Romanian 70s prog

Phoenix had a lot of hits (let's say hits, but it's more like famous songs). They started early 60s and back then they were  what people call a "beat" band. Starting 1965 they became successful and pissed off censorship from the very start. They had several singles and EPs before they released their debut album in 1973 - Cei ce Ne-au Dat Nume - which was an ambitious project that blends rock and folklore. They continued with Mugur de Fluier in 1974 and then came Cantafabule. They tried to make music in Germany in the 80s but with little success. They released a couple of albums in the 90s and 2000s, best one being Baba Novak in 2005. 

Edited by Cristi - June 05 2018 at 09:15

^ Great post Cristi! I think Cantafabule is the essential Phoenix album for proggers, though I also like Mugur de Fluier (it's more in a hard rock plus folk influences vein, from what I remember).

The only artist I can think of to add to your list is Rodion GA, electronic music, pretty nice stuff.

Mascodagama wrote: ^ Great post Cristi! I think Cantafabule is the essential Phoenix album for proggers, though I also like Mugur de Fluier (it's more in a hard rock plus folk influences vein, from what I remember). The only artist I can think of to add to your list is Rodion GA, electronic music, pretty nice stuff.

I will mention another band here, Curtea Veche 43, who were ignored about the label of the time. 70s prog at its finest, the band had two competent guitarists - Sorin Chifiriuc and Florin Ochescu. The song is only 3 minutes long, but man, I find it quite amazing!

Cristi wrote: Phoenix had a lot of hits (let's say hits, but it's more like famous songs). They started early 60s and back then they were a what people call a "beat" band. Starting 1965 they became successful and pissed of censorship from the very start. They had several singles and EPs before they released their debut album in 1973 - Cei ce Ne-au Dat Nume - which was an ambitious project that blends rock and folklore. They continued with Mugur de Fluier in 1974 and then came Cantafabule. They tried to make music in Germany in the 80s but with little success. They released a couple of albums in the 90s and 2000s, best one being Baba Novak in 2005.  Other Romanian prog bands I can think of right now are Sfinx, Accent, Progresiv TM, early FFN, Celelalte Cuvinte, ProMusica, ExperimetalQ, Marius Popp. There are also some bands that got to record just a few songs back in the day, as the record label of the day, Electrecord did not give them a chance for full LP.  Later day there are The Egocentrics, Alternativ Quartet, Kumm, Byron, Echo. That's all i can think of now.  There are some post rock bands, too. Also if you want to hear some non-prog, I can help you with that as well. :)

EyeHeartProg wrote: Cag71 wrote: Electrecord's whole catalogue including Phoenix, Celelalte Cuvinte, FFN, Progresiv TM, Sfinx and many others can be bought and downloaded on the French site Qobuz. Only snag is that you need to be in France to register - so if you have any French friends, perhaps they can help out with your purchases. Rodion GA is available on Bandcamp, as are Kumm and byron. Alternativ Quartet offer free downloads from their site. Another band worth checking out is Ethos. Tracks available on YouTube - Visul, Caut Nume and Miezul Noptii. Sorry, I can't post links or videos: for some reason, the system isn't letting me and keeps telling me that I don't have permission. Thanks very much for the info!  Yeah, I did run into that site, Qobuz, in my searches.  Looked cool, though.  I wonder if it's a question of being there.  I'll be in France sometime this Summer, so I'll try while there, hopefully it's only a IP addresses matter.

Excellent discussion!