Ritchie DeCarlo's Week by request, 2013

 

You can see on his discography here, he played a lot with Scott McGill who was previously posted back here.  The latter however is not playing on this work, which came out in 2013.

The awkwardly named title track, Week not Weak:

Not just crazy wham-bam electric guitar nuttiness, like the heretofore posted sets from the McGill Manring Stevens combo, this does show some delicatesse here and there and even some mellotron sounds.  I don't think there's much acoustic guitar, though I haven't listened through that carefully so far.  Synths played by Ritchie too.  So note the following keyboard track with synths + mellotron (presumably a digital or computer keyboard imitation) on the lovely complex modern classical composition called November Requiem for George:

Of course nowadays, AI / ChatGPT can do more than just replicate the mellotron sound and make it even more mellotronish, it can also replicate the whole album, making it a concept album to boot, the mood of that of the listener, his euphoria at hearing it, and even what he says to his wife upon hearing she hates the track! He can even make a new wife for the lucky guy!!  Presumably one day he will be able to create a while new personality for him too!  Isn't our future danged amazing?

Colored Music, from 1981 Japan

 

They made one new wavy, digitalish, electronic album back in 1981 then returned and made another one more recently, as you can see here.  But the music is not simple, it has a lot to interest us, of course it's not going to be at the same level some of the best already posted for ex. from Germany, but still worth hearing.  Consider, Anticipation:

And their Love Hallucination:

Forgas Band Phenomena Part 2, L'axe du fou 2009, Acte V 2012, L'oreille electrique 2018

 

That last album cover from 2018, I'm not gonna lie as my kids say, is just atrocious.  In theory it's almost as bad as the creations of AI? 

But title track from that one, L'oreille electrique, is for sure, musically remarkable:

Loin D'Issy, from 2012's Acte V, is notable for the way it changes dynamics, sound, directions several times over a relatively short (for this guy) 7 minute track:

Shockingly, it seems this gentleman is a late bloomer, for his last few albums are more interesting, at least to my (electric) ears, than the earliest ones, they show maturity and a kind of even-handedness to the progressive creative that is really heartily welcome.  Of course the style is very much our old beloved prog fusion with the classic arrangements, the typical instrumentation, but the ideas and melodies are not just original but very professionally played and thought out with none of the semi-formed ideas that characterized his first Cocktail album, with the exception of the sidelong work My Trip.  So in this case and it might be the first time for this blog (for Pepe Maina it was my impression the music became a bit boring and similar towards the end) I can honestly say it, I would look forward to any new releases from Patrick Forgas.

Forgas Band Phenomena Part 1, Roue Libre 1997, Extra-Lucide 1999, Soleil 12 2005

 

Part 3 really in the overview of this composer, after his solo works.

The title track from 1999's Extra-Lucide is remarkable, with its high energy jazz and synthesizer intensity:

The 2005 work Soleil 12, on the other hand, is notable for the fact it has only 4 tracks and one of them is over 30 minutes long!  At my age I already find it quite an imposition to listen to the entirety of a 20 minute side-long track, and this one is almost double the length in time.  I keep putting off listening to it to some other day but guess what, that day may never come.  For all I know it might even be a brilliant composition well worth the time, like Martz' The Pillory, or the Yeti, or a lot of the Xalph material.  

Note the info:

Recorded live at Le Triton, Les Lilas (France), March 15, 2005.
On the track 4. there is a brief moment of distortion on the violin at around the 8 minute mark. It is not a defect on this CD.

The title track displays this violin playing, a la Didier Lockwood quite nicely:

More Patrick Forgas with the solo works after Cocktail (L'oeil 1990, Art D'echo 1993, Synchronicite 2002)

 

The first two albums continue along the same lines as the first with the falsetto singing on top of typically one chord tracks that develop in a light or playful manner, a bit Canterburyesque but much, much simpler.  That last one from 2002 is a complete all-out new age slow keyboard work, which is radically different from all the other albums and to me a bit uninteresting.

From 1990's L'oeil, Ze / Medley is a remarkable composition but the remainder, almost the whole of it, suffers from the tinny digital synths & 80s drum machine that afflicts so many works from this period in time:

1993's Art D'echo gets a lot more interesting and is sometimes quite crazy creative, consider Cache ta Paine (hide your pain, the de facto motto of all middle aged or older men):

As mentioned earlier, Synchronicite is a departure being mostly new agey keyboards and in fact, it's the only work from him in this style, eg Anima:

At times it sounds like the soundtrack to a video game, such as that for Tomb Raider.  Perhaps inspired by that one?

French Canterburylike / Gonglike drummer / composer Patrick Forgas with the 1977 Cocktail album to begin

 

His own discography is here. As you can see 4 albums on his own and 6 more under Forgas Band Phenomenon.

Profile: French prog rock and fusion drummer, singer, instrumentalist. Self-confessed Robert Wyatt devotee, and creator of a unique French twist on the Canterbury sound.

I think it's less Canterbury more Gong with the tendency to remain on one chord and then meander in a spacey manner on top with light sounds, eg breathy singing or flutes.  The title track of his masterpiece called Cocktail, whose hghlight though is the sidelong work My Trip, which reappeared multiple times, reworked, on later albums, and with a demo version on the later CD release with bonus tracks:

Demo version of My Trip is great listening:

In fact, utterly ironically the demo tracks that follow the composed work are the best part of this CD, perhaps because they were written when he was a young man, much more Canterbury like.

Fumitaka Anzai in his first work from 1982 [DIGITAL TRIP / Juma Densetsu Synthesizer Fantasy]

 

Absolutely a masterpiece of progressive electronic, like some of the Fukumachi stuff.  I don't think there's a bad track on this record.  Artist info here.  He went on to write an incredible number of anime, film score, manga, whatever soundtracks, but this is by far the best one, if you appreciate complex prog that is.  This is as great as anything that for ex. the more famous Patrick Moraz put out back then.

