VIDUNDERLIGE KÆLLING [AKA: ASTARTE]

2,5 stars really!!

The double title is because again this album came under different titles. The second part of the title is the unpronounceable name of the BALLET (?!?!) for which the music was created for. Coming with a particularly hideous naked "female" dancer as an artwork, Astarte is the only Secret Oyster album this writer has not picked from the newly remastered SO discography by the excellent Laser's Edge label, so it should give you an idea as how it sits with me. Apparently Astarte and Krakenhaus were recorded simultaneously and there were confusion as to which album they were working on a given night. If Astarte might give this impression, I don't think Krankenhaus actually suffered from this duality or schizophrenia

IMHO, this was a big failure at least certainly so, without seeing the full ballet. Although, the line-up is still the same classic one, they sound like they are trying too hard to sound inspired while not being at all. Many of the tracks are thematic regarding French "joie de vivre", but they sound too shallow, especially with the use/abuse of the Moog. Only one track stands out: Sirens. The rest is lame and tame especially if you know how hard they rock on other albums.

Many progheads will probably disagree with me talking of great reflective and contemplative moods and climates, but those are all lost on me. I think that the musicians sound bored and are not being able to express themselves as the ballet creative reins are too tight for their energy to spill out on wax.

Secret Oyster already had Straight To The Krankenhaus in the can when the got commissioned to write the music for the ballet performance Vidunderlige Kælling. Being commissioned to write any piece of music can be challenging at the best of times, but music for a ballet? That is surely a test. The Secret Oyster's two early albums were adventurous wild progressive fusion and at times was wildly untamed. Scoring the music for a ballet would bring the band to a discipline. And Vidunderlige Kælling is a disciplined album, not too say boring or dull, but the musicians have grown together and writing in a more structured manner. Still, much of the tracks are open ended and adventurous making the most of the talents at this Danish bands disposal. The music on the album is vivid and engaging but does take a few listens to appreciate. "Stjernerne", the second song in the set is hewn from the same rock as the darker passages on the as then unreleased Straight To The Krankenhaus. Dark, moody and expressive and it highlights the excellent electric piano and layered synthesizer work of Kenneth Knudsen, often overshadowed by his band mates, guitarist Claus Bøling and horn player Karsten Vogel. "Sirene" is classic looping and hypnotic Secret Oyster while "Astarte" sees the band throwing in some eastern influence with Claus Bøling's sitar giving added depth to the quick paced mood. Unfortunately "Tango- Bourgoise" is just not as exciting or inspiring, but since I have not seen the ballet I can't say for sure if this tune is completely useless! Though it does serve as a quirky moment if nothing else. And for much of the rest of the album Secret Oyster play a typical high level and intensity, Bøling's guitar sound is wide and controlled with a superb tone, no more so than on the funky "Bellevue", think Blow By Blow era Jeff Beck, but the highlight of the album has to be the five minute plus album ender "Outro" with some cool sax playing from Vogel with a neat groove laid down by the rhythm section of bassist Jess Stæhr and drummer Ole Streenberg which allows the rest of the band to solo and fall free all over the space they create on the track. Plus the fact that there is a naked lady on the album cover makes this a very attractive proposition for any fans of the jazz rock fusion thing.

Oh, second track, "St..wait a minute...jernerme, no...jernerne Pa Gaden" sounds quite like ambient, well, sound. Right after listening this I found out that it was meant to be a ballet. That explains a lot, but it would be very extraordinary performance at times, as shown in "Sirenerne-Astarte" (I remember Adeptus Astartes from Warhammer 40k, maybe it's connected). And by EO I mean not usual, not great. Problem of this album is its colour. It's gray one, you almost don't know about it. Now transfer this to musical world and you get basic info about this record. Sometimes (again "SA" track for example) sounds more like indo/raga, mostly for its last minutes. "Solitude" ? If you ask me, it's silent piano solo.

I really want to tell more about music here, but there's nothing to tell about. "Tango Bourgoisie" sounds like generic tango song, even with this piano thing at the end of parts).

