Vent du Midi (Brèche, 1979)

Another pearl from Québec, "la Belle Province", another one-shot band winding between symphonic and folk rock. Their sole studio work was titled "Carapace et chair tendre" (meaning "Shell And Tender Flesh"), and this "Vent du Midi" ("South Wind") is one of the longest tracks in it and likely my favourite one. A flushing choice of acoustic instruments, a good rythmic work, a pleasant series of tempo changes and a bunch of well found themes are but some of the winning points of this instrumental.

This beautiful album still awaits a CD release so far.

 

The violin and the winds alternate on a a piano and acoustic guitar carpet building up a joyous atmosphere and more intimate passages, both full of positive and sunny flavours. It's not a common feature in prog rock and related genres, so I consider this as a welcome bonus. I like each and every moment of "Vent du Midi"... hope you'll like it a little at least.

Brilliant Streams (Asturias, 1990)

Asturias' name could fool many listeners, so let's immediately say that this is not a Spanish band. In fact, Japanese multi-instrumentalist and composer Yoh Ohyama chose this label to release his works with the helping hand of some guest musicians. This is the title track from the second album credited to Asturias and actually is an undivided suite of more than 22 minutes, a delicate and classically arranged trip into a fairy world, with a gentle touch of Eastern sounds. Just a touch.

Abstract and full of details. The cover art announces the music.

The themes are pleasant and the whole composition could be described as Mike Oldfield meets Ant Phillips. I really like the way Yoh and his friends alternate slow tempo, ethereal passages and folkish dances, but also the fluid appearance of this music, that actually flows like a brilliant stream and offers an almost visual sequence of sketches that remind me a Japanese garden. Excellent music, IMHO.

Slow Dance - Part Two (Anthony Phillips, 1990)

Like in this long suite first part (see the post in this blog), "Slow Dance Part Two" is a beautiful, calm and classically arranged succession of good themes and colourful variations, one of the best achievements of Ant Phillips' solo career. The acoustic guitars, the winds, the harp and even the drum machine all cooperate to an elegant and relaxing tapestry ruled by the keyboards.

 

Ant Phillips seems to live in a pleasant world of his own.

This part spans over more than 26 minutes, but don't expect a challenging listening experience, as the track is so pleasant and so well organised that time flows rapidly and each musical sketch has its own charm. I rarely listened to such a delightful piece of music, that's got the power to infuse wellness into the listener's soul. Not a neglectable virtue, I'm sure you agree.

Fatal Illusions (Eloy, 1994)

"Fatal Illusions" comes from the album "The Tides Return Forever" and has a Floydian taste, a pop flavour and an electronic touch. The guitars seem to flow on a pulsing musical ocean, while the mellow intro, some lively sung parts, a melodic theme and a rocky final section follow one another. True, some of these features didn't get old very well and some rythmic sections are too plastic-made for the 21st Century tastes, but the song has strong melodic foundations and very well found changes in both mood and tempo.

With this album Eloy signed their sixteenth studio work.

More than this, there is a balanced mix of catchy tunes and original solutions, spacey atmospheres and solid rock 'n' roll passages. As usual, Eloy put in their music all the musical worlds they visited and enjoyed and keep the song architecture under control. That's why I like them.

Josephine Baker (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1987)

"Josephine Baker" is IMHO one of the finest prog songs from Italy during the '80s. Nevertheless, it is a greatly underrated track, probably because of the somewhat deceiving "Miss Baker" album it comes from or even because the band had lost in those years their progressive fandom. For sure, everything is moving and well done in "Josephine Baker", from the opening guitar to the closing violin. And in between there are a beautiful sung theme, a classy arrangement and a nostalgic set of lyrics about an African  beauty, the very icon of the Parisian dance halls, the famous Afro-American dancer quoted in the title, or - more probably - only her poster on the wall of a lonely room.

"Miss Baker" was the twelfth studio album by PFM.

The atmosphere of this song is full of melancholy but not necessarily sad, as I breathe a warm mood all along the track, combining Old Europe, Africa and some smoky cafés of a long forgotten Parisian Street. Such a pity this had to remain the last PFM's prog song until their coming back many years later...

The Light (Spock's Beard, 1995)

This suite is the title track from the first album by Spock's Beard and still is, IMHO, one of their best songs. Divided into eight parts, "The Light" is a succession of good ideas, great performances, catchy themes and effective riffs. After the atmospheric intro, the track lines up rock moments and melodic passages, keeping a strong and spicy flavour. There are lots of rythmic changes in this suite, and a great deal of vocal harmonies.

This debut album included two suites and two stand-alone tracks.

I especially like the way the band link very different passages between them, surprising the listener with such a manifold and still coherent stream of music. Even if you can find in this song some references to the '70s Prog Masters (specially Yes, I daresay), Spock's Beard are original from their very beginnings, displaying their unique mix of bright melodies and biting riffs, vaudeville relics and country echoes, spanish guitars and up-to-date keyboards. This is prog, baby!

Elephant Talk (King Crimson, 1981)

Like it or not, this is a remarkable song in many ways. First of all, it's a keenly arranged song, based on Tony Levin's Chapman Stick and including the famous trumpeting elephant effect on Fripp's guitar on which the song was titled. It's an impressive (and mainly electronic) display of wall of sound, filled with pulsing energy and irregular rythms.The sung parts are almost yelled, adding more confusion to the puzzling big picture.

 

This song was also released as a 7" single b/w "Matte Kudasai".

A 12" single also exist including a third track, "Thela Hun Ginjeet".

 

The lyrics are actually relevant, being a collection of words naming linguistic interactions. Those are in alphabetical order, so that the first stanza only includes words beginning by A and so on until the fifth and final stanza, displaying words by E, like Elephant. The lyrics and the music both point up the redundacy and superficiality of verbal communication. Talk, talk, talk, it's only talk!