French TV ~ USA ~ Louisville, Kentucky

Avant prog; Canterbury styled; Jazz fusion

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Latest: The Spanish Caper (2026). Apr 24

UMR review page for French TV

9/30/11 (new entry)

Gösta Berlings Saga ~ Sweden

Post rock; Avant prog; Progressive rock; Retro prog

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Latest: Forever Now (2025). To be released June 6.

UMR review page for Gösta Berlings Saga

6/24/11 (new entry) 

Happy Family ~ Japan

Progressive rock; Zeuhl; Avant prog

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Latest: 4037 (2025). To be released Mar 19. First new work in 11 years! It's an EP apparently.

Minimal Gods (2014)

It would be 17 years until we finally heard from Happy Family again. Their third album Minimal Gods sees Happy Family moving in new directions while maintaining their brand identity as it were. If you came to this album looking for a somewhat similar sound to their first two albums then... I have good news, you will not be disappointed. But as indicated, Happy Family have begun to tread new waters.  Most notably, an obvious modern math rock component has entered into their overall sound. Normally that's a term that is anathema to me, but in the capable hands of Happy Family, they are able to transcend the genre norms of clinical and cold precision, for something more alive and a sound that bursts from the speakers. Some would argue they always had a math rock type sound, and that may be true to some extent, though I personally heard more Present and even Canterbury if considering Happy Family's first album. What's most interesting to me is that Minimal Gods doesn't sound anything like the first two albums, and yet the music is entirely - and non mistakenly - Happy Family. There's a certain genius in being able to do that without alienating your fan base. Let's hope we don't have to await another generation to hear a 4th album.

---11/18/14

Toscco (1997)

Happy Family's second album is a bit more "avant prog by the numbers" than the debut which was more of a consolidation of personal influences (Zeuhl, Symphonic rock, Canterbury, Chamber) and then sped up 10x. The intensity is still apparent, though there's more of an attempt to integrate cutesy type melodies - a hallmark of the genre - as if to overcompensate for the unrelenting tension the band brings forth. There's really no standout tracks, though the two lengthier numbers seem to play to Happy Family's strength of producing massive - and fast moving - slabs of sound. Toscco is an excellent sophomore effort, and many see it as an improvement, though I felt it was more of a step back to a safe zone, and thus less influential and reckless than the debut.

---11/18/14

Happy Family (1995)

Perhaps no band arrived with such an in-your-face sound as Happy Family did in 1995. Their fabled live shows were popular amongst the tape trading crowd of the early 1990s. So there was quite a bit of buzz on what their first CD would sound like. The band insisted their albums come out on the preeminent Avant Prog label Cuneiform, and were willing to wait until that label had room on their release schedule. By 1995, anticipation was high, and Happy Family not only delivered, but exceeded, most everyone's expectation.

Consider the first track 'Rock & Young'. Hard to imagine anyone delivering such a strong overpowering opening punch as Happy Family did here. If this track doesn't move your heart rate up a few beats, you're probably dead already, and no one told you (did Aunt Sally forget your birthday for the first time? well, there you go...). And it gets more intense from there. With fuzz bass, fiery sustain electric guitar, staccato piano, buzzing synthesizers, spastic rhythms, and an incredible imagination, Happy Family has to be in the discussion as one of the best albums of the 1990s. The label's comparison of a mix between Magma, King Crimson, Weidorje, Area, and Univers Zero are just flat out spot on. Happy Family took what Belgium's Present were doing in the 1980s, and accelerated it by 100 mph. Strap your seat belt on - hit play - and roar through 50 minutes of incredible intensity and complexity. Get rid of your treadmill, you'll burn 1000 calories just listening to this album. Need.... Gatorade.

---11/18/14

11/18/14 (new entry)

October Equus / Angel Ontalva ~ Spain

Avant Prog; Progressive rock; Jazz rock

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Latest (October Equus): Noches Blancas, Luces Rojas (2022)

Latest (Angel Ontalva): Persian Courtyard (2024)

Angel Ontalva is also heavily involved with Vespero and an offshoot group Seaorm. I have Vespero listed separately on UTR.

