MOVING GELATINE PLATES

Moving Gelatine Plates were one of the European bands playing Canterbury-style progressive rock under the influence of Soft Machine and Caravan. When the two bands put out their first and second albums in the late sixties and early seventies, they did not enjoy much success in their motherland. So instead, they decided to tour mainland Europe extensively and create a name for themselves in that part of the world. The large European fanbase gave birth to bands such as Picchio Dal Pozzo, Cos, Supersister, Pazop and many more. Moving Gelatine Plates was one of these bands. After the political conflicts in France in the late sixties, the group decided not to play politically-charged music, like so many of their contemporary countrymen did, and, as band members recall, to create art for the sake of creating art.

The music on Moving Gelatine Plates' self-titled debut album is to a high degree shaped by the previously mentioned Canterbury pioneers such as Caravan and Soft Machine. However, their music goes a lot further. Avant-rock influences of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention often reverbrate in many places. In addition, Moving Gelatine Plates have a characteristic quality, that may remind one of the style found on Henry Cow's 1973 debut album, Legend. The group does not put strong emphasis on songwriting nor improvisation, but rather on the natural progressing of the music, from once sequence to another. Despite their strong jazz influences, Moving Gelatine Plates' material is organized. In result, the music sounds unforced and therefore authentic, flowing naturally like the Seine river.

All of the band's complex musical ideas are executed in a professional and accurate way. The case with Moving Gelatine Plates is that one does not usually associate one musician with only one instrument, but rather assigns instruments to the musical layers individually. Gerard Bertram handles all the guitar parts. While he finds himself proficient on rapid guitar solos, he plays the role of a rhythm guitarist extremely well too. Maurice Hemlinger is responsible for all the keyboard parts. And by this I do not mean that there are a lot of keyboards on the album. The group seems to use keyboard instruments economically, only where keyboards are actually needed. Most of the time, however, Hemlinger is busy blowing air into his saxophones and a trumpet. His style could be associated with that of John Coltrane, Ronland Rahsaan Kirk, and Soft Machine's Elton Dean. The two soloists, Hemlinger and Bertram are supported by an extremely proficient rhythm section of Didier Thibault on bass and Gerard Pons on drums. Thibault and Pons also get a few solo parts in places.

There are five tracks on the album. These have a good amount of diversity between them. The album opens with odd electronic sounds on "London Cab", which quickly dissolves into a rapid jazz-rock jam, quite similar to what East Of Eden did on their album Snafu. "X-25" follows an interesting, organized construction with contrasting segments. On "Gelatine", the bassist Didier Thibault gets to display his great instrumentalism. With various solo parts on wind instruments and a guitar, the piece turns into a tasty jazz jam. "Last Song", the 14-minute highlight of the album, showcases all of the band's most characteristic elements. The album is closed with "Memories", a gentle, quiet piece with mellow flute and acoustic guitar parts.

All in all, Moving Gelatine Plates' self-titled debut album is definitely a must-listen for every Canterbury scene sound. Although it might not automatically remind one of works by Soft Machine, Caravan, Hatfield and the North or Egg, it owes a great deal to the sub-genre's distinctive sound. The band's sound is characterized by a high amount of vigor and energy combined with technical know-how and originality. In short: highly recommended!