RIO Drop-In Centre

Trouserpress wrote: Geck0 wrote:   blah blah Charming Hostess blah... Is anyone familiar with them and how Avant Garde are they?   I have "Eat". It's really very very good and quite unlike anything else you'll ever hear.

So it should be added?

Sounds interesting.  If Trouserpress enjoys Eat, then I want that album.  I trust his judgement on this!

So you believe them to be worthy of inclusion here then?  At least the first Big Band form of the band anyhow?  I shall try and listen to it later, as I've got little harddisk space left unfortunately.

Geck0 wrote: So you believe them to be worthy of inclusion here then?  At least the first Big Band form of the band anyhow?  I shall try and listen to it later, as I've got little harddisk space left unfortunately.

From first impressions they seem like they have potential to be on the site... but I'm going to have to have more of a listen before making any judgements. Their band material is by far superior to their later material. It is a shame the band took a turn for the worse

Black Velvet wrote: Syzygy wrote: I also recently heard Zypressen for the first time, and I'd definitely recommend them. If Koenjihyakkei are the Japanese Magma, Zypressen are the Japanese Art Zoyd although they're somewhat warmer and less forbidding. Good compositions and outstanding arrangements. I can second this recommendation they are a fanstastic band. Brought their s/t album a few months back and loved it, it is not surprising considering my love for Art Zoyd. I heard they have a second album out but I cannot find anything about it... anybody know anything about it? Also I have heard them likend to the Chamber Rock group Lacrymosa, anybody heard of these guys?

Sorry, catching up to old posts... Zypressen and Lacrymosa are often compared to each other with Lacrymosa generally described as heavier and more aggressive, while Zypressen is closer to chamber-rock. Both bands' albums are out of print (Zypressen has only one; Lacrymosa has two), and I've only heard Zypressen. I think it's ok but nothing mind-blowing. I'm very interested to hear Lacrymosa though.

progreviews wrote: Black Velvet wrote: Syzygy wrote: I also recently heard Zypressen for the first time, and I'd definitely recommend them. If Koenjihyakkei are the Japanese Magma, Zypressen are the Japanese Art Zoyd although they're somewhat warmer and less forbidding. Good compositions and outstanding arrangements. I can second this recommendation they are a fanstastic band. Brought their s/t album a few months back and loved it, it is not surprising considering my love for Art Zoyd. I heard they have a second album out but I cannot find anything about it... anybody know anything about it? Also I have heard them likend to the Chamber Rock group Lacrymosa, anybody heard of these guys?  Sorry, catching up to old posts... Zypressen and Lacrymosa are often compared to each other with Lacrymosa generally described as heavier and more aggressive, while Zypressen is closer to chamber-rock. Both bands' albums are out of print (Zypressen has only one; Lacrymosa has two), and I've only heard Zypressen. I think it's ok but nothing mind-blowing. I'm very interested to hear Lacrymosa though.

No I can agree Zypressen is not mind blowing but still a worthy listen. I'm very interested about Lacrymosa. If you happen to find any information, I would be very interested. I have been able to find very little about the band, so I think I will have to look into things a little more.

I'm not to sure but I think this place still stocks Zypressen's one CD. If people are interested.
http://www.znrcds.com/osc/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=Zypressen+&osCsid=c0bf84d067f3f806ef2b253b3ef6b7c6&x=8&y=11

avestin wrote: Only yesterday night did I manage to download Eat and later today, hopefully, I will have time to listen to it. If you say, BV, that it is good, then I trust your judgement.

Thanks... tell us what you think of it?

Also how have you been enjoying Cerberus Shaol?

I plan on giving the Ahvak album a more indepth listening today, so I will get back here later with a progress report

I have been listening to Ahvak for most of today, so have listened to the album several times. I'm luck enough to be in a job where I can listen to my music all day . It has taken me a few listen to get into, but it is really something that is growning on me. Upon first listening I really was not sold, it sounded like there was too much going on at once, give it a forced sound. But the more I listened to it the clearer patterns became in there music. I find a lot of different emotions are expressed in their music and I think this is the reason it took me a little while to disgest the album.

I love the whole 20th Century classical structure behind the songs. And as with so many bands of this type we once again see how much of an influence Stravinsky has been on the genre. It was also refreshing to heard all the world influences they have brought into their music, it is something quite different from anything I have heard before.

I deffinately hope these guys are going to be making another album as they do have some space to grow, so I would be very interested to see what they could come up with if they were to record a second album. I think the likelihood of a second album would in some way or another be dictated by the presence of Kerman. As we all know he is a very busy man (with his other projects) and seems to be a integral member of the band.

Been doing a bit of reseaching on the band and most of the material is quite old (just post when their debt album came out). Hopefully somebody of closer contact with the band would be able to tell us some more accurate information on the topic.

This is a interview with a few member of the band which I though people here might be interested in.
www.ragazzi-music.de/interviews/ahvak_eng.html

Also another link out of interest, pictures of them live in concert 2005
planet.nana.co.il/ahvak/

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Also I'm glad to hear you are enjoying Cerberus Shaol, maybe they could even be included here! I would be more than happy to write up some material for the band if other people are of the same mind as me about this band.

Steve Martland is definately worth the mention in this thread as I also think a lot of RIO fans would get pleasure from his music. For some reason I found his music something really easy to get into, in comparison to some of the earlier composers going around in the '50s (stockhausen, Koenig, Cage etc..). I think the two genres go hand in hand, well this is the case for me anyway. For me the discovery of 20th Century Classical came before taking an interest in RIO/avant-garde prog. This was mainly due to the factor of my ignorence towords the genre as a whole. Taking this point of view into listening to a lot of RIO music I pick up a lot of similarities between the two genres. And I think Steve Martland is a perfer example of fusing the two together.

I have always thought an integral part the darker side of the RIO genre is the use of 20th Century structures in their compositions. (this statement is very much directed towards bands such as Univers Zero). I find these links also to be present in several Zeuhl bands. For example everytime I listen to Shub-Niggurath I am always reminded of one of my favourite songs; Requiem by György Ligeti, and this is one of the reasons I take such a liking to this album.

@ BV, I have been and will be exploring more modern composers (Branca, Glass, Reich etc) and I think thi deserves a thread of its own.

@ TP, YES, Wha-ha-ha are very good as well, imo. I have Shinutokiwa Betsu (or whatever it's called and I love their energy - or what other perceive as madness, but I do not concur with this. If consider this to be sane. It's the world around us that's insane  They have some moments at which they seem to be lost (2nd track - Whaha Whaha) but overall it's pretty condensed and rich music.
But, yes a recent discovery for me and a very good one at that.

EDIT - They should be added to PA. I've added them to RatingFreak.com database so Joren can add them to our chart.

On another note, I am listening lately to Robert Wyatt's albums - Rock Bottom and End of an Ear. I think he can be considered an avantgarde artist pioneer with those albums (I am not too familiar with his output as a solo artist). Do you care for his solo work?


Edited by avestin - June 28 2006 at 11:40