UMR review page for October Equus and Angel Ontalva

3/12/12 (new entry)

Aquaserge, France

Avant prog; Canterbury styled; Space rock

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Latest: La Fin de L'Economie' (2024). 

Ce Très Cher Serge, Spécial Origines (2010)

Aquaserge reminds me of a time when the French reigned supreme in the creativity department. Think back to the early 1980s, when France was bursting at the seams with interesting bands like Dun, Catastrophe, Eskaton, Asia Minor, Abus Dangereux, Rahmann, Nuance, Art Zoyd, Synopsis, and many more. Aquaserge combines Canterbury, space rock, and general wackiness to create a fun filled progressive extravaganza. To me, these qualities all add up to primo Gong, though Aquaserge are more complex, more jamming, and less silly overall. Makoto Kawabata of Acid Mother's Temple provides some splendid acid guitar, and it's in this kind of setting that he shines most brightly.

---7/04/11

Other albums heard: A L'Amitie (2014)

7/04/11 (new entry)

Bondage Fruit, Japan

Avant prog; Zeuhl

Latest release: Bondage Fruit VII (2024)

Well this came out of nowhere! 19 years since their last album, Bondage Fruit returns. I didn't find any online presence for the group, though it may be in Japanese somewhere.

Bondage Fruit - VI (2005)

Bondage Fruit's 6th, and apparently last album (until 2024), sees the band diversifying their sound to the point of no identity. The Zeuhl backbone of their early works has all but been rubbed out here. Not to say that they didn't hit pay dirt on a few of these numbers. Opener 'Three Voices' is the longest piece here, and sounds like Tortoise playing the music of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Which seems like an oxymoron, until you actually hear it. A fantastic opening. 'Rath' is a raga rock piece, and fits well with Bondage Fruit's style. 'Locomotive' is a strange tune that's closer to Southern Fried blues rock, and contrary to what I said about 'Rath', this seems a bit self-indulgent for a band with no history of such. 'Dear Gazelle' has a bit of KBB styled Celtic violin, but begins to cook wildly midway, and is my personal favorite of the album. A very strong heavy fusion piece. 'The Train' recalls mid 70s King Crimson with long stretches of atmospheric violin but gets a bit long in the tooth after a while. 'Something Green' is a pretty melancholic instrumental that eases the tension. And 'I/O' sounds like 'Dueling Banjos' meets Bollywood electronica.

---12/31/16

1/26/24 (new entry)

Present, Belgium

Zeuhl; Avant Prog; Chamber rock

Latest release: This is Not the End (2024). 

Certitudes (1998)

It was sometime in 1985, while visiting my favorite underground record store in Dallas (Record Gallery for those that were there), that I first discovered Le Poison Qui Rend Fou. Everything about it was new to me - the album, the band, the label (Cuneiform), and the music (what later would be dubbed avant prog). For me it was a new kind of complex progressive rock, and one that captured my 20 year old mind's imagination greatly. Unfortunately that seemed to be about it for Present. I later learned about their considerably more obscure debut (at the time) and their association with a one Univers Zero, a group I began to seek and collect as well. Present did pop up here and there in the next decade performing music that was not necessarily "Present-like", including the rather interesting Live blues rock album that I've written about on this blog already. So it was with much excitement that Present returned to form on 1998's Certitudes. This was the sound of Le Poison Qui Rend Fou moved forward. The complex layering, the haunting vocals (male instead of female though), the pounding piano, the searing electric guitars, and the impossible rhythms. This is the Present I first discovered and loved. The primary problem with a band such as Present is the music isn't particularly memorable. When one thinks to pull out an album such as Certitudes, the mind goes into this jumbled mess. Knowing that yes, this is sophisticated music, and the instrumentation is correct. But memorable melodies and passages? No.

