Sean Trane The group's final album is a very weird one, although somehow it's still not weird enough to not be a Supersister album. Indeed the group always tried to add humour to the music, often doing so successfully, but here it certainly feels like they're aiming at Zappa, but are unable to reach him. Despite its drawn Spiral Staircase to heaven on the cover, this album is yet a second proof after Iskander that the group was simply not in their better form of late. RJ Stips was already inside Golden Earring, although his passage in that band would be largely un-productive.

A car beeping and speeding cars passing you by is the signal that you've reached the limits of Zanyland, and you've passed the border once the piano kicks in. Jelly Bean Hop is more of the same madness, but the 7-mins Dangling Ding Dongs, even though it starts on a quiet and normal piano-led first part, brings back a sort of normality to the album, despite its extremely complex rhythm, disappearing in a heavy-sounding footstep. These footsteps lead directly into Sylvers Song is probably THE weirdest track written in The Netherlands, sounding like a cross of Radio Gnome Invisible-era Gong meeting Zappa on an improbable drug. Impossible to describe this track, it musty be heard to be believed. Cookies, Teacups and Buttercups is a bagpipe war-march and furthers the madness of the album. GiGaGo is way to so very much too close to calypso music (I hate this kind of Latino music), despite the group giving it a Zappa edge, I find it cringing and overstaying its welcome by a good 4 minutes ;o)) . One would have to wonder whether Supersister tried their hands at a sort of Rock In Opposition (I'm thinking of Samla mixed with Etronfou) or whether too much substances got into their nostrils, but It Had To Be is again bizarre, almost grotesque. The closing Nosy Parkers and Steel So Frange (sic) are more of the same madness?..

Despite my not liking this album, I must recognize that it is indeed original (but fitting more a music revue or Broadway show), flawlessly played and very well produced. In some ways, I understand the fans that would say this is the group's best album, because it is impressive., but it is definitely not my cup of tea but excellent production job. It's rather hard for me to tell you to go for this album, especially given that it's the only Supersister album so far not having received a remastering by the Esoteric record label.

Sean Trane Following the usual public fave Pudding album, Iskander produced a concept album, one describing Alexander The Great building of his Greek Empire over much of the mid-east and IMHO went in over their heads with it. I am always a little wary of historical concept ala Triumvirat and others, much preferring a full blown concept of the Brick or Selling England type, because it sounds cheesy, hollow and incredibly pretentious at "adapting" music to Alexander's endeavours some 25 centuries ago. I don't think much more of rock operas of JC Superstar or JJ Savarin's works much either?. Preferring to these Townshend's Tommy or Quadrophenia or eventually some of The Kinks' deliriums, which are entirely invented. Iskander is the Turkish name for Alexander The Great and it is a bust of him on the cover and much of the music (produced by Georgio "Jools & Trinity" Gomelski) is instrumental, especially early in the album. After a short unconvincing "eastern" Introduction on clarinet, the album jumps on the Persian side to describe Darius (or Dareios if they wish) whose sparse vocals are imbedded into a frenzied sax-led jazz-rock. A happy synth then an "eastern" clarinet marching to war open up the 7-minutes Alexander track, but the whole things gets a bit blurry once the slow sax almost stops the tune, leaving the electric rekindle the flame, until an organ comes in to an almost ELP fashion, but the tracks veers dissonant for a while? I never knew Alexander did drugs!!

Thunderous drum rolls announce the 8-mins The Battle and right after them, the tracks slows to a near-stop with an interesting lo-freq slow tempo crescendoing sometimes abruptly to reach a very fast movement that will fall back to the slow tempo again, this time building back up quicker. Rather impressive, but it's not sounding like a war, Crimson doing much better in the Lizard suite. Bagoas is probably the weakest track on the album, the finally-present singing not helping much?. This thankfully short track is not only too loud; it's simply sticking out like a sore thumb from the rest of the album. I can't say much more of the following flute-filled Roxane, preferring her in a red dress at night, but it fits the album a tad more. Babylon is an 8-mins track that relies on a descending riff, broken in different places by several interludes, some jazzy, some dissonant, almost free. The closing Looking Back is probably Alexander looking back at his travels and conquest, wishing he was in Egypt instead of Babylon, but the atrocious eastern sax is just cringing, once more.