2(+), quiet music with little bit of rock at the end

Vidunderlige Kælling is the 3rd full-length studio album by Danish jazz/ fusion act Secret Oyster. "Vidunderlige Kælling" translates into "Wonderful Bitch". The album was made specifically and on request for a ballet of the same name starring one of the greatest Danish female ballet dancers at the time Vivi Flindt ( it´s Vivi posing naked on the cover of the album). The ballet was created by her husband Flemming Flindt who was at the time artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet. It was Flemming Flindt who contacted Secret Oyster to see if the band were interested in composing music for the ballet, which they certainly were. Sax player Karsten Vogel explains in the CD booklet, that not only was it a great artistic challenge but also an offer they couldn´t refuse, simply because they were offered a good paycheck, which was something they weren´t used to. The ballet went on to become a big success ( probably in part because Vivi Flindt and several of the other dancers were naked in their scenes. Denmark was already back then a very liberal country when it came to nudity, but still!), but Karsten Vogel says that the experience didn´t live up to the band´s expectations. The original album contained 9 tracks while the 2005 Laser´s Edge re-issue features 3 bonus tracks. All tracks were written for and used in the ballet except the bonus track Circus Sax. The scene in the ballet where that song was supposed to be used was cut. The music was recorded so the band were not present during the ballet performances.

The music on Vidunderlige Kælling was composed simultaniously with the tracks that would make up the 4th full-length studio album by Secret Oyster called Straight To The Krankenhaus (1977), but it´s obvious when listening to Vidunderlige Kælling, that the music they wrote for the ballet was meant for a more structured setting than the band´s usually more jamming approach. There are also more classical influences in the music than usual. The quiet and melancholic Solitude and the tango Tango-bourgeoise are also quite different from the band´s usual style. The majority of the music still sound unmistakably like Secret Oyster though just a bit less jamming. This means jazz/ fusion of the highest caliber. Weather Report is the most obvious reference, but Secret Oyster have a guitarist in the lineup which gives them a different sound from that band. But there are other similarities. The music is fully instrumental and while there are guitar soloing in the bands music and a strong rythm section it´s sax player Karsten Vogel and keyboard player Kenneth Knudsen that are mostly in focus. The latter one really shines on this album.

The production is excellent and warm. Perfect for the music.

Vidunderlige Kælling is a great album by Secret Oyster and it fully showcases the incredible talent and compositional range within the band. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is deserved.

Danish jazzy prog band Secret Oyster released this, their third album, in 1975. Although it functions primarily as a piece of music commissioned to accompany a dance piece, it stands on its own as an excellent album as well. It shows the band expanding its stylistic reach, moving beyond the energetic but somewhat predictable jazz rock shown on their first two albums, into an area more concerned with melodies than riffs.

"Intro" is an instrumental theme stated with electric piano/synth arpeggios, played at a lively tempo but with a drifting airiness about the piece. After two minutes, it fades out and gives way to "Stjernerne pa Gaden", a dark atmospheric piece underpinned by synthesizers and featuring some really expressive lead Moog work as well as thick strands of lead guitar. This track sounds a lot like the long drone intro to Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", and it nearly matches that piece in its quiet intensity. Finishing the first side is a pair of segued-together masterpieces, "Sirenerne" and "Astarte", making up 12 minutes of the finest music this band ever produced. "Sirenerne" begins with an arpeggiated 5/4 theme played on electric guitar and doubled on electric piano (arpeggiated themes are a favored compositional device with these guys), with Karsten Vogel blowing some delicate sax on top. The piece then lurches into a new theme, full-band this time, and oh-so-funky. Vogel and guitarist Claus Boling play some unison leads in between the funky beats, before the whole band returns triumphantly to the original arpeggio theme, with Boling taking an emotional, all-too-brief guitar solo, and the song ends in a synthesized whoooossshhhhh.... and in comes "Astarte". This functions as an Eastern drone piece, with an ostinato descending guitar figure repeating throughout, with a bass drone, as Vogel wails on soprano over the top, joined in spots with more lovely Moog playing, and a generous amount of sitar flying in and out of the mix. This drifting mantra will carry you above the clouds.

The second side is much more erratic. "Solitude" opens the side with a very slow, sad, piano ballad - the kind of understated beauty only hinted at on their first two albums. It may have some keyboard overdubs, but essentially it's completely solo - in the dance production, this number was probably used during a sad and lonely bit. Then things get a little bizarre for the next three tracks, which barely sound like Secret Oyster at all. "Tango Bourgeoisie" is an insistent march, with an almost comical synth/piano theme played over the martial rhythm. Not bad, but definitely an oddity in their recorded output. "Bellevue" brings us a little closer to safety, a funky instrumental (I swear there's even a "human beat box" segment in there, though I'm sure the band would deny this) similar to "Sirenerne" but not as compelling. "Valse du Soir" gives us another atypical piece, this time just a brief, slow waltz with an accordion playing the lead. The action in this part of the dance production probably included people sitting in a French cafe wearing berets. Finally, "Outro" brings us a fleshed out version of the "Intro" that opened the album, and this time its optimistic theme is given more room to breathe, and thus ends the album on a high note.

