LONG LIVE THE SLICED HAM

Kandahar made two excellent albums and this, their debut, is one of them. Jaggy whammed-out and often fuzzy guitar, sumptuous saxophone squawks and squirts added with some highly melodic bass and drums mark this album as something of an unknown gem. Almost every track is enough to put me into an almost higher state of consciousness, because Kandahar really throw in lots of foot-tappingly stunning moments of worthy jazz and brass rock. They are hard to compare to any other band precisely, but they are by no means unique, but they do not have to be. There are some hints to Colosseum (the first incarnation, e.g. Valentyne Suite) and with the added underlying synth, they also remind me of some of the more symphonic jazz-rooted bands, especially from the Italian scene and one must not forget the obvious nod to Canterbury bands such as Nucleus and Soft Machine. The music is mostly of a light nature, but is juxtaposed with some almost haunting and ambient sections at times, which for me, show some great creativity. The use of many instruments, such as saxophone, flute and different synths, such as the ARP and Davoli makes their sound varied and interesting.

Jeff de Visscher's guitar playing is quirky also and because I am not a musician myself, it is difficult to describe, however, it seems he may have been listening to Chris Spedding who was with Nucleus. On Outside of Reality, for instance, his guitar playing has an Eastern feel to it (kind of Egyptian), which bearing in mind the band is named after the capital city of Afghanistan and that Karel Boegard lived in the Far-East, makes me believe that was very much intentional.

With track six Survivin' Boogie you get an odd jazz and R&B smattered score with vocals, which as the name suggests has hints of barrelhouse piano and although it is one of the weaker tracks on the album, it is still enjoyable because a. it is so fun to listen to and b. because there is some great interaction between all the musicians. The trumpets in the background give the track its jazz element (think of Keef Hartley Band here). As for The Walkin' Place, well, the intro sounds just like something Zeuhl band Weidorje or Japanese avant-progsters Koenjihyakkei would make their own and it even has some fuzz bass at the beginning, until the track lycanthropically changes into another beast entirely, having a somewhat Spanish feel to it, with some odd percussion playing on toms toms I believe. Near the end, the Zeuhl-feel returns and reveals a wonderful flute outtro. However, the highlight track for me is The Hobbit, which is so catchy, I have had it stuck in my head for days before, even though the track is one of their most laid-back and ambient, as well as not their compositionally best attempt. It just has some allure to it that I cannot fathom. The Fancy Model is their most avant-jazz effort, reminding me of Nucleus or Graham Collier Sextet at their absolute finest. It is full of lots of noise, due to the fact that there are two saxes being blasted to bits and you even get the John Marshall (who was the drummer in Nucleus, Graham Collier Sextet and Soft Machine at various times) style drum solo. This is certainly another highlight of the album and some may feel this is the strongest track on the whole album. When She Flies Away is an odd synth track at the beginning that reminds me a bit of disco and 80s synth-pop that would later be very much in the publics faces and ears a few years later, except in this case, it works brilliantly and the jazzy overtones again make this track somehow unique and definitely unforgettable. Being as this is the longest track on the album, it cannot obviously stay the same throughout and it certainly does not, it changes throughout with many timing shifts and mood. The background vocals at one point strangely remind me of a moment from Jack Black's School of Rock and I can actually imagine him on stage singing this... whether that is a good thing, you will have to decide for yourself.

The entire album is full of character and cunning compositional brilliance at times and I find it difficult to find a poor track. I have always had an affinity to the trumpet style of Henry Lowther of Keef Hartley Band and the occasional jaunts of that style of this sound really pleases me, however it is a shame that the trumpet players (including the saxophonist(s) and flautist) are not listed. However, there are some lesser moments, including the not so enjoyable Survivin' Boogie and the 13 second Interlude. Also, some of the synth sounds, sound a bit twee at times, but with so much brilliant music on offer for the listener, it is very difficult to complain about such things and that is why I have given it 4 stars.

This is one of those rare gems that get discovered occasionally and it definitely deserves a re-mastering and reissue on CD so more people can hear its brilliance. Their next album In the Court of Catherina Squeezer would continue on in a similar vein (yet with many different nuances and an even more Canterburian sound) and I am hard pushed on which of the two I prefer at this juncture.

4.4 (rounded down to 4), for this lost relic.