But Certitudes is special to me for another reason, beyond the return to my mid 80s exploratory years. One fine evening in May of 1998, the band performed live in what was then our current home town of Denver. At that time I'd been married for just over a year. My wife, never one to embrace the music I enjoy, was still open minded about going to concerts and trying different things. I took her to this Present concert. It was an incredibly intense show resembling the Certitudes album (and with local Denver mover and shaker Dave Kerman on the drum kit, replacing Daniel Denis). During the show, while I was certainly enjoying myself, I began to really worry about my wife, as I suspected it was just too much for her young and untrained ears (fortunately we brought ear plugs). After the show, I asked her what she thought. She said it was really good, very different and intense, but she really appreciated the effort and the authenticity of the band. Wow! Fast forward 22+ years, just as I was to pop this into the CD changer (for the first time in the same 22 years), I asked her if she remembered the concert. She did and recollected pretty much the same sentiment. Again, I was surprised, as it's hardly been a Happy-Hour discussion topic. Funny though, she wasn't clamoring to join me on the listening session... 

And for all the reasons above, this is why I tend to revere Certitudes as one of Present's best efforts.

---12/14/20

Live! (1996)

An interesting live album from Belgium's Present. Sounding more like a psychotic blues rock take on their first 2 albums, the album has a rawness and deep soul missing from their studio works. Present always sounded to me like a typical mathy, ultra precise, avant prog unit. Here, they sound a bit messy, and even give into the odd guitar jam, just the kind of dirty soot the band needs. I've had this CD since it first came out, and never held it among the finest of their works, but I'm hearing it in a whole different light this go round. Hmm.

---6/13/16

Triskaidekaphobie (1980)

Only a European band whose roots are clearly planted in the Rock in Opposition movement would name their album after the fear of the number 13 - in French of course. Perhaps the listener will have the same fear as they are greeted with rhythms performed in 13/16. Present's debut is a hellish music where the blueprint is clearly Univers Zero, who are a direct parent on the ancestry chart. A blueprint that is dragged through King Crimson's 'Fracture' for the ultimate bad trip. Bad trip as translated in the avant prog language I mean...

---7/15/16

Other albums heard: Le Poison Qui Rend Fou (1985); No. 6 (1999); High Infidelity (2001)

7/15/16 (new entry)

Arkitekture, South Korea

Retro prog; Avant prog

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Latest release: Rationalis Impetus (2022)

Haven't heard yet, but reviews are promising with comparisons to Anglagard meets Art Zoyd. Apparently the group was previously known as Superstring, who have 3 albums to their credit (haven't heard them either).

6/21/23 (new entry)

Dreadnaught, USA

News: Wow - I was half asleep on my last update. I was promoting the Colorado band Dreadnought (note spelling). OK, then.... Nothing new from our favorite New Hampshire band. Sorry about that guys!

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Location: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Overview: King Crimson meets Boud Deun and Fred. I can already anticipate your next question. Who is King Crimson?

UMR notes

Ske, Italy

News: Ske has reissued 1000 Autunni as 1001 Autunni and includes a full disc of live and other material. According to Paolo, there will definitely be a "Ske 2", and he has completed about 15 minutes of new music.

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Location: Tradate, Varese (northeast of Milan, near the Swiss border)

Overview: Like some modern groups, Ske seems to have compiled the best parts of what progressive rock has to offer, and reassembles them into a hodge podge of the entire genre.

UMR notes

Scherzoo, France

News: Scherzoo 04 is out and I have it on the way to me now. The album promises to be more in the Canterbury mold. I'm excited about this, as I wasn't as keen on them moving away from Zeuhl to Avant prog.

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Location:  Lyon

Overview: Scherzoo's sound is somewhere between avant prog and Zeuhl, whereas Thollot's solo works scratch the avant angle and add in some Heldon like electronic rock. Apparently they are now moving into a Canterbury direction.

UMR notes

Kotebel ~ Spain

Progressive rock; Avant prog

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UMR review page for Kotebel

11/15/12 (new entry)

Birds and Buildings, USA

News: Not much news since 2014. Last check: December 26, 2018

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UMR notes

Las Orejas y La Lengua, Argentina ***Inactive***

News: It appears the band is still around in some capacity, though hardly an active touring band. Their last album was from 2003. In 2019 there was some stirring about. Seems like they're getting the itch again. Last check: February 15, 2020.

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