Range (2004) features guest spots for Brett Kull (Echolyn) and Fred Schendel (Glass Hammer) and continues to develop the style established on their debut, with a couple heavier spots and one track of more overtly Celtic material. The French-Canadian progressive style was defined in the 70’s by a unique combination of folk and acoustic elements and the British progressive rock style. Sense does it differently than Harmonium and the rest of those bands, singing in English for one thing, but they are one of the few bands continuing this tradition in the new millennium.
Stone in the Sky (2005) is a CD+DVD set. The CD contains two new studio tracks and five live tracks, including covers of Mood for a Day and I Know What I Like. The DVD (NTSC, all-region) captures Sense in concert in 2004 performing eight songs from their first two CDs.
Going Home (2007) is another good one and the
most Yes-influenced of the Sense CDs. Andrew Marshall of Willowglass guests on
Mellotron and other keys.
Signs
of One - Innerlands ($14.99)
Signs of One is a Quebec City prog rock band who released two albums on their
own prior to Innerlands (2007), which is on Unicorn Digital. This is
elaborate Yes/Genesis style symphonic prog with enough prog-metal added to let
you know they’re a contemporary band. There are 14 tracks, but for all intents
and purposes, this is a single 71-minute piece of music. The vocals are in
English and have that sound that a fair number of continental European prog
bands manage, Clepsydra for one.
Spaced
Out - Live at the Crescendo Festival PAL DVD ($19.99)
Spaced Out - Slow Gin ($14.99)
Spaced
Out - Live in 2000 DVD ($17.99)Spaced Out is a Montreal-based instrumental progressive fusion quartet (keys, guitar, bass, drums) whose 2000 self-titled CD is a very impressive 54-minute debut in the Allan Holdsworth, Bruford, and Brand X styles. Eponymus II (2001), their 2nd, is a monster progressive fusion album, moving closer to the highly-arranged style of Bruford, but also sounding a bit like Keith Emerson-joins-Magma. While Spaced Out may lack the strong melodies of Bruford, their music is higher intensity, always shifting, with a particularly hyperactive bass player in Antoine Fafard, who is also the primary composer. Their 3rd, Slow Gin (2003), shows the band is not standing still, and may be their best yet. There is a shift toward rock and away from jazz, the music is heavy at times, and more room is allowed for Fafard’s amazing bass playing.
Spaced Out is down to a trio for 2006’s Unstable Matter. While that may affect their live performance, the keyboards generally had more of a supporting role on past efforts, adding symphonic textures but usually not taking the lead. So there are keyboards overdubbed on Unstable Matter that play much the same role, if a slightly reduced one. The shift toward rock and away from jazz continues with this album, and Antoine Fafard continues to impress as one of the most nimble and inventive bass players out there. There are moments of metal riffing, lots of odd time signatures and controlled chaos, yet there is still a degree of melody and warmth to it.
Spaced Out’s first live CD Live at the Crescendo Festival was recorded in 2006 at the Crescendo Festival in France, their first concert in Europe during the Unstable Matter tour. It’s an enhanced CD that includes two videos: the music video of Antimatter and a live video of Art Attack Part 2. The Live at the Crescendo Festival DVD (PAL, all-region) contains the same concert as the CD with five additional tracks, running time 100 minutes. Extras include rehearsal footage and a slideshow. Note the first edition of this DVD is in the PAL format. An NTSC version is coming soon, so if you live outside of Europe, best to wait for the NTSC version. Also note that the higher price for this DVD is due entirely to the deterioration in the value of the U.S. dollar.
Spaced Out’s Live in 2000 DVD (NTSC, all-region) presents a concert filmed in
October 2000. The tapes of this performance remained on the shelf for four years
before the decision was finally made to release it on this DVD. While Spaced Out
have gone on to release several more CDs, this DVD
shows what the band was like at that moment in time.
Video samples here.
