Browse by Label: MUSEA (FRANCE)

Artist:	MOVING GELATINE PLATES
Title:	Moving Gelatine Plates
Label:	MUSEA (FRANCE)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	FGBG 4062CD

New reissue of the 1st (of 2) album by this French progressive band, originally issued in 1971. "Moving Gelatine Plates were a French group that played a magnificent style of high-powered progressive jazz rock. The biggest influences here are Frank Zappa and early Soft Machine, along with a small dose of tongue-in-cheek RIO-like angularity. Though certainly not part of any particular 'scene' at the time, a retrospective grouping can be made to other bands with similar influences. Picchio dal Pozzo, particularly on their Abbiamo... album, and The Muffins circa Manna/Mirage? are surprisingly convenient comparisons, especially considering the time differential between the bands. Essentially, MGP placed heavy emphasis on woodwinds and guitar, choppy rhythms, grinding organ riffs and jaw-dropping musicianship. This alongside an extraordinary sense of energy, instrumental dexterity and a light-hearted sense of irony. One minute you're grooving along to pleasant, Canterbury-esque interplay, and the next your head is ripped off by savage saxophone lines and thunderous drums. Classic moments abound around every corner. The 'Three Blind Mice' chant and choppy syncopation of the fantastic 'London Cab,' the dreamy bass solo of 'Gelatine,' which subsequently explodes into a head snapping drum rolls laid beneath thick, fuzzed-to-hell guitar riffs, careening into a finale of spectacular, unison saxophone lines. Centerpiece 'Last Song' begins with enchanting guitar harmonics before morphing into an angular guitar riff. Indeed, while their second album, the classic World of Genius Hans, is often cited as the band's crowning achievement, either one of these albums will pummel you relentlessly and leave you quivering in the corner." -- Greg Northrup

Artist:	MOVING GELATINE PLATES
Title:	The World of Genius Hans
Label:	MUSEA (FRANCE)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	FGBG 4101CD

Reissue of the 2nd Moving Gelatine Plates album, originally issued in 1972; with 5 bonus tracks from 1980. "The World of Genius Hans is often given the nod over Moving Gelatine Plates' self-titled debut album as their defining moment, which is surprising considering both albums are extremely close in quality. Certainly, the second release by this band is a continuation stylistically, perhaps more compositionally refined and taken a step further. The opening title track showcases the band's ability to craft a lengthy composition of gradually unfolding, substantial development. While the exhilarating jerkiness and trademark tendency to unexpectedly jump from theme to theme is certainly still there, the group seems to rely less on the unrelenting aural assaults and machine gun choppiness of the first record. In general, the band seems willing to take a step back and show a good degree of professional restraint; allowing an impressive degree of engaging thematic development to take place. Tracks like 'Funny Doll' and the sublime 'Astromonster' are quintessential MGP; distorted bass lines, gorgeous horn melodies, fascinating harmonies and amorphous rhythms that never sit still. The former is perhaps the most vocal heavy the band ever got, while the latter encompasses virtually all their strengths, making it the most perfect six minutes on either album. The section in which striking guitar harmonics echo the bass lines from earlier in the song, only to be embellished upon by towering saxophone lines, shows a degree of sophistication the band may have lacked previously. With all that said, it's virtually impossible to pick a favorite from between the two albums, but if forced, a very slight nod would go to The World of Genius Hans. A classic album and perfect representation of the eclecticism of the French progressive rock movement of the '70s." --Greg Northrup

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