PUDDING EN GISTEREN [AKA: PUDDING & YESTERDAY]

I cannot get enough of Supersister lately. What's not to like? Unless you absolutely detest a little humor in your prog, Supersister has something for every prog fan. 'Pudding En Gisteren' is an excellent representation of the band, and along with 'Present From Nancy', 'To The Highest Bidder' and 'Iskander' is mandatory for fans of quirky, clever, ambitious prog.

"Radio" begins with a fairly light jazzrock bounce, the vocals sounding impossibly English (despite the fact the band is Dutch)...but things are disturbed in the song's final half, with some heavy-handed keyboard/bass interplay and sinister group-vocal onomatopoeia. An unexpected twist, something Supersister specialize in. S. Van Geest's narrative in this spot is humorous and draws attention to itself thanks to his sincere and believable dialogue (despite utterly silly lines like "...and filling her pants with the substance of a custard supplier..."). Masterful keyboard playing from R.J. Stips tops this off and you've just heard one of the band's best-ever songs. Things move swiftly from the very brief keyboard tweek of "Supersisterretsisrepus" to "Psychopath", which could've easily fit on the Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd debut.

The album takes a turn to the even-weirder with "Judy Goes On Holiday". A perplexing 12 minutes, this seems to be several songs lumped together under one title, as the various pieces don't even pretend to be musically related. We're taken through keyboard-driven Canterbury, doo-wop, busy symphonic noodling, minimal atmospherics and ambient cosmic trips. Oddball, and totally enjoyable. Final track "Pudding En Gisteren Music For Ballet" is 21 minutes of "serious" Supersister, thick jazzrock of an experimental and unpredictable nature: fuzzy keyboards, fuzzier bass, folky flute, groovy vibraphone...

At the risk of sounding incestuous, I totally love my Supersister.