Symphonic Slam / Timo Laine - same ($15.99)CD reissue of a 1976 Canadian progressive rock LP. Timo Laine is a native
born Finlander who led this trio. He pioneered the use of the guitar
synthesizer, and this album features it heavily. Timo also plays standard guitar
and sings, while the other musicians add keys and drums. The album has a few
moments of a slightly commercial, dated 1970’s rock sound, but overall this is
a fine symphonic rock album which hopefully a few of you remember from its vinyl incarnation.
Talisma - Quelque Part ($14.99)
Talisma are a Québec band that dates to 1993. It’s unclear whether all their
previous releases were merely demos; in any event, Corpus (2003) is the
first release in their trio format. Instrumental aside from two tracks with some wordless or
scat-style female vocals, this perhaps comes closest to Edhels, albeit a bit heavier in spots. The
Steve Hackett and King Crimson influences that shaped Edhels are here also,
though that only partially describes Talisma. There’s a bit of Rush in here too,
but also touches of jazz, ethnic, space, and more lyrical and delicate passages
befitting a Québec band. Both the guitarist and bassist add synth or guitar
synth, and both play 12-string at times.
Chromium (2005) is completely instrumental and takes Talisma’s innovative brand of progressive rock even further. Their musical tapestry weaves many styles together fluidly, and there isn’t anyone that they really sound like. The pieces sound structured but they evolved out of studio jams and were recorded the same day, giving the music a great energy.
For Quelque Part (2008), Talisma have
expanded to six musicians plus one guest, and while it is again mostly
instrumental, there are beautiful vocals from Florence Bélanger on two tracks.
The first track hits the listener like a blast of vintage Steve Hackett, but
even more intense. The second track features nimble playing that sounds like a
prog rock circus on speed, the third track is Crimsonoid, and it continues with
each track distinct. There is some more acoustic, Genesis-like material to
offset the intensity. At their best, Talisma feature searing electric guitar
leads at the mid-point between Hackett and Fripp over a rich symphonic backbone.
Hopefully this CD gets Talisma the attention they deserve, as they are now one
of the best (mostly-)instrumental prog bands working.
Le Temps - same ($14.99)The self-titled Le Temps album (1975) and Ailleurs Avec (1977) are reissues from a typical French-Canadian 70’s
progressive band. They incorporate folk and classical elements, emphasizing acoustic textures
and lovely vocals in French, similar to the first Harmonium album. The first
album has no drums while Ailleurs Avec does, but the latter is not necessarily better for it.
Toubabou -
same (2CD, $16.99)
This ProgQuébec label 2CD reissues the complete works of Toubabou, a Montreal-based prog band from the 1970’s. Their two albums, Le
Blé et le Mil (1974) and Attente (1975), are included in their
entirety with original artwork, plus a bonus multimedia section containing
archival film footage of the group performing several songs, including a
previously unreleased track. The group was led by percussionist Michel Séguin
and featured several other VEBB members. They were joined by African musicians
on Le Blé et le Mil, a live album. Two
members of Toubabou went on to join Harmonium. Much of the music is a unique
style of progressive funk-rock with African percussion. There are also more
beautiful and lyrical compositions featuring female vocals, sometimes in French,
sometimes wordless in that unique Québécois style.
Unicorn
Records - Progression in Balance Vol. 2 ($9.99)Volume 2 of Unicorn Records’ budget-priced sampler CD series is 73-minutes long and features one track each
from Alkemy, Dimension X, Hamadryad, Kaos Moon, Little King, Nil, Parallel Mind,
Retroheads, Ring of Myth, Talisma, Upright, and Vladimir Badirov Project.
Unisphere -
Le Voyage de l’Enfant Lune ($14.99)
This is a very good 2004 debut CD from a Quebecois progressive band. The album is progressive rock through and through, but goes through a couple changes before settling into the dominant style, which is close to best French symphonic prog, with a serious and somewhat dark feel and a slight Pink Floyd influence. The album opens though sounding like Peter Gabriel singing in French, almost to the point of plagiarism. (You’ll hear Biko during track 1.) Next the album moves into Genesis and Yes territory. Then all that is pretty much abandoned for the much more original style that covers most of the album’s 67-minutes. The tracks
