Salon des musiques progressives du Québec

I made a research to see if there was already a thread about prog from Québec, and there wasn't any. I got to admit that I was surprised about this, and I tought: it's time to create one so, here's the place to talk about le rock progressif du Québec!

Edited by Tsevir Leirbag - November 08 2009 at 10:56

I love Harmonium, Maneige and Conventum and I'm always looking for more prog from Quebec. There's something unique to that region that I haven't heard from other countries but I'm not quite sure what it is...

Since my music collection is still in its early stages of growth I only own one album from Quebec artists which is Si On Avait... which is amazing I hope to aquire some more Quebecois stuff soon! Thanks for creating this thread this will be a great tool for me to use in order to become familiarized with new bands from La Belle Provence!

A website to check out is http://www.progquebec.com/

Lots of favourites of mine from there, like Maneige, Sloche, Miriodor, Contraction, Conventum and others.
By the way, Sloche will be reissued on CD later this year by Prog Quebec; here's the announcement:

"Today, ProgQuebec signed a licensing agreement with Sony Music Canada to reissue the two albums by Quebec-based 1970s symphonic fusion artists Sloche. This agreement is the culmination of close to four years of communication with various groups within Sony in an effort to make a legal, high-quality reissue of these essential progressive rock albums a reality. Both albums, 1975's "J'un Oeil" and 1976's "Stadaconé", will be released on September 15th 2009 and will be available at the 2009 edition of the FMPM.

Originally released on the now defunct label RCA, the masters for these two albums have been located in Sony's archives, and the reissues will be remastered from these tapes. This is ProgQuebec's first licensing agreement with Sony, and follows the 2007 licensed reissues of the Morse Code and early Maneige catalogs from EMI.

Sloche is one of the best-loved 1970s groups from Quebec, having created two albums of exceptional quality inspired by symphonic rock, in particular Gentle Giant, and jazz fusion. The line-up that recorded these two albums was virtually a complete turn-over of the original Sloche line-up, driven by a relentless search for superior musicianship by the conservatory-trained keyboardist Rejean Yacola. While their instrumentals can be compared to groups such as Finch or Gentle Giant, the atmospheric vocal passages on the first album also bring to mind other Quebec groups such as Opus 5 or Morse Code.

Sloche has been one of the most hotly requested progressive rock reissues from any part of the world for over a decade, and has been our top priority for a while. For years, the only way to get this album was to find it on vinyl, or buy unauthorized knockoff pirate releases. It will be one of ProgQuebec's proudest moments when properly licensed and high quality editions of these CDs are finally available. And after 30 years, the members of Sloche will finally start getting paid for their work again.

ProgQuebec also hopes this will be the start of a fruitful relationship with Sony Music Canada, who have the rights to a number of excellent projects that have been largely forgotten by the mainstream markets but are beloved to progressive fans. We intend to pursue further collaborations with Sony Music Canada going forward.

Thank you to everyone who has waited patiently and held off on buying bootleg versions while we pursued this through the proper channels. It has taken a long time to get to this point and we are very excited about it.

Regards,
Sean


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http://www.toib.net/
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Has there even been an attempt at getting Quebec its own country label? Perhaps it isn't necessary, but it would be useful in finding any other... RPQ (I love that!) bands. 

Padraic wrote: Kestrel wrote: Has there even been an attempt at getting Quebec its own country label?   Quebec is too busy trying to get their own country.

Ha, true enough. I would just like attention to be paid to Quebecois prog, much like RPI. This also reminds me of Erik Neuteboom's special about Prog Andaluz, another region specific genre (if one can call it a genre). It helps emphasize that prog was an international movement which I find to be one of prog's most endearing qualities.

Edit: And you can add the Belgian chamber scene as well...


Edited by Kestrel - August 12 2009 at 21:06

Padraic wrote: Love RPQ!   I recently acquired some Conventum, Maneige, and of course Miriodor is a RIO/Avant favorite. However, my absolute favorite right now is Rouge Ciel.  Cannot recommend them highly enough.

That's a great list, and covers most of what I'd speak of most highly.

I was recommended Dionne-Bregent a couple of years ago, and it became my favourite from Quebec, and one of my favourites over all.


4.00 | 1 ratings
Dionne - Brégent

Course I really like the usual suspects such as Sloche and Opus 5 too.

Kestrel wrote: Padraic wrote: Kestrel wrote: Has there even been an attempt at getting Quebec its own country label?   Quebec is too busy trying to get their own country.  Ha, true enough. I would just like attention to be paid to Quebecois prog, much like RPI. This also reminds me of Erik Neuteboom's special about Prog Andaluz, another region specific genre (if one can call it a genre). It helps emphasize that prog was an international movement which I find to be one of prog's most endearing qualities. Edit: And you can add the Belgian chamber scene as well...

Oh, don't get me started

Logan wrote: Padraic wrote: Love RPQ!   I recently acquired some Conventum, Maneige, and of course Miriodor is a RIO/Avant favorite. However, my absolute favorite right now is Rouge Ciel.  Cannot recommend them highly enough. That's a great list, and covers most of what I'd speak of most highly. I was recommended Dionne-Bregent a couple of years ago, and it became my favourite from Quebec, and one of my favourites over all. 4.00 | 1 ratings Dionne - Brégent Course I really like the usual suspects such as Sloche and Opus 5 too.

Great album there and I also second Opus 5!

I need to check out Miriodor if they're a RIO/Avant favorite, I do love me some RIO/Avant after all.

Edit: Sloche sounds pretty interesting as well.


Edited by SaltyJon - August 12 2009 at 21:48