RIO Drop-In Centre

Well apparently one of the SFF songs is almost identical in places and they obviously were around a long time before Anglagard.

I'll try and check out that Shylock album sometime.

Somewhere on these pages, I think I already mentionned one brilliant but very obscure Czeck/Austrian band called Metamorphosis.

^^^
This is very nice!
Eugene, have you tried Traktor?
In their website as you go through it, you can hear several tracks playing (I think there are 6 or 7) going on all the time (unless you stop it of course).
Go here:
http://www.traktorband.be/
(they are friends of DAAU).

^^^
hehehe, this is Nikmat HaTraktor - and Israeli group. Not prog, but a very good band, seomwhat experimental.
I did not know they had gone abroad and recorded wiht Trigaux and released with Musea. This is really great and makes me want to chaeck this release out.
My wife has some of their previuos releases. I will see if we brought them here with us, and if not ask that they'll be sent to us.

It might be progressive actually. I have not listened to this partiucular album. But their previous stuff is nice rock (sometimes acoustic sometimes electric). Ethnic at times. I like them.

Just thought people might be interested in read and about this Zorn live review:

John Zorn, Acoustic Masada, Page Auditorium
11/17/06



In the 1960s, soul jazz and hard bop were the thing. It was arguably reductionist and non-progressive, but it sure does feel good--basic jazz crammed with gospel and blues. It was undeniably black music. Saxophonist John Zorn--who has played with some veterans of that era, like organist Big John Patton--is doing something similar with his Masada project. It's real visceral, gut-bucket stuff infused with tradition. But to his credit, Zorn doesn't try to imitate a culture that isn't his: Masada celebrates his own Jewish heritage, using parallel cultural elements to what Horace Silver used. (If Blue Note was the leader of the soul jazz crowd, can we call Zorn's Tzadik label Jew Note?)

Acoustic Masada, which played at Duke this evening, consists of at least two Jews (Zorn and drummer Joey Baron) and at least one other guy who may be (bassist Greg Cohen--I'm stereotyping based on the name). Trumpeter Dave Douglas rounds out the quartet. The band actually functions on two planes--Douglas and Zorn tend to be the more Jewy part of the band, blowing over Sephardic scales, while Baron and Cohen are in many ways a conventional rhythm section.

Friday's performance was excellent, but not quite worth the standing ovation it got. The set fell too easily into a pattern. First, they'd play a ridiculously intense, high-speed, free number, then a melodic, modal tune. The latter are remarkable tours-de-force, running a wide gamut of speeds and dynamics, but the larger pattern was just too strong.

I especially enjoyed watching Baron, who's like Gene Krupa on cocaine. He was unmiked and still was exceptionally loud; I have several tapes where he plays and the drums are always too loud and distorting on the recording. It wasn't that way where I was sitting, but I can imagine it's damn near impossible for a taper to get a good mix. If Max Roach and Connie Kaye "dropped bombs," Joey carpet-bombs you with daisy cutters. Zorn was occasionally conducting him--on some of the best numbers, he conducted the hits on certain sections, even during his solos. As a result, it became a meta-solo, consisting of not only him but drums also. Baron was fun to watch, too--he was so amused by all the interplay and was having such a blast, laughing as he played. All that said, there were a couple tunes where I could have done with a little less out of the kit.

Douglas was also good; haters (me included) tend to attack him for his chilliness and remove. Zorn helped to loosen him up a bit, I think, but he still plays with this sort of dry, ironic tone, a musical smirk, and I don't like it (too much like me, probably). A couple times, it seemed like Baron was playfully jabbing and sparring; but Douglas remained aloof, raising his voice as necessary but never really throwing himself into it.

Zorn's just the opposite--he's totally into it. His compositions are great, intricate and passionate, and his writing for two horns (another similarity to the front lines like Lee Morgan and Joe Henderson or Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook on those Blue Note sides). The free stuff is fun, too, and the combination of rhythmicality (rhytmicism?) and strong rapport between all four players means it works well. He does a lot of crazy fluttering stuff, which sounds a lot like noise but takes on a special meaning in the context. I don't pretend to understand what the hell he's doing (I'm only half-convinced he does) , but almost everyone else did: in one solo, after a weird thang, he went back to a tonality and people all erupted in applause, even though he was still playing the solo. This strikes me as pseudo-artsy bullsh*t on their part. They don't know what it means either. (I should have asked him about, but I froze up when I met him. Oh, well.) Even the onstage banter was weird and unintelligible. I don't get it all, but it makes me feel good, which works for me. I give the show 7 or 8 out of 10 overall.

