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vogre wrote: Flat Earth Society have a pretty different feel to them. you can check out the semples for psychoscout at www.fes.be As for availability in stores, I doubt that any of those are available. Though some can still be ordered.

Joren wrote: avestin wrote: Excellent list and thanks for joining us, Vogre. I am an Art Zoyd fan as well. I was Yesterday at Ktzat Acheret and UFO and looked for some albums by them (I have only mp3) and sadly there were none. I will order some after I move to the USA next month. How is their latest album?   You mean Champ des Larmes? I haven't heard it yet, but I just read that Art Zoyd are going to perform it in Rotterdam in March next year. I'm really looking forward to it. I saw them perform Metropolis there last year. I'm not sure if I'll buy the album before I go to the concert... anyway, I've got enough time to think about it.

avestin wrote: Excellent list and thanks for joining us, Vogre. I am an Art Zoyd fan as well. I was Yesterday at Ktzat Acheret and UFO and looked for some albums by them (I have only mp3) and sadly there were none. I will order some after I move to the USA next month. How is their latest album?

You mean Champ des Larmes? I haven't heard it yet, but I just read that Art Zoyd are going to perform it in Rotterdam in March next year. I'm really looking forward to it. I saw them perform Metropolis there last year. I'm not sure if I'll buy the album before I go to the concert... anyway, I've got enough time to think about it. 

I don't have it yet, not even in mp3. It's only a week after the official release, so I maybe soon it'll be available. By the way, I've seen uBIQUe at The Third Ear, maybe they still have it.

A 20 page-long RIO thread? What have I been looking at?

I'll try to write some stuff, answer some questions from the current page and throw a few recommendations

Black Velvet wrote: I will have to give King Crimson another try. I have "In The Court of the Crimson King" and "Red" I heard so many RIO/avant prog artist likened to them, that I think it would be a shame if I were to let a band like this just slip by.

If you are interested in some of the most experimental music the Crimsons have done check out THRaKaTTaK. It is a record of avant-improv-industrial-ambient-metal-craziness, made out of their improvisations as a six-piece band. I also like very much the side-projects like Rieflin, Fripp and Gunn and KTU.
Though there aren't that many avant-prog bands influenced by King Crimson. I can think of Happy Family, Larval, Philharmonie but not many more.

chumberry wrote: Any recommendation on another John Zorn to get after Naked City?

You might want to check out the game pieces, they are by far the most innovative thing Zorn has done. Out of such, I find Xu-Feng very exciting. His latest album Moonchild is a very interesting song cycle scored for bass, drums and voice(you get Mike Patton at top-shape on this one!). Also try the 50th birthday celebration volume 12 by Painkiller - it is a very jazzy and groovy improvised rock recording by this band, and much more accessible compared to their early albums). As for Masada - the recommendations are the Electric Masada(both At The Mountains of Madness and the 50th birthday albums are excellent), Bar Kokhba Sextet(the 3cd from 50th birthday), and from the second book Book Of Angels - vol. 3 is  great(performed by Mark Feldman and Sylvie Courvoisier, very dinamic pieces for  piano and violin).

A few recommended albums

Flat Earth Society - Psychoscout (2006)
Another album from the belgish X-Legged Sally sister big-band. Lots of fun with this one, with some more serious themes as well.

Rouge Ciel - Veuillez Proceder (2005)
An excellent avant-prog band from Canada. They have been compared to Miriodor and Conventuum, but on their second album they became a bit heavier, though still making complex and beautiful music with virtuoso playing on the violin.

Hardscore - Monkey Trial (2004)
A very interesting belgian band, which may remind you of Bjork, Zappa and other musics. Being familiar with one of their I've yet been surprised by this album. It is built from longer songs with some short interludes which turn it to some sort of crazy concept album. The music itself is very quirky and light-hearted music.

David Shea - Classical Works II (2002)
Earlier releases of Shea, were experimental electronic, on this album(released on Tzadik) he incorporates electronics in modern classical. The album features his second chamber symphony, an excerpt of whitch has appeared on the Art Zoyd\Musiques Nouvelles Ensemble collaboration Experiences De Vol, and it actually sounds close to the music of latter day Art Zoyd.

Blast - A Sophisticated Face (1999)
Imagine Art Zoyd covering a math rock band. If that isn' t enough to make you interested, I'll add that the compositions on this album are very intelligent and the music, while being complex, is very moving.