While Iskander is still a worthy album, I personally find it paling in comparison to the group's previous works, the group failing to convince when they need to be exotic or ethnic, this being mainly the fault of the wind instruments, but the group as a whole does not fare well in that department. Iskander is filled with small cringing moments that sort of ruins mthe pleasure of listening, so you'll have to understand that I can't be generous, despite some impressive passages as well.

Sean Trane Supersister's third album is many fan's favourite and rightly so. If Present From nancy and Highest bidder were good (even better than good) , with this album, they reached excellence, even if the album remains a bit disjointed r patchy. But their music is still so inspired of Soft Machine's first two album, Zappa, Caravan and Matching Mole or forecasting Hatfield And The North (two years after this album), it is clear that Supersister were more than followers: they were setting new grounds. Actually, Supersister might have been more Canterbury-styled than most of the local Canterbury bands, extended the goofiness of some of their tracks to levels most of their cross-channels counterparts did not dare go into. I mean in some case, Supersister comes very close to absolute (intended) silliness, but I find it rather awkward and it always stopped me from enjoying fully their music. Radio is a song that has all of the quirkiness you'd expects in mid-70's Caravan (the vocals closely resemble Hasting's delivery), but also its rather bizarre twists and bends. The well-named Psychopath starts out as a barroom song on piano and harpsichord. Clearly, serious business starts with the 12-min+ Judy On Holiday, where the full dimension off the fuzzed out bass and organs spell out their magic prints in your spaced out mind in its first part. If this were jazzier, you'd swear this was Wyatt, Ratledge and Co. However this will change rather quickly:a rather disjointed and patchy affair, the track is quite enthralling at times, but the quiet (almost dead) middle section is a real downer while the endless do-wop finale is idiotic. I mean humour in music has its limit and clearly even Zappa did not get that ridiculous.

The second side of the slice of wax is taken-up by another epic, the 21-min title track is a much more successful (and much less goofy) track which does make most fans say that this album is their finest hour. I would certainly say that the title track is definitely their best moment. The instrumental epic is taking you through dozens of climates, ambiances, feelings, thrills and shivers, never giving you a rest. Grandiose in certain way, I will agree, but I am not really that much a fan of Supersister. I never really understood why, because I usually love Canterbury music, but maybe Amsterbury music does not sit so well with me.

This album is now usually available on a cheap 2 for 1 coupled with a strange release called Superstarshine, which was a compilation of singles, live tracks and odd bits. You guessed it; this sort of cheap release is at the expense of the original artwork and very minimal (and erroneous) information. Whatever my mixed feelings about this group, PeG is definitely worth checking out.

Sean Trane After a very derivative debut album, the mighty sibling came back with a very different second album titled with a very macho Highe$t Bidder (you read well, no typo) and the gatefold artwork depicting a female goldigger's profound motivation. No doubt that every cliché is based on its foundation of truth, but surely a minimum of chivalry is not too much an effort to produce and such denouncing is not only necessary, but superfluou$ in its offensive approach, but this is RnR. Recorded and produced of the summer of 71 and released in fall, this album was previewed by two few singles (one is on bonus on the Esoteric Record re-issue) to keep the fans waiting. Starting on a 10-minutes version of the single release a few months before, A Girl Named you explores Caravan territory and wits (or obsessions might be a better word, knowing Pye's tortuous mind) and brings out much Stips' electric piano, but he's also toying with a mellotron and harpsichord. The following No Tree Will Grow (also a single) is built on a drone evoking/reminiscing some of Robert Wyatt's most poignant later works. With Highe$t Bidder SS becomes groundbreakers rather than followers. Indeed this organ drone underlining Stips' piano and Van Geest's vocals is impressive. As the first side died out on severely demented laughs, nothing was to prepare us for the flipside.

A loud metronomic bass drums accompanied with a rare electric guitar (rather rare in SS), then Sacha's saturated flute, which would finally first hasten the bass drum and then liberate the tune from it with the help of Stip's organ then electric piano, finally leading into the first verse. The 15-miss Energy (Out Of The Future) is a killer track that hesitates between Egg, The Nice, Soft Machine, Caravan with Sacha's high perched flute and his dubbed filtered-though vocals talking much of the attention, but it's really bassist Van Eck and drummer Vrolijk's moment. The dronal final-section leads directly into the short closer Higher, a charming under 3-mins tidbit riding on a bass flute and distant piano.