Despite a couple of weirdo tracks which don't really do much for the album (they're mainly specific to the dance production, and not Secret Oyster tracks per se), this is still my second favorite album by them (after Straight to the Krankenhaus, see my review of that one). The high points of the album (all of side one, "Solitude", and the "Outro") are among the best pieces they ever did. Recommended to fans of instrumental 70s prog (particularly Camel fans, as they have a similar vibe at times) and people who like their jazz rock melodic and a bit different.

Having finally found a stable lineup on the second album "Sea Son" as well as a massive touring schedule, SECRET OYSTER had become one of Denmark's hottest progressive jazz-rock bands. While planning for a third album the band was approached by the ballet dancer and choreographer Flemming Findt to perform the soundtrack music for the ballet VIDUNDERLIGE KÆLLING ("Wonderful Bitch") for the Royal Danish Ballet. The subject matter was based on the erotic poetry of Jens August Schade and while it seems like a jazz-rock band that built its reputation on heavy funky grooves and instrumental jamming would be the last type of music suitable for a ballet, the Danes in the 70s were extremely opened minded and experimentation was the golden rule.

This third SECRET OYSTER album actually has been released under two titles. Originally as "Astarte" which is the track in the ballet where Vivi Findt performed totally nude while painted entirely gold, the album has been sensibly released ever since as the name of the ballet itself. In fact that's Vivi on the album cover as well as being the wife of Flemming. In fact the entire event featured all the actors in the buff at least once during the show. The Danes were an open-minded society indeed. Despite the seemingly incongruent nature of the band's musical style and what one would consider appropriate for the musical soundtrack for a ballet, SECRET OYSTER did an exemplary job in adapting their jazz-rock fusion to the dancing style of the actors. The result of this unlikely collaboration was a great success and SECRET OYSTER was compensated handsomely which is something they and most progressive bands of the day couldn't boast about too often.

The music has been described as a fusion of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Nucleus and the "Bitches Brew" era of Miles Davis along with some ethnic influences such as raga rock, Argentinean tango and of course SECRET OYSTER's own repertoire of solid instrumental progressive jazz-rock. Like the albums that preceded, VIDUNDERLIGE KÆLLIG is an all instrumental affair with a softer approach that toned down the rock and focused more on the jazz and atmospheres not unlike what the Weather Report was cranking out at the time. On the first two albums, the guitar was more pronounced but on this one it's more laid back with saxophonist Karsten Vogel and keyboardist Kennth Knudsen taking the lead. The album has also been praised for its superb production but given the music's role for being used in tandem with a live theatrical setting it's no wonder no expenses were spared.

While much of the music is clearly the work of SECRET OYSTER only tailored to fit the focus of the ballet, some tracks like "Solitude" for example are completely outside of anything the band had done. This track sounds more like a Beethoven ballad than anything remotely jazz-rock given that it's basically a piano sonata. The "Tango-Bourgoisie" is another stylistic shift sounding more like a military percussion band backing Astor Piazzolla. "Bellevue" sounds more like the world of SECRET OYSTER with a funky bass groove and jamming potential but "Valse Du Soir" takes them out of their comfort zone once again to provide a nice romantic waltz. The original album only featured nine tracks but the reissues on at the Laser's Edge label feature an additional three tracks that wouldn't fit on vinyl i presume.

Definitely the odd duck out of the four albums that SECRET OYSTER released during its five year existence in the 1970s but also the band's biggest payoff. As with any music that was designed to complement a visual art experience, i have to find the music to stand on its own outside of the context of the visuals that it was meant to accompany. There's no doubt that SECRET OYSTER readjusted its skills to get the job done but when all is said and done, many of the tracks on board were clearly meant to amplify the mood of whatever the dancers were performing at the moment. While none of the music is bad per se, as an album of just music it does seem a bit scattered and therefore my least favorite of the four albums released. Still though, a worthy edition that cannot be ignored for true fans.

3.5 rounded down