From: ptt00@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com ( Peter The Lighthouse Keeper )
Newsgroups: alt.music.progressive
Subject: Re: Music of the 90's
Date: 29 Jul 92 22:13:15 GMT
Reply-To: ptt00@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com
Distribution: na
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

In article <9207280544.AA12082@toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu> borella@cs.ucdavis.edu (Mike Borella) writes:

>When talking about progressive bands of the nineties, everyone starts
>with Djam Karet (from Los Angeles, USA).  While many people seem to
>like them a lot and claim them are the best new progressive band I
>have to differ.  Yes, they are talented and original.  Their musicianship
>is superb, and its hard to pin down their influences.  However, their
>writing is poor at times.  They tend to get caught up in feedback and
>harmonics or repeating the same patterns over and over with minimal variation.
>At other times they are quite good.  I like Reflections From the Firepool
>and No Commercial Potential best from the ones I've heard.

W/R/T their current discs "Burning The Hard City" and "Suspension and
Displacement", both CDs clock in at about 70 minutes each, and they have
segregated their harder edged rock (on "BtHC") from their more spacy
and industrial side ("S&D"), which IMHO was a mistake. And with
140 minutes of music there's bound to be some filler. A better place to
start is with their (as yet Cassette-only) release "The Ritual Continues"
which showcases all sides of the bands sound without getting too lengthy.


>Tiemko is a pretty good band from France.  I haven't heard their latest,
>Parade, yet but I do like 1990's Ocean.  If you're interested in knowing
>more about them, I have a review coming in the next Gibraltar or I could
>post a copy.

IMO "Ocean" is merely good. The new one "Parade" blows it away. And their
first LP "Espace Fini" should not be overlooked as well.

>Nuova Era from Italy is a very good band.  They are heavily influenced
>by the 70's Italian acts but they remain worthwhile.  Their writing is
>very subtle.  I didn't like them much at first but they've grown on me.

I found them to be kind of boring and derivative, but I only gave the
album a few listens. Maybe another listenwould help me see the light.


>Kalaban and Now are two more US bands.  I haven't heard the first though
>a couple of friends haven't been too impressed with them.  Now is ok, nothing
>special.  

KALABAN takes a few listens to get into. Actually I had the LP for over
year and what initially turned me off was that it was such a lousy
pressing, clicks and pops everywhere. After hearing (and eventually
buying) the CD, I now think these guys are pretty hot. Rumor has it that
their next album (due to be released soon) is even better than the first.

I agree 100% on NOW (the American Now). OK but nothing to write home about

>A band that's getting a lot of great reviews now is Men of Lake but I wasn't
>impressed with what little I've heard.  They've recaptured the 70's feel
>in a unique way with heavy hammond keys and mellotron.  I heard a couple
>of songs cruising along in a friends car so I didn't get a close listen.  
>It seemed that the keyboardist wasn't doing much excpet hitting chords.  I
>could be totally wrong though.

Never heard it yet. My copy is en route from France

>Eris Pluvia is another I haven't heard much of but have been stirring things 
>up recently.  They have a new one out on Musea.  

Real nice stuff, ERIS PLUVIA evokes memories of the progressive-folk sound
of bands like PFM, Errata Corrige, Banco, etc. Really Nice melodies and
a female vocalist on some of the tracks. Strongly recommended.

>Minimum Vital has two CDs out on Musea and are a modern French band.  They're
>pretty good except for their drummer.  And I can't say I liked Sarabandes all
>that much.  Maybe the previous CD is better.

"Sarabandes" is Killer ! These guys have a sound that's really hard to
pin down, truly original...there might be some faint threads to maybe
Caravan, Soft Machine, Magma, and possibly Sky, but the sound is new and
fresh, with a fusion - classical leaning.Their otherCD is titled
"Envol Triangles / Les Saisons Marines" and combines about 90% of the
material from their two earlier releases (Cassette and LP), andperhaps
shows a little more of the bands fusion-esque side. Very strong as well.

>Avoid Overdrive and the Belgian Now.  They are both pretty bad.

Agreed on OVERDRIVE, a real stinker, like a half-baked Saga clone.
Concerning NOW (the Belgian Now), I think their stuff is pretty good
(I've heard "Complaint" and "Spheres" but not the newest one)but maybe
a little derivative of Yes, ABWH and the like.

>Dream Theater's latest release is good at some parts, terrible at others.  
>Proceed with caution.  
>
>Of course Ozric Tentacles is the biggest progressive act right now and may
>even become popular in the manstream at this rate (which would probably
>be bad in the long run).  Erpland, Pungent Effulgent and Live Underslunky
>are all excellent.  Just about everyone would like their style of Hawkwind/Gong
>psychadelia with an ethnic twist.

A good place to start (for the uninitiated) is "Strangeitude", it's their
newest studio album and one of their best. Hawkwind and Gong come to mind
for me as well, but I think OZRICs are far more consistent than either
of those bands ever were.

>Oh yeah, as an afterthought there's Aragon from Australia who's really only
>for Marillion and Genesis fans that don't mind clones, and the US band

ARAGON is much stronger than Marillion in raw vocal power, their sound is
a little more metallic, I think there are some similarities in the writing
style to marillion, but I wouldn't call them a clone.

>Animator who tries to sound so much like a mix of Rush, Yes and Genesis
>that they fall almost completely flat.  

Naaaah. They sound nothing like Genesis or Rush. Maybe a little bit like
Enchant, but hey, this is their first album, give 'em a break.
ANIMATOR's first album "Gallery" isan excellent first album with a rich
mix of influences, strong melodies, complex polyrhythms, and some tight
guitar-keyboard interplay. IMHO one of the best new releases of 1991.

Also recommended: ECHOLYN, also from the USA, a strong debut release last
year, some ways in the same bag as Animator, with more thoughtful lyrics
and a little more rough at the edges, with a strong penchant for clever
experimentation.Another exceptional first album.

peter (ptt00@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com)  "The Lighthouse Keeper"