Ain Soph - A Story Of Mysterious Forest (1980) Japan

Now this album, the first from this japanese quartet is a mixture of Canterbury prog with Fusion/Jazz rock elements and some long improvisations on the keys and guitar.
Although they come from japan, Ain Soph's music seems to be very inspired from the canterbury scene in England during the late 70's and early 80's.
Breathtaking instrumental progressive rock from Japan carrying a nice laid back Canterbury fusion element throughout. This is truely beautiful music with some great jazz-like imagery(jazz piano..), loads of atmospheric synths (aka CAMEL), wonderful guitar accents and superb bass and drum interplay. "A Story of Mysterious Forest" seems to progress seamlessly through its wild musical transformation which moves from the intro of fusion jazz into the lounge-like excursions to its grand finale resting spot, the title 20 mins track which is full of the most wonderful pastoral, space prog you have ever heard. This epic track nicely captures with the use of the mellotron the atmosphere of the fog laden imagination within the mysterious forest... sounds deep eh! Album offers enough mood and tempo swings to satisfy every progressive rock fan for years to come. Without a doubt this is an essential jem and would most certainly be one of my personal fav from Japan.
I truly recommend this one for fans of Kenso, Hatfield & the North, National Health and that type of canterbury style.

Studio Album, released in 1980

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Crossfire (2:54)
2. Interlude I (1:30)
3. Natural Selection (8:10)
4. Variations on a Theme by Brian Smith (9:44)
5. A Story of Mysterious Forest (18:47)
a) Awakening
b) Longing-Whith the Wind
c) Mysterious Forest
d) Passion
e) Deep Sleep
f) Darkness
g) Dance
h) Misfortune
i) Mysterious Forest
j) Awakening
6. Interlude II (0:33)

Total Time: 41:50

Line-up / Musicians

- Masey Hattori / acoustic & electric pianos,
celeste, Hammond organ, clavinet, synthesizers, strings, vocoder, mellotron
- Hiroshi Natori / drums, percussion, crystal gong
- Masahiro Torigaki / bass
- Yozox Yamamoto / acoustic & electric guitars

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listen to Natural Selection

Forgas Band Phenomena - Soleil 12 (2007)

Now for my secong post.Well this is one of my favorite instrumental prog rock albums just like the above post Atlas from Sweden (hope you liked it).Forgas Band Phenomena is a french octet with drummer Patrick Forgas as the leader.Their music a blend of canterbury and jazz-rock wich is in one way unique.The melodies and riffs stick to your head from the very first.

Bandleader Patrick Forgas has been described as 'the French answer to the Canterbury scene', and this album of his is proudly marketed as: 'for fans of Soft Machine, Pierre Moerlen's Gong, Bruford, National Health.I agree on that.

True, the music on SOLEIL 12 often resembles THIRD (and BUNDLES) era Soft Machine, and it will also remind you of Pierre Moerlen's Gong at their gentlest (especially of the Gong albums that came after EXPRESSO II). Forgas reveals a familiar preference for unhurried, repetitive, riff-driven compositions. His drumming style is close to Pierre Moerlen's. The sound of three brass players (trumpet and saxes) playing the main themes in unison is unmistakably Soft-Machine like.lead guitarist Sylvain Ducloux tends to sound like a typical Allan Holdsworth-disciple.Also an excellent work from the violinist Frédéric Norel!

These four trakcs on the album are played Live! Yes that is correct, Live performance played unmistakably well, almost like studio-like version.

It's trully a gem!

Live, released in 2005

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Soleil 12 (9:22)
2. Coup De Théâtre (34:47)
3. Éclipse (8:16)
4. Pievre à la Pluie (18:18)

Total Time: 70:43

Line-up / Musicians

- Patrick Forgas / drums
- Sylvain Ducloux / guitar
- Igor Brover / keyboards
- Kengo Mochizuki / bass
- Frédéric Norel / violin
- Stanislas De Nussac / Tenor & Soprano saxophones
- Denis Guivarch / Alto saxophone
- Sylvain Gontard / trumpet, flugelhorn

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Myspace

Atlas - Bla Vardag (1979)

This Swedish group featured: double-keyboards, guitars, bass and drums. Beautiful symphonic rock with a fusion slant. The music is largely instrumental. Lots of inspired passages with emphasis on guitar and dual keyboard interplay. A more common comparison is to instrumental GENESIS. In any case, there's lots to like here. The only album is certainly one of the strongest traditional symphonic albums I've heard from the late 70s. Discerning fans of instrumental prog with a symphonic flair will find a lot to like about "Blå Vardag".

Studio Album, released in 1979

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Elisabiten (7:12)
2. På Gata (14:10)
3. Blå Vardag (6:56)
4. Gånglåt (2:52)
5. Den Vita Tranans Väg (7:18)
6. Björnstorp (6:17)
7. Hemifrån (7:50)
8. Sebastian (4:31)

Total Time: 57:06

Line-up / Musicians

- Björn Ekbom / organ, piano, synths, clavinet, mellotron, Rhodes
- Erik Björn Nielsen / synths, mellotron, Rhodes, organ, piano
- Micke Pinotti / drums
- Uffe Hedlund / bass, bass pedals, guitar
- Janne Persson / guitar, percussion

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