Boris Kovac - East Off Europe: Closing The Circle (1998)
Without exaggerating, it is a masterpiece of modern chamber music, reminiscent of Art Zoyd or Univers Zero and some folk music, a very interesting and emotional composition.

Lacrymosa - Joy Of The Wrecked Ship (1993)
A japanese chamber-rock band, which plays energetic music with many  acoustic instruments.

Louise Avenue - Let's Take One More (1993)
A belgian chamber-rock band which music is quite reminiscent to the fun music of Cro Magnon, yet even more gentle.

The Ex & Tom Cora - Scrabbling At The Lock (1991)
If you look up for The Ex you'll discover they are a punk-rock band. Tom cora was an avant-garde cellist. So what did they have in common? you'll ask - they loved making noise, improvising and hungarian folk music. This is a very interesting collaboration, and in my opinion a masterpiece album.

Horizont - The Portrait Of A Boy (1989)
A russian prog band who were pretty influenced by Univers Zero on this album should be of some interest. Their

music also features some dense digital synths, yet has some quirky and beautiful themes.

AMM - Generative Themes (1983)
AMM are sort of a souper-group when it comes to free improvisations, also being the pioneers, when in 1967, they dared to create music that didn't obey nor to the modern classical approach nor to free-jazz traditions. The title of the album also describes the music, with the natural flow of the album. It is chaotic yet disciplined and actualy very pleasent as well.

John Greaves, Peter Blegvad, Lisa Herman - Kew.Rhone (1977)
A lost gem, by the bassist of Henry Cow, a weird yet fun and playful album, similar a bit to Henry Cow, to Carla Bley's jazz and to Canterbury Scene bands.

Black Velvet wrote: My heart just skipped a beat them when you stated Douwe Eisenga has been likened to "Simeon ten Holt meets Yann Tiersen", that is going to be one hell of a sound. Simeon ten Holt is one of my favourite composers, I have a huge soft spot for pianists and minimalism so mixing the two together I was bound to like his work. When I first read over Yann Tiersen name it didn't mean much but was playing on my mind, then the mention of those two fantastic movies sparked my memory. I will have to watch Amelie sometime today to refresh myself on the specific style but I remember enjoying the soundtrack immensely (alongside the movie)... lust is the first word which comes to mind. It has been too long since I have seen "Goodbye Lenin" to comment on my thoughts about the pieces played in the movie. I will have to give King Crimson another try. I have "In The Court of the Crimson King" and "Red" I heard so many RIO/avant prog artist likened to them, that I think it would be a shame if I were to let a band like this just slip by.

Funny that you know Simeon ten Holt. I know him by name, but I don't really know his music (I have heard some, but I don't exactly remember - about time to refresh! ). Moreover, I didn't know he had some kind of reputation outide the Netherlands; I thought Louis Andriessen was much more well-known. About Yann Tiersen: I haven't seen Goodbye Lenin yet (shame on me, again), but I have seen Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amélie Poulin and I really liked that movie (AND the music). I recently saw Yann Tiersen live, on a festival for music that combined modern classical music and populare music. His concert was really good, but not fantastic. More important to mention, most of the stuff was nothing like the Amélie soundtrack. It was more like alternative/experimental rock, and I didn't know he played that kind of music as well (it was with a band). Pretty nice stuff... it was especially funny to see (and hear) one guy playing his electric guitar with an electrical drill.

Anyway, I hope you like Douwe Eisenga.

About King Crimson: you might want to try their "Larks' Tongues In Aspic" album, for the title track is one of their most experimental pieces of music. My personal favourite is "Discipline", but it has a lesser connection with Avant-Prog. King Crimson are influenced by the Talking Heads on that one, while keeping a distinctive own sound. But for now that's irrelevant; I think "Larks' Tongues" is the album that might get you "into" King Crimson.


Edited by Joren - July 07 2006 at 14:01

Root Pepper wrote: I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE Zorn fan. I could talk endlessly about him, and there's endless places to begin. If I can assist about Zorn in any way, I'd love too.

Any recommendation on another John Zorn to get after Naked City?

Joren wrote: Is "50 Birthday Celebration. Volume 5" the only John Zorn album you have listened to, Eugene?

Before I go to bed I would like to say how I glad I am that I (re)found this thread - thanks for starting it Trouserpress! It brought to my attention the fact that there are in fact some people on the forum now who don't only share my taste in progressive rock, but also some of my taste outside the genre. It's been really fun to talk to you guys. Read you tomorrow!

Edited by Joren - July 06 2006 at 18:54