Wednesday, September 24, 2008

ECLIPSE-S/T, LP, 1976, CANADA






A swoon inducing and sadly forgottten space rock masterpiece by these Canadian masters of the game that effortlessly shifts from sweeping and truly blasted sounding Floydian grandiosity to Benoit Widemann-like synthy zeuhl prog-funk only to yield to extended passages of ghostly lysergic atmospherics lacquered in female choral gliss and then spin on a dime and mindfuck you with maddeningly infectious Abba-by-way-of-Massiera anthemic pop prog screwiness. Monster caliber.


***************NEW LINK POSTED SEPTEMBER 2012***************

Get it here  

24 comments:

Sébastien Desrosiers said...

Indeed, great neglected space-prog from Quebec!

Their keyboard player and main composer was part of Aut'Chose, one of my fav hardrock bands (feat. Lucien Francoeur), and was responsible for the prog-induced second album, "En arrière du micro" (behind the mic).

house303 said...

Thank you so much for this one amongst others. I finally have the chance to hear it...

mIKES said...

I am really sure thst the name of the performers on this record is CANO. The album name is Eclipse.

Start here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANO

vdoandsound said...

mike and valerie- actually, look here:

http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=85470

in addition to having a different cover, the Cano LP that you mention is from 1978 as well. The one I posted is from 1976.

Anonymous said...

Hi , Please Re up the Two Albums of ANIMA SOUND !!!

Anonymous said...

I reupped the Anima Sound albums. I put the new links in a post several months ago, after someone else requested they be reupped.

Can't find the post now, where I put the new links, but if you check through the comments of posts from earlier this year, you are sure to find the new download links. Just may take some time.

mIKES said...

Tawk about confusin'!

Mind you, trying to find a copy of Eclipse is near impossible by name alone. A google search just wont cut it. I'd like a copy of my own, as the transcription you linked to has at least one very distinct skip (track 3?). A fabulous recording.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

thanks!!

fuzztunnel said...

Track 4 sounds like it has got the French version of Bobb Trimble guesting on vocals.

Mike and Valerie: if you want a copy of this, someone on Gemm has five still-sealed copies for sale for $46 each.

Anonymous said...

any chance of posting oleg makeyev's 'ark' absolutely awesome russian (i think) prog from 1996.not for myself- i have a cdr copy. unfortunately i'm a novice and don't know how to get it on the web

Dokimos said...

Thanks for this too guys..

Anonymous said...

arE WE gETTing Spam in HERE Now?

Gianni aka Cesare Barbetta said...

absolutely a gem.

Sébastien Desrosiers said...

There's a bit of confusion on the Cano reference. Cano did issue an album titled "Eclipse" in 1978 but there's no connection with this actual band called Eclipse.

Read the facts: http://www.progquebec.com/eclipse.html


S.ébastien

Anonymous said...

Hi Eric! Thanks for this one. Do you have:
a) Melody - "Come fly with me" (from Pole) and b) Wonderland band - "#1" (A. Reichel & Fr. Dostal's project, not Wonderland - their previous band) ?

Brandon said...

This album is truly amazing. I wish there were more like. It's so catchy and bizarre and lush.

Martin said...

Eclipse did a second record following that but had turned to disco apparently.(with a different band line-up)
I think Daniel Barbe who appeared on that first album here released a solo album later on.

Anonymous said...

thank you :)

Anonymous said...

Yes, Eclipse is hard to find on vinyl (and is not yet released on CD). I have found copies at gemm.com , on eBay, and even in local record stores (French-Canadian city)! Yes, Daniel Barbe did a solo album afterwards ("Destination", quite disco-ey but with two tracks having debatable prog influence), and participated too in the "Jacques Blais & Fantasia" album (with a little bit of prog amongst all the funk). Yes, the head guy of the group was also half of Aut'Chose for their first two albums (i.e. I am not familiar with an Aut'Chose album named "En Arrière du Micro", although there's a song of that title on the third album, "Le Cauchemar Américain" (The American Nightmare... prescient? or does history repeat itself?). The proggiest of the three albums, "Une Nuit Comme Une Autre" (A City Like An Other, or rather A City Like Any Other) does have Pierre Gauthier's stamp all over the proggier songs ("Comme à Radio", "Une Saison en Enfer").

Brandy, you're right, it is pretty great space rock, to which I can only compare it to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", and perhaps Tangerine Dream's "Stratosfear". There is a great wealth of '70s Quebec prog out there, someone mentioned a link to ProgQuebec, they list many an artist at www.progquebec.com . There are many different styles, though some sound similar (Daniel Barbe's solo album does have spacey moments, as does Michel Madore's work from time to time. Dionne-Bregent, however, is space music a la Tangerine Dream composed and performed by a keyboardist and percussionist duo with invited musicians, and is definitely worth at least hearing.)

Yes, the second Eclipse album is pretty much all disco (including a cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me"). It was also released in two different covers: a black-and-white charcoal drawing of an "Eclipse", and a picture of (four members of) the band. That one can be ignored, basically for completists only.

The Cano album "Eclipse" is not at all related to this one. That one, too, has a cover of an open/shattered window with an eclipse coming through, superimposed on a shot "from above" of a theatre. (This picture could possibly make reference to their then recently-deceased leader, Andre Paiement, equally playwright and who started the band through the theatre division of the Cooperative des Artistes du Nord-Ontario (hence, CANO). In fact, several songs on their first three albums were taken from his plays.) It too has not yet been released on CD, although "Bienvenue 1984" (Welcome 1984) has appeared on Universal Music Canada's CD compilation, "The Best of CANO" in its "20th Century Masters" series. Although I'd recommend "Au Nord De Notre Vie" first to prog lovers, "Eclipse" has very beautiful melodies... of which "Bienvenue 1984" is the proggiest.

Sébastien Desrosiers said...

Now there's an anonymous commentor that deserves applause. We should get in touch!

Visit Patrimoine PQ

Anonymous said...

Can you plz reup this ?

Anonymous said...

please a re up?? 2013??

Anonymous said...

we need a new link!!! thanks!