Coming from Belgium's fourth city, Ghent, Kandahar chose its name after the third city of Afghanistan, sign of keyboardist & leader Karel Bogard's love of Eastern philosophies, flavours and etc.The quintet, a standard prog quartet plus a wind player, played a pleasant humorous jazz-rock that could be easily related to Canterbury's best moments with the invariable songwriting team of guitarist De Visscher and Bogard reminiscent of Caravan meeting Hatfield. Coming in an orange and pink speed-related futuristic artworks, and humorously titled LLTSH was recorded in November 74 and the group invited many guests to make this album quite a pleasant debut.

Starting on the smooth-gliding instrumental Down At Finckle's, Kandahar has three frontmen to showcase and here Jacky Eddin that gets the early call but De Vusscher's guitar takes a solid revenge just after. The lengthy Eye Of Glass is a striking difference to its fore runner, the group constantly changing tempo and moods, where it was absolutely not the case previously. Here, the hero is bassist Cleays, but Bogard,s songwriting is the key among his keyboards. Influence-wise, Supersister or Hatfield are not far away here. Again an ever-changing tempoed track, Outside Of Reality is a rare sung track where Eddin gets help from guests to boast a very brassy attack. Surviving Boogie is the obvious hit on the album (it was a single twice), but it's clearly the weakest track, developing a fast reedy blues with relatively weak vocals (this is not a strong point of Kandahar, but it's generally not too catastrophic.. Just weak) and gain strong brass section.

The flipside starts on the weird and fast Walkin Piles, but it's mostly the dissonant saxes and flutes in the background of demented percussion passages that draw the attention of the listener. Too bad the beat stays too rigid in its Magma-itude, though. This could've been much better exploited with a better production. Another instrumental beauty is Hobbit, the gentler track on this album, filled with smooth keyboards. The following Fancy Model has a difficult intro, but once the track is settled, it turns into an infernal inferno filled with spiralling swirls of flames filled with fire, and Eddin's blowing buddies are back to let us know that Kandahar was a force to be reckoned with, especially when they all shut up to let drummer Delaruye shows his chops with Cleays, before reprising. Very enthralling and Canterbury- esque. The closing When She Flies Away is not the album's strongest track, and it has a déjà-vu feeling, especially when the vocals kick in, we get to think of Hendrix's Hey Joe.

True the group's weaker vocals might be an embarrassment (to some), but the rest of their music is nearly spotless and certainly the best thing they've done artistically. Their vinyl albums have become rare and expensive and no official Cd reissue. had happened since Sony surprised us with a cheap reissue.

Obscure Belgium band's debut album. Very melodic, energetic mix of r'n'b, slightly psychedelic blues-rock and symphonic prog with some jazzy arrangements. This jazzy feeling comes mostly from trumpeter they have in team.

The music is not boring, easy accessible, and contains such elements, as Latin and Eastern folk and Canterbury influence in some moments. From other hand, you will easy hear some pop elements there as well. Deep classic roots and especially drumming remind early zeuhl bands, but differently from them album's atmosphere there is mostly bright, light and very optimistic.

I can hardly name this music jazz-rock, even if there are some brass arrangements. Eclectic prog rock with symphonic, folk, zeuhl and jazz-rock as main components. Not a bad album, but a bit unfocused, cheesy and straight-forward for my taste. Vocals are far from the best as well.

3.5 stars. KANDAHAR released two very good albums in the mid seventies and "Long Live The Sliced Ham" is their debut from 1974. A five piece out of Belgium these guys have a sense of humour and play mainly in that Jazz Rock style with lots of guest horns besides their own sax and flute player. Lots of guest vocals as well and plenty of silliness with the vocal style and lyrics. Some call this Jazz Rock/ Canterbury but I feel this is more Zappa influenced than Canterbury.

When it comes to Jazz Rock and Belgium no one did it better than Marc Moulin's PLACEBO in my opinion and while this album hits some real highs as in my top three tracks here I find this album to be very inconsistent. Too many skippable tracks to make this a four star record and yet this is so adventerous. Honestly, Zappa fans I believe for the most part will love this record. Like a comedy album at times but it's like hearing that same joke over and over. Not sure about the futuristic album cover and how it relates in any way to the music here unless they are fancy models?.

The opening two tracks certainly had me excited the first time I heard this beginning with the energetic and catchy "Down At The Finckle's" followed by "Eyes Of Glass" but my favourite is "The Fancy Model" which simply sounds amazing compared to the rest. That bass and guitar solo and of course horns. It ends with a gong which they borrowed from the Navy apparently. "Survivin' Boogie" and the longest track "When She Flies Away" which is the closer really disappoint, more my tastes than anything but yikes!

Lots to like here but no this isn't another COS or even PAZOP. Talented band.