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YESESIS 
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 Topic: Art ZoydPosted: October 08 2019 at 18:43 |
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So last night I listened to the first two Art Zoyd albums(on Logan's recommendation) and I actually liked them. Reminded me of Zappa a bit. Like a cross between Zappa and Magma, with a little bit of Can maybe. Definitely some classical too in there. Both albums had their slow points, where just not much seemed to be going on(musically). But Zappa can get like that in spots too. But both albums when they were good, were actually really good(to my ears). So I'm just curious what some of you think of this band.. and maybe what are some other good albums from them for me to check out next. Thanks.
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AFlowerKingCrimson
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Posted: October 08 2019 at 19:10 |
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Paging Dr. Nogbad......
Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - October 08 2019 at 19:10 |
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Man With Hat
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Posted: October 08 2019 at 19:28 |
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The first five (including the remade debut album) are all nearly essentially listening. After this, they went much more electronic, but did it gradually, so what I refer to as their middle period (from Les Escapes Inquiets through about Metropolis) where they mix the electronic and acoustic classic influence very successfully (and I find this is where they are the most consistently rock-y in their discog). After this, they go almost fully electronic and much more minimal, which they do well (IMO) but certainly is a pretty different field from their early stuff (and well out of the way of rock music, if that's something that is important to you). My list of must listen toos: Faust Berlin Haxan Phase IV
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Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
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YESESIS
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Posted: October 08 2019 at 19:39 |
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So it sounds like any of their first five are good then. Thank you, that's helpful. This could be my newest big discovery here. We'll see.
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Nogbad_The_Bad
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Posted: October 08 2019 at 19:50 |
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Weeelllllll I actually go through the first six as essential through Le Mariage Du Ciel Et De L'Enfer, of those Generation Sans Futur is probably my favorite. I agree on Haxan & Phase IV Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - October 08 2019 at 19:51 |
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Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
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YESESIS
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Posted: October 08 2019 at 19:59 |
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Ok, the ones I listened to were Symphonie Pour Le Jour Où Brûleront Les Cités and Musique Pour L'Odyssee. I'll listen to this Generation Sans Futur next then. Thank you.
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micky
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Posted: October 08 2019 at 21:10 |
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^ consider yourself saucepanned man... you've been converted... welcome to the club
 now get yourself a new avatart...
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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YESESIS
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Posted: October 08 2019 at 21:28 |
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Haha thanks man. I've been listening to Génération Sans Futur. It has some slow parts also but like a little past the halfway point there kind of starts to be like a lot going on(musically). I like it! Don't know about the new avi just yet though lol. But if I get really, really into this band(which defiinitely could happen) then I just might.
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Sean Trane
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 01:55 |
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For me, those are the most essential (especially if you go by the titles, once you know of AZ's background), but yes all first four albums are absolutely worthy, a,nnd up until roughly the mid-80's , it's all good Edited by Sean Trane - October 09 2019 at 01:55 |
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Lewian
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 04:30 |
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For me Art Zoyd are a "big 5" band. Some years ago when we did our top 200 or so album lists, Art Zoyd was the band with most albums in mine. They have lots and lots of material and I like pretty much all of it, actually the only bad album they did I can think of is "Pure Noise", and given its very honest name one can't complain about that one either. I'm probably one of the few who by and large prefers their more electronic material. In later days they left the realms of rock music almost totally and became an experimental avantgarde outfit, collaborating on their Experiences de Vol series with a number of contemporary composers. Recent "regular" releases such as Eye Catcher and Phase V are still very strong, and Champ des Larmes is maybe the coldest music you'll ever hear, and as such is very special (if certainly not for everyone). These days I think Metropolis is my favourite, even leaving behind the (in general opinion) highlights of their electronic period Berlin and Häxan, both of which are top class anyway. Marathonnerre I is another album I love, it is probably the warmest of their more electronic ones. Not sure whether their preference for dark/horror themes (as on Nosferatu and Häxan, also elsewhere) resonates with you though. That said, I surely also appreciate their earlier work, with Generation sans futur and Phase IV probably my favourites there.
Edited by Lewian - October 09 2019 at 04:31 |
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Logan
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 05:51 |
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It's not one I would deliberately recommend lightly. I think I got into it via discovering Miriodor (that's one I'd recommend checking out and I guess you might well already know Samla Mammas Manna, if not Maltid) which I got into via getting into Gentle Giant.
I'm particularly into Art Zoyd's albums up to and including Berlin, as well as Faust and Haxan from the mid 90s which I adore, and Metropolis from the 2000s, but I do like other albums very much as well. When we've had Art Zoyd polls, I've often voted for Génération sans futur, but I actually can't really choose a favourite. I've often cited it as my favourite band. I liked the different phases. I enjoy the earlier warmer "chamber" material and the colder later releases. I might recommend you try Berlin next. As you've listened to the earlier classics, this is another side of the band that I love, but the albums are colder than the early ones (the first is off Les espaces inquiets, one of my Art Zoyd faves, but not many seem to like the album nearly as much as I do and is the second lowest rated of the 80s ones, the rating has gone up considerably since I last looked methinks): By the way, have I recommended Ennio Morricone?   Edited by Logan - October 09 2019 at 06:06 |
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Logan
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 06:11 |
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I've had you pegged as much more of a Univers Zero/ Present guy than Art Zoyd as those can really chamber rock. ;) |
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Nogbad_The_Bad
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 08:05 |
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I'm certainly more of a UZ / Present guy, I've got everything by both bands and don't believe either has made an album that is less than "good". I've seen each of them around 4 times. I've been into AZ in a minimal way for many years but really dived into them more heavily when they played RIO a few years ago and Cuneiform released the big boxset of all the unreleased material. I've been spending more time on AZ than UZ/Present in recent just because I have less of their catalog and I'm less familiar with the depth of it. I certainly rank they as highly in terms of importance and quality of music. I could see myself having a lot more of their stuff in the upcoming years.
Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - October 09 2019 at 08:06 |
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Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
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Nogbad_The_Bad
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 08:52 |
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When I ran the RIO World Cup in Feb they came in 5th of the RIO big 5. 1 Univers Zero 2 Henry Cow 3 Frank Zappa 4 Samla Mammas Manna 5 Art Zoyd |
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Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
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Logan
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 09:32 |
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Frank Zappa is not and never should be thought of as part of the RIO big five, and I wouldn't have ever thought of him as part of RIO period (seen many call him RIO).
Art Zoyd is a second string Rock in Opposition band (i.e. not an original member of the "movement"), but then Frank Zappa was never part of the movement (an influence, sure). I don't think he would have signed on to their manifesto or would fit in (very different...). Your series was not just about RIO, though as I recall, but avant prog generally. I've thought that Frank Zappa, by the way, would fit Eclectic Prog better than Avant Prog, but that's another issue. The core RIO, for those that don't know from the first RIO festival (1978) is: Henry Cow (England) Stormy Six (Italy) Samla Mammas Manna (Sweden) Univers Zero (Belgium) Etron Fou Leloublan (France) Then for the second festival (1979), these came in: Art Zoyd (France) Art Bears (England, which consisted of former Henry Cow members) Aksak Maboul (Belgium) Much as I love Art Zoyd, and the others from the second festival, I do think the big RIO five should be the ones from the first festival, and Henry Cow should be number one for historical reasons. A lot of people don't seem to know the history of RIO who use it meaning avant-prog generally. In filmic terms, RIO quite reminded me of Dogme 95. So actually, Art Zoyd scored fourth as a RIO band. Good to see that of the top five, four of them are RIO. Edited by Logan - October 09 2019 at 10:05 |
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Lewian
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 15:11 |
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Well obviously a historical "big 5" is much different from a "big 5" based on quality (whatever we think that is). If I'm not mistaken, Art Zoyd's catalogue is bigger than that of all the original five combined. Taste is obviously subjective but for me their best work is second to none in that movement (or anywhere actually), so from my point of view they have a pretty clear dominance of that group (of which I love quite a bit of other stuff anyway), but that's of course completely ahistoric. Certainly I thought that rank 5 in Ian's world cup was a rather disappointing showing, but then it's clear that in a rock forum their stuff will not be everybody's cup of tea, not even among panheads.
Edited by Lewian - October 09 2019 at 15:14 |
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Nogbad_The_Bad
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 16:33 |
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Well it was a RIO/Avant World Cup and Frank is on the site as Avant so I could hardly omit him, it was a bit of fun, nothing serious. Art Zoyd are a pretty important Avant band with or without the RIO historical significance.
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Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
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YESESIS
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 16:44 |
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Cool this thread has developed into a whole interesting(certainly for me) discussion here. And thank you all for your input. Logan, I listened to your three samples. I liked the first one very much. The last two were good.. but somewhat hard to really get into(for me). So RIO means Rock in Opposition then? And Zappa wouldn't have wanted to be part of that movement? Sorry, I'm so new and confused about all of this. I guess it's very different from the symphonic prog that I know and love. Oh well, all very interesting, for sure.
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Man With Hat
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 16:59 |
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Yes, RIO is short form for Rock In Opposition. Technically speaking, there are only 8 true RIO bands, the 8 bands that were part of those two Rock In Opposition festivals that Logan mentioned above. (This does make RIO unique in the sense that the name/connection is derived from a moment in time as opposed to a true musical connection (like symphonic prog or prog-folk), although musically there is a fair deal of relatability between all 8 of those artists.) Every other band under the RIO/Avant-rock banner is technically Avant-Rock, even bands like Present, Far Corner, or Thinking Plague who are all very much influenced musically by the 8 RIO bands. That said, I do think it's fairly commonly accepted that the term RIO has morphed into more of a stylistic blanket term for bands that sound like/are highly influenced from those original RIO bands. Similarly, if someone described Univers Zero as a Avant-Rock band, I don't think there would be too much of a hubbub raised. (Not to imply Logan's response is a hubbub, of course. There is the important historical distinction to be made, especially for people that are just learning about the subgenre.) Glad you are starting to take the plunge. :)
Edited by Man With Hat - October 09 2019 at 17:00 |
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Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
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YESESIS
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Posted: October 09 2019 at 18:24 |
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Thanks man. Yeah I'm liking this Art Zoyd so far. I tried listening to some Henry Cow a while back and idk some of it didn't sound musical enough, maybe it's an acquired taste though. I'll try again at some point maybe. I want to get into this RIO deal as it seems to be important on here. Oh and that Ennio Morricone that Logan mentioned, I looked him up and seems to be mostly movies or something. But if he's really important then I'll check him out too sometime.
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