Sandy Owen's Euphonia from 1984 [Iliad-related]

Out of respect for the artist I will only present this for a short time.
Like the work he did with Iliad, the same melancholy, gentle, reflective sounds, oftentimes minor chords or lavish sevenths and ninths on major chords with diatonic melodies, his training in jazz is evident in a boogie number.  There are a couple of tracks on his post-Iliad works that recycle some of the Iliad pieces, for ex. (on this album) "Canterbury" appeared on "Sapphire House," Iliad's "Distances Theme" reappears on the "Montage" album, and our beautiful sampled "Beyond the North Wind" reappears on the "Themes" album, etc.
I think you can purchase the CD versions of these solo works here (which is why I don't want to keep a link long here):
http://www.sandyowen.com/discs.htm

After listening many times to this record, I couldn't help but notice this tiny little gem he placed at the very end called "Once in a Time" which puzzled me for the longest time, one can tell there is something distinctly odd about the time signature.  It's not till I tried to sit down and replicate it on the piano that I realized the polyrhythm here is due partly to the fact the 4/4 first bar is played by 3/4 chords, first of all, but then the second bar is 3/4, that is, the last beat is missing, or the total should be 7/8 or 7/4.  This gives it a kind of stuttering quality at the end of each two-bar passage, or perhaps an unfinished, things left incomplete feeling.  Really a beautiful, stunningly delicate little piece.  What a shame we couldn't have heard it with the oboe, cellos, etc. that were employed to such good effect on the Iliad records.

Sandy Owen's Iliad with Sapphire House, USA 1978 [upgraded]

Iliad was the creation of a brilliant pianist-composer called Sandy Owen, the man on the left on the back of the record.  His first record called "Distances" displayed already the thoughtful, intelligent and melancholy style that he took through all his creations.

In the case of these two records a poor rip was circulating in mono which I felt didn't do the music justice at all.  The better album is this one, it's full of interesting ideas and gorgeous playing.

His interest in Greek mythology must strike present-day listeners as so very oddly anachronistic, who mostly would know these stories from hilariously done Hollywood remakes and cartoon-like renditions.  It's hard to believe those bronze age myths survived so many thousands of years but not our very own plastic age.

In the eighties he made several records which are in the same basic mold as the Iliads.

On this record Sandy on keyboards is assisted by his brother Ted Owen on acoustic guitar as well as percussion, Larry Andrews on basses (acoustic and fender), some wordless vocals by Nancy Eastman appear on the Waterfall track (B2), Bruce Teal plays oboe and french horn and Barbara Poulson on flute.  These woodwinds appear on the beautifully melancholy Beyond the North Wind (B2) as well as the masterpiece Aegean track (B4).

Here is that oboe-toned B2 for you:

Gilles-Luc Laurent & Jean-Patrick Voindrot - Jazz-Rock (Library, 1986) [lossless limited time only offer]

Here as promised some more from this keyboard duo who collaborated on all the tracks, rather than alternating one side each as was usual for library records.  Luckily we have mint condition media to enjoy here. The style is very French, that is, light and a bit breezy, but synthesizer-based, not minimalist at all, occasionally well composed and progressive.

Most tracks are followed by a shorter, half-minute version, that I left on at the ends of the longer versions.

The first, self-titled, track:

Canelle from France 1979

Here's an album that was reviewed quite some time ago by Tom Hayes.  I usually am 89 % in agreement with his assessments-- which is encouraging, showing that there is a true bona fide prog style we seem to have the same judgements upon-- but in this case I thought it was just a tad more disappointing than suggested by the following, in particular, I thought there wasn't enough progressiveness to sustain interest through to the bitter end:

When listening to this album, I had every intention of listing it as a group from Canada. It has that particular sound that reminds me of a 1970s Quebecois release, as found on the Disques Le Tamanoir label for example. Groups such as L'Engoulevent and Breche come to mind here. As well, I hear traces of Harmonium's debut and even some Connivence. Overall I'd categorize it mainly as French folk music with a pop rock edge. So not exactly the usual CDRWL fare, but the primary reason for inclusion is the keyboard work - plenty of Moog solos that are a wonderful contrast to the otherwise serene pop music. I suppose you could also call out Yes here, when they're in their most simplistic happy sappy mood. Also, I quite liked the melodies. While not a priority release (there are a couple of trips to the barn you'll have to endure), I still think many of you would probably like to track this one down for a few listens.

Thanks again goes to Midwest Mike for this one.

Priority: none (borderline 3)


For me this is more in the French pop chansonnier style, with some excursions into more complicated melodies, but the attempt there is usually quite feeble.

A sample track, Hannover:

Rudy Perrone - Oceans of Art [Cathedral-related] (USA, 1981)

     Again I apologize on a holiday weekend for being a little bit slow to post.  As usual we can attribute this to the very perplexities involved in these quasi-religious holidays in which apparently we are to worship rabbits, some magic animistic bunnies, and the eggs of chickens, as well, douse ourselves in plenty of chocolate.  Perhaps someday an anthropologist from another planet, one that Kepler may have discovered recently in the habitable zone of some small red dwarf, could explain fully the odd ritual in which small children color eggs with bright colors and search for hidden entities made of excessively sugary substances that they engulf in a kind of primitive berzerk rage of overconsumption as the adults, primarily the female ones, decorate their houses in oddly bright pastel colors such as lime-green, pink, mauve, and baby blue, according to the religious strictures of the glossy magazines they read with beautiful females posing on their covers.  Subsequently they will be surprised to discover that the actual days are to commemorate the death of a celebrated religious figure and they will be even more puzzled and flummoxed.  And then as well they could try to explain the odd concatenation of culture that created a day called Hallowe'en in which pumpkins, witches, graves, chocolates, candies and costumes are placed in close proximity for children to fully absorb.  After that, the aliens will probably decide to kill us all to take over our planet, or at least, what's left of its biosphere, which may not be enough.  Perhaps they can also decide to enslave all the Westerners, as the Europeans did to the natives of the Caribbean islands, to farm the land and provide a huge harvest of food to them, that would surely be ironic payback, wouldn't it?  Then when the Spaniards for example complained, they could say, hey, you did this to the natives of Hispaniola for your sugar plantations, remember that?

      Returning to the show here, we have a really beautiful cover image from an artist who sounds very much like he was the mastermind of the US band Cathedral, which is my personal favourite Genesis-like band from that country.  So in fact this record is very much both Genesisish and Cathedralish, but less intense than the latter.  You will note that Rudy plays all the instruments here pretty much.  I have a rip from a friend, this is not my work here, that includes some live Cathedral bonus tracks, presumably from a bootleg.  If someone could enlighten us about this I would really appreciate it as I wasn't able to find any info on that particular issue.  I know there are many out there who know much more than me and I welcome any insights others can provide.  Still a relatively rare record, I've been trying to find a copy myself for some time, I love it so much.  Mellotron lovers in particular will drool over this one.

Meantime here is the most Cathedralish song on this album, called "Violent Silence," Track 10:




And here are some of the live bonus Cathedral tracks which I don't have any info on (of course these do not appear on the original vinyl of Oceans of Art):






Trust me, when I say you will be blown away by those bonus tracks here.  Not at all like the usual throwaway bonus tracks tagged on after a CD, not at all.

And who doesn't love that old Genesis sound?  The ne plus ultra of progressive rock, as I've said before.