PRESENT FROM NANCY

Supersister was a Dutch progressive rock band that was founded in The Hague, Netherlands in 1967. When it comes to Dutch prog rock, many people think of, Finch, Kayak, Trace, Earth And Fire and Golden Earring. However, there is another super group in the Netherlands that has gained international fame, Supersister. They became known as one of the best Canterbury bands, which is very ironic because they weren't from Canterbury not even British. Supersister melted strongly the influences of the Canterbury style with jazz and some typical Dutch progressive rock trademarks.

'Present From Nancy' is the debut studio album of Supersister that was released in 1970. The line up on 'Present From Nancy' is Robert Jan Stips (lead vocals, keyboard and vibes), Sacha Van Geest (vocals and flutes), Ron Van Eck (bass guitar and fuzz bass guitar) and Marco Vrolijk (vocal, drums and percussion). 'Present From Nancy' has also the participation of Gehard Smid (vocals and guitars).

There are few bands who have managed to record such a strong, fully developed first album after only two years of existence. Supersister's debut effort remains as one of the Netherland's best progressive rock albums and a classic of the genre worldwide, even though the group garnered only fringe interest outside of Europe. All the elements of the band's sound are already firmly in place on this album. It presents tracks that fuse the Dutch rock with the experimental jazz rock of Canterbury, where occasionally classical melodies appear. It received high praise from many critics and was relatively successful commercially. You can feel the Canterbury's elements in almost all of the tracks with their unique sense of humour. 'Present From Nancy' is one of the finest debuts from a Dutch progressive rock band, really.

'Present From Nancy' has ten tracks. The album consists of three suites divided into several tracks and two separated tracks. The three suites are 'Present From Nancy', 'Memories Are New (Boomchick)' and 'Metamorphosis' and the two isolated tracks are 'Corporation Combo Boys' and 'Dona Nobis Pacem'. So, 'Present From Nancy' suite has two tracks, 'Introduction' and 'Present From Nancy'. 'Introduction' is a jazz/rock piece that opens with drums and piano as flute follows in this up tempo number. This is a nice jazzy piece with great flute and piano over an energetic drum work. 'Present From Nancy' is another up tempo piece. It introduces some more jazzy complexity with a prominent piano. This one is light and breezy with the flute taking a prominent role. It's a great instrumental piece of jazzy prog. The 'Memories Are New' suite has three tracks, 'Memories Are New', '11/8' and 'Dreaming Wheelwhile'. 'Memories Are New' is a great vocal track with an experimental and eerie sounding and vocals in Richard Sinclair's style. It has a fine melody and nice instrumental passages combined with complex and interesting moments. '11/8' is a frenetic track that sounds a lot like the early sound of The Soft Machine. It shines through with progressive rock explorations beyond the Canterbury scene. Here you can see how much The Soft Machine influenced Supersister. 'Dreaming Wheelwhile' has very relaxed and dreamy ambience with its quiet flute heading the bass and cymbals. It's a floating meditative piece that offers some breathing space with its cosmic melody elongated. 'Corporation Combo Boys' is a short piece, a brief musical parody including some silly ensemble chanting and a final applause. It's a vocal track with references to Frank Zappa. The 'Metamorphosis' suite has also three tracks, 'Mexico', 'Metamorphosis' and 'Eight Miles High'. 'Mexico' is a more aggressive number with a clear Soft Machine influence. It fuses their two styles quite well, the jazz patterns and the fun soft rock with a slightly psychedelic attitude. This is a very beautiful and powerful piece. 'Metamorphosis' is a typical Supersister number that includes some of the densest passages on the entire album. It's probably the most experimental and odd of the all pieces on the album. 'Eight Miles High' is a very brief piece, The Byrds' song combined with George Gershwin's 'Summertime'. It leads us to the contemplative final track on the album. 'Dona Nobis Pacem' is completely different from the rest of the album. It can best be described as experimental and improvised progressive mood music, and makes a mind expanding finale to one of the finest debuts from a Dutch progressive rock 70's band.

Conclusion: As I mentioned above, one of the best Canterbury's bands was ironically enough not from Canterbury or even British at all. The excellent debut album of these young lads brings to us partly a very energetic and frenetic Canterbury sound but also touches classical music. The closest connection would be The Soft Machine around 1969 but Supersister had slightly less jazz feeling were more accessible, less academic and had classical elements. But, unfortunately, 'Present From Nancy' was a successful debut album by a band that has rightly been almost forgotten today, despite the high quality of their works in the 70's. However, anyone who appreciates Soft Machine and Caravan or the Canterbury sound in general shouldn't have any problems with it. This is an album that must be recommended.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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