The re-issue (with a great booklet featuring the history and pics) boast the first two tracks in shorter single edits, which we might have done without, but they shed a different light onto the said longer versions. Much more interesting is the Missing Link B-side, with the binary bass line dictating the beat and structure. The other B-side is a goofy fourth-degree Zappa-like track worrying about the Groupies Of The Band, which is neither interesting nor funny. The album was a hit with John Peel and he gave them an introduction on the British market, even releasing the album on his Dandelion label, adding the She Was Naked single to the album's track list (strangely not present in any form in this issue). The group would head out to a nearby European tour, later appearing in a German TV special with an orchestra (thus previewing some of their next album's works). TTHB sold quite a bit and was nominated to the Dutch-equivalent Grammy. Had for me to recommend just one of their first three albums, as all three have their own merits and none surpass each oth

Sean Trane Going as far back as 66 in a group called The Bulbs (oh the humour in Tulipland, probably in homage to Zappa's Mothers) then Q-Provocation, this The Hague group became a sextet when mentor Rob Douw joined them on trumpet, inspiration and vocals and started experimenting and exploring underground avenues, which was just fine with the young Dutch hippies. Poets, dancers and body painters shared the stage with the group and a lightshow was put in works a few months after the Swinging London scene had started. This forced the musicians to improvise and their music naturally veered towards early Soft Machine and Barrett's Floyd, particularly through Stip's organ playing. The band took on its final name from their aborted hippie musical called Sweet Okay Supersister, and when two members left (including their Douw mentor) and let the group secure a contract with the Dutch national Phillips label through Polydor, while establishing their own cultural club in The Hague called "Provadia?", performing at the Woodstock Dutch-equivalent festival and recorded two singles prior to the release of their Present From Nancy, a non-existing English Girl. Black forest-y artwork and an un-mistakenly innerfold filled with Opening with the title-track suite on a demented drumbeat, forcing a bare piano to keep up and later a flute, this upbeat track is an instrumental that gets you to think of a better-sounding Egg and has some of that neat Hatfield features to come. The three-part Memories Are Few starts quickly as well, and then veers to a nightmarish space rock, somewhere between Floys and some insane guitar-driven Hawkwind. Its aptly-titled middle section 11/8 tells you what it's about with a fuzz organ solo, while Wheelwhile has a quiet flute heading the bass and cymbals.

On the flipside, after the weird & short (but good) Corporation Combo Boys, the three-part Metamorphosis is full of sombre riff and breaks in its opening movement, while the second eponymous is reminiscent of Gentle Giant at times and insane binary drums and fuzzed-out organ and ends in a spoof Eight Miles High (a wink and a nod to countrymen Golden Earring who had made this Byrds song their bravado in concert and in the studio a few months before). The closing Dona Nobis Pacem is easily the album's best track, a quiet almost eerie dronal organ, sometimes over-ruled by synth lines or delicate percussions, and in the middle, the track suddenly speeds up in a classical music ritournelle, only to die out in its original drone and a loud crash

The remastered version comes with four bonus tracks, two non-album singles that preceded the PFN album and reflect the group's full lunacy and wide-spectrumed influences: the hypnotic She Was Naked (actually a rework of the album's Dona Nobis Pacem) is a calm Floyd-like track with Van Geest's flute the featured instrument until a sold guitar intervenes, while it's B-side Spiral Staircase is a silly ditty with mostly-spoken narration and silly repetitive binary piano. The other single is a spoof-boogie Fancy Nancy is almost a doo-wop track over Jerry Lee Lewis piano extravaganza, backed a just-as-weird Gonna Take Easy track that zooms towards Zappa; this second single is a little too painstakingly different and actually sound hollow. So with these four tracks added on, PFN now makes a fairly normal release length, but no matter how short, Supersister's debut is definitely worth hearing, despite its sometimes rough edges and over-silly humour, although we're still faraway from Pudding En Gisteren's madness