A note on the band's appearance: they play really close together, and all four look so different. The tousled-haired Zorn came out in a t-shirt and camo cargo pants with tortoise-shell glasses. Douglas, true to his image, had chunky black glasses, black pants and a black shirt (and a black leather jacket, too). Cohen is a tall, gangly, professorial type, grey-haired and dressed in a far-too-large button-down shirt. Joey was t-shirted and shaved bald. A hilarious sight, altogether.

listennow801 wrote: now where did i just 'hear' someone talking about sebka-chott? Was it here? Anyone have any info? one track i located on my hard drive [i've no idea where it came from...?] which I LOVE - I want to know more if anyone can help...

Yep that would have been me. I unfortunately don't have the whole album. It consist of about 40 songs which run for around a minute each.

I find the album very similar to some of Mr Bungles and Secret Chiefs works.

Here is a little review for their debt album Nagah Mahdi (2006)

New French collective that revels in the art of deception. Or art of confusion. The band are as mysterious as the music they create. Without a doubt, Sebkha-Chott spent many hours with their Mike Patton and Mr. Bungle CDs tucked comfortably in their respective stereos. Secret Chiefs 3 and Estradasphere could also be called out as guideposts. These guideposts are the equivalent of finding small, out of the way places, in twisted medieval cities. So just what are we talking about here? A 48 track album, that really works as one long rollercoaster ride of sounds, styles and instrumentation. However, that is not to say it’s just a random gathering of non-linear music. Actually it flows quite well, with heavy metal clearly operating as the glue that holds it all together. Imagine a bullet train racing through the cities, while slower commuter trains drop folks to their suburban homes. Chug-a-chug metal, followed by French folk, then they thrash away, off to the disco, death metal time, Middle Eastern dance pop, power metal, how about a little jazz? Nothing stays too long in one place, but rest assure as soon as the listener becomes complacent, they’ll bludgeon you with another dose of metal to keep you awake. Also Sebkha-Chott brings some of their native country’s popular sounds to the fore to add yet one more unique dimension. Only towards the end of the disc does the album start to drag a bit, as the idea factory seems to be closed up for the next session. Music like this is an adventure. It’s as progressive as it can get, yet it’s not prog rock in any traditional sense. The Italians dabbled in these areas in the early 1970s, but not quite as diverse. I would argue that cohesiveness worked in the Italians favor. Too much of a good thing is a good thing, but can be destructive. Recommended for those who like to go all the way on the extra spicy salsas and blue agave tequilas, and then know when to say when. Prepare to get whiplash and line up your chiropractor. You’re going places with this one.

Have not heard the music or of the band, this one goes straight over my head. The first review seems a little to excited for my liking. I've no doubt it has potential as an album, but one of the greatest "avant-jazz/psych" is a pretty big statement. Always a little skeptical of such reviews, though I cannot exaggerate on things myself some of the time.

But now you have me interested with these contradicting reviews, sound like something I will have to track down and have a listen for myself. Do you usually find "Lasers Edge" review reliable? I have not really had much experience with the site, so I cannot express my opinion of the matter.

It is a bit of a gamble. I have had may of them in my time, but these days I tend to like the sample everything before I buy. Now I'm a little older I release there is a little more need to feed myself.

Though it is a tricky matter, as it does seem to be one of love hate albums. Just a warning a lot of those collectors styles albums are in limit numbers for a reason, there have been many I have loved, but just as many which were sorely disappointing. Though NYC has had some pretty good underground acts (Moolah being one of them), so normally the critics has at least a little idea (not saying that most don't )

Well I have been flicking through a lot of Mexican Prog sites this morning and it has surprise me just how many artist get the progressive rock label. I'm just going but the categorizations they have give on the sites, so I am not familiar with their music.

Here are a few which sound interesting:

CABEZAS DE CERA - Wonderful mix of instrumental prog/rio/fusion/folk
CULTO SIN NOMBRE - Instrumental mix of avant garde, RIO and classical music
EREHIA - Progressive avant garde similar to Art Zoyd
MIRANDA, MARCOS - Progressive avant garde with a Popol Vuh influence as well
MUSICA DE ERICH ZANN, LA - R.I.O. a la Art Zoid & Univers Zero
NENA, LOS - One of the most unique records I’ve ever heard.  Blends R.I.O with jazz, avant garde and Mexican tradional music
SAMA - Mix of jazz and avant garde
TRES DE UN PAR - Progressive RIO with great guitar & keyboards
VECTOR ESCOPOLO - Ex-Chac Mool Magma like prog
VIA LACTEA - Electronic avant gardeness