RIO Drop-In Centre

Assaf is moving, but he'll be back!  I'll let him explain things.

I haven't look at that list yet, but I shall do.  Thanks for the information.

Black Velvet wrote: I have had rather a long look over that list in rate your music and things like this are just another remunder there are so many more new bands I know nothing about. I will writed down a little list of the band just in the top 100 that have caught me by surprise. I really start to get a big shaky the further the list goes on.

Here's a bit of what I know about a few of these...

- Larval

Fusionish band sometimes associated with the downtown NYC jazz scene. A couple albums on Cuneiform I think; I have Obedience which is pretty good, but inessential.

- La Societe Des Timides a La Parade Des Oiseaux

Otherwise known as "La STPO," has been getting good reviews from a variety of places recently (I guess there was a recent reissue?) but I haven't heard them yet. Definitely on my list.

- Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma Q & Margarita Botello

Fernandez Ledesma is a brilliant Mexican symphonic prog talent, one of the few modern symph composers that still interests me. Sol Central is his collaboration with his wife Botello, and it's more on the avant-rock end of things. It's also absolutely brilliant and my favorite album of his. Just gorgeous stuff, a must for anyone who wishes avant-prog was just a bit less "ugly."

- Il Berlione

Japanese avantish/fusionish group, more complex and less aggressive than Happy Family, and less complex and more aggressive than Tipographica. Their first, self-titled, album is great; the second one drifts uncomfortable close to crappy lite-fusion for my tastes (they could use a better saxophonist for sure).

- Ensemble Nimbus

Samla-esque all-instrumental group, a little less wacky than Samla but with the same jaunty kind of feel. My favorite album is their first (they have three), but unfortunately that one's on APM and thus long out of print.

- Culto Sin Nombre

Mexican chamber-rockish group, I believe has some relation to Decibel but I forget the nature of it exactly.

- Nazca

Probably the best-known Mexican chamber-rock group, ahead of Decibel and Culto Sin Nombre. Two studio albums and a live album that are all sort of like a poor man's Univers Zero. Nothing as good or compelling as that band, but if you like UZ you'll probably enjoy these guys.

- News from Babel

Post-Art Bears group with Dagmar, Chris Cutler and Lindsay Cooper. Also Zeena Parkins I think! These guys have been on my want list for the longest time, need to hear their stuff.

- Pak

New York (I think) "brutal prog" group. Think Hella, Lightning Bolt, etc...

- Pochakaite Malko

Not really an avant-rock group, more of a symphonic band with some zeuhl traces. Seriously bombastic in the style of ELP. Not really my kind of thing. Two albums, I've only heard the first.

- Volapük

Very complex, chamberish group with some albums on Cuneiform. If you like Tipographica or Blast, you'll like these guys (they're maybe a step down from those groups in terms of pure compositional knottiness). I only have Polyglot but it's very, very good.

- Yang

Frederic l'Epee's (guitarist for Shylock and Philharmonie) newest group. Haven't heard, but is reportedly heavier and more clearly rock-oriented than Philharmonie.

Hope some of that helps! Of all these, Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma's Sol Central would get my highest recommendation.

Just to mention - I listened to Secret Chiefs 3 "Book of Horizons" and quite liked it. IMO it is original, extremely diverse and various avant-garde album. Then I suddenly noticed it is listed here under Progressive metal label. This is completely wrong. I mean couple of short periods of idiotic "unhuman" vocals and several metal chords do not make album "metal", it's gotta be full of idiotic vocals and noisy chrods to be metal. On the same merits one could brand Discus as "pop" and exclude it from PA on this basis.

I agree with Eugene on this. I also think oif them as a band that plays eclectic types of music, which metal is only one of them. They experiment with seceral sounds and types of music and cannot be limited to one form. Thereore, I think Avant is the most suitable label.
The problem now, is to take them away from the Prog-Metal Team.

Sounds interesting Chris, especially if it that second album has Robert Wyatt on!  I shall look out for that when it's remastered.

Haha.. I myself can remember the countless hours I have spent on that site shifting through all the samples. Which ones have taken your interest?

Oh yes, I have Isotope and LOVE it! Fantastic buy! Really great angular, chattery, and thrashy guitar playing, thundering bass and of course Yoshida's drums.

At least half the groups on Cuneiform struck me, but there was a fantastic song by the group called "Claudia Quintet", as well as some great Henry Cow wanna-bees (Like "Blast"). So much stuff to check out, I don't even know which interest me most yet, I'll have to futhur listen to quite a few - leading into some purchases. I'm sure it'll turn out nicely.

Yes it does appear the album in discussion was released on Lizard Records. There is very little information on the Lizard Records web page which is translated poorly into english.

They are reasonably newish band, that album is from 1997. But this is their homepage which I though might be of interest to everybody, where you can listen to some sound samples.

www.gattomarte.com/pages/danae.phtml

eugene wrote: I am listening at the moment to quite an amazing music. As this is first listen, I am not ready to discuss it in details at the moment, but as long as this is "drop-in centre", I thought I rather metion the band now. Indonesian (repeat Indonesian) RIO/avant band called Discus. I just bought their first album called "1st" and it's playing right now. Anyone who is familiar with this band and this particular album is welcome with his/her comments about them.

I only have their "...Tot Licht!" album. I think it's alright, but I don't like it so much; I find it a bit boring.