Avant Prog

4-13-10 “Avant Prog”

Another article in the April 2010 issue of Strange Days magazine from Japan is about “Avant Prog” – as part of their “40 Years of Progressive Rock” series. As I flipped the pages, staring at the list, I realized that this must be a sub-genre that I really had an interest in! I have almost everything on this list!

This list doesn’t look strictly ‘ordered’ to me, but… My comments after titles.

Can – Monster Movie (Took a few years for me to get this one, not my favorite Can LP)

Faust – “self-titled” (debut) (Love it, one of my favorite records)

Tangerine Dream – Phaedra (The first T.D. I ever got, and I probably still like it the best)

Klaus Schulze – Picture Music (I think I like the first 3 K.S. albums better)

Kraftwerk – Autobahn (I think I like the first 3 Kraftwerk albums better)

Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music For Airports (I like it better now than I did then)

Can – Tago Mago (Probably picked for this list because Damo Suzuki is Japanese)

Can – Future Days (Probably my favorite Damo Suzuki-era Can LP)

Cluster – Sowiesoso (I think I like the first 2 Cluster albums better)

Popol Vuh – Affenstunde (Great, their best album, I think)

Faust – So Far (Love it, one of my favorite records)

Faust – The Faust Tapes (The one I started with, a fantastic album!)

Faust – Faust IV (Love it, one of my favorite records)

Tony Conrad with Faust – Outside The Dream Syndicate (Very Good, perhaps a bit less than a ‘proper’ Faust album)

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation (I like Phaedra better)

Tangerine Dream – Alpha Centauri (I like Phaedra better)

Tangerine Dream – Rubycon (I like Phaedra better)

Tangerine Dream – Ricochet (I like Phaedra better)

Klaus Schulze – Irrlicht (My favorite K.S. album)

Klaus Schulze – Cyborg (My 2^nd favorite K.S. album)

Klaus Schulze – Moondawn (A very good K.S. album)

Klaus Schulze – Mirage (A very good K.S. album)

Kraftwerk – I (My 2^nd favorite Kraftwerk album)

Kraftwerk – II (My 3^rd favorite Kraftwerk album)

Kraftwerk – Ralf & Florian (The one I started with, a fantastic album!)

Kraftwerk – Radio-Activitat (A decent latter day Kraftwerk album)

Fripp & Eno – (no pussyfooting) (I didn’t like it at the time, but it’s OK now)

Fripp & Eno – Evening Star (Always did like this one a bit better than the first one)

Brian Eno – Discreet Music (Not bad for an Eno album without songs…)

Brian Eno – Music For Films (Maybe a bit better than “Discreet Music”)

Harold Budd & Brian Eno – Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror

Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno – Apollo – Atmospheres & Soundtracks (I think this title is ‘too late’ for this list!)

John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (Not to be filed under “Easy Listening”)

John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With The Lions (Perhaps a little bit better than “No. 1”)

George Harrison – Electronic Sound (The only LP that ever made Dorothy’s cat look up from his perch on the floor)

Third Ear Band – Alchemy (Not my favorite Harvest label band, I must confess)

Third Ear Band – “self-titled” (I like this one a bit better than “Alchemy”)

Pink Floyd – Ummagumma (Not my favorite Floyd LP, I must admit)

David Bedford – Nurses Song with Elephants (I have a UK original LP of this, must give it another listening one day soon)

Amon Duul – Psychedelic Underground (I’m strictly an Amon Duul II person, myself)

Ashra – The New Age Of Earth (A good latter day Ashra album)

Neu! – Neu! 2 (I like about ½ of this album real well…)

Ron Geesin & Roger Waters – Music from “The Body” (An interesting film, too)

Opus Avantra – Donella Del Monaco (Not a favorite Italian band)

White Noise – An Electric Storm (Love it, one of my favorite records)

Heldon – Un Reve Sans Consequence Speciale (Possibly my least favorite Heldon album – though I do like most Heldon albums)

Art Zoyd – Musique Pour L’Odyssee (Never really did them at all)

La Dusseldorf – Viva (Only recently got a CD of this title)

ZNR – Traite De Mechanique Populaire (I like “Barricades 3” a lot better)

Konrad Schnitzler – Blau (Never saw this one, never heard it)

I am really very OK with most of this list. I think I would’ve picked the first Neu! album, instead of “Neu! 2”, however. And this list doesn’t have any Lard Free on it, either!