Soto H, track 6, is so unbelievably dramatic:

Track 4, Dasshutsu:

Markku Lievonen's 1977 album, FLAC limited time only

This is a very librarish album with beautiful progressive instrumental compositions, very vivid and interesting, original, and melodic.

From discogs, the briefest of bios:

A Finnish jazz musician. Born on February 16, 1947 in Lahti, Finland and died on December 14, 2016 in Helsinki, Finland. Started his career in the early 1960s by playing drums in a jazz trio. Later he played bass in several groups and as a studio musician. In 1977 he released a solo album.

For me it's quite brilliant and unfortunately forgotten, presumably except in Finland.  His use of different keyboard sounds is particularly worth hearing, as in Monster Rally:

For an entirely different emotional direction, the March for the Lonely Riders:

Norwegian Barock - Bare en Blaveis, from 1976 [ FLAC limited time only ]

 

I absolutely adore this one-off album.  Information here:

Progressive rockband from Stavanger, Norway. They released only one record, "Bare En Blåveis" in 1976 with Johnny Sareussen as producer. The band consisted of Magne Høyland, Anders Bru, Bjørn Aslaksen, Reidar Olsen, Sveinung Sand and Tommi Haukland.

The album had all the right ingredients for a real progrock album in the 70s; long, improvisational solos, multi-thematic compositions, performances of classical and folk, parties with electric violin and drum solos. The lyrics was both in Norwegian and English and some of them collected by the poets Oscar Wilde and Hans Børli.

The band dissolved in 1977. Anders Bru startet Stavangerensemblet. Mange Høyland appeared in both Asfalt (4) and Wasaband and Bjørn Aslaksen in Løgnaslaget and Ryfylke Visegruppe.

Surprisingly well said for once.  But the most important part about it, it's packed with wonderful songs and compositions, a lot of that typical Beatles or solo Beatles influence that you'd find in all the 70s pop stuff, but really well thought out, creative, original, as you can hear on the opener Mr. Music Man:

To You on the Bus is another beautiful song:

But the biggest masterpiece is the instrumental composition Impressions, which absolutely entrances me in its lovely E minor ideas which keep evolving and transcending any simplistic chord movements, beautifully played, beautifully written, a true gem, like Eef Albers' Blue Capricorn track:

Cassette-only Auto Drive System - First Work from the 1970s Italy

 

Well, here's a real treasure from the past, and something you almost certainly have never heard.

An amazing electronic style progressive find from my friend, cassette only release, you can find sparse info here.  None of the 3 artists are recorded on that page as having appeared anywhere else.

Nascik  gives you an idea of what we're dealing with here:

So, similar to Sensations Fix, or French Heldon, etc.

US Bedful of Metaphysicians from 1986 [FLAC limited time only]

 

Beautiful and crazy music with an incredible cover painting too.  Info here.  A lot of silliness and insanity with a background of Zappa bizarra, maybe similar to Artificial Intelligence once posted here.

Or you could say it's a little like US Babylon, not as good as them in composition quality however.

Gravity Pulls the Trousers down, etc.:

US hard rock band Architect, 1979 (?)

 

Here's a totally obscure hard rock album from the US, unknown year of recording, but as others have pointed out likely 1978.  Sparse information here:

All SONGS WRITTEN BY EDDIE KEY

Tennessee-recorded private release. No date mentioned on record and no date confirmed as yet. Quoted in various places so far as anything from 1978 to the 1980s.

Like my old faves Ambush or Magik Dayze, the songs are really strong and this for sure should have been more popular back then when the taste for hard rock was hard and strong, unlike today.  I guess it's quite similar to the recent post Legend, Before the Fjords.  It opens like this, with Fool's Paradise:

I really really love the track Slipping on the Ice Again, it just brings back all those old childhood memories of beautiful guitarwork, AOR reverb, the intensity of the riffs, watching Styx in concert, and it's really cool the way the song keeps changing every minute or so, not just the soft intro turning hard:

Batida from the Netherlands, 1984

Discogged:

This latin jazz and fusion band from The Netherlands (Holland) existed from 1980 until 2000. Jazz singer Josee Koning together with keyboard player Peter Schön started off a band who played Brazilian music. They were very successful as a live band in the eighties and nineties. In different formations they made only 3 albums and a DVD capturing a reunion concert in 2006.

This is the first album.

Batida – Batida [NL 1984/2008 FLAC]

Guitar – Peter Tiehuis

Fender Rhodes, Grand Piano, Synthesizer – Rob Franken

Fender Rhodes – Dennis Luxion (tracks: 6, 8, 9)

Lead Vocals - Josee Koning

Percussion, Timbales, Bongos – Nippy Noya

Percussion, Congas, Vocals – Bart Fermie

Bass – Theo De Jong

Drums – Gerhard Jeltes

Remember Rob Franken, who started out in the beyond brilliant Scope? (Though he only joined them after their first album.)  If you look at his page, it's shocking how many bands he played in, so this is a later one.  The music is squarely as they say Latin, Brazilian, samba, etc., with vocals.

The immortal composition Vera Cruz which as you know is a Milton Nascimento composition:

Akili with Eef Albers, from 1987 [FLAC limited time only]

 

No back cover for the record this time.
This is very little fusion and quite smooth, as you'd expect, I noticed it when rooting through the Eef Albers discography, and you recall I've posted a lot by him.

They actually made 2 albums, a second came out in 1990.

The super lovely Flowers in Bloom reminds me a great deal of Danish Entrance, with Mikkelborg, and that's not a bad thing: