Alain Eckert Quartet - s/t. 1981 France

When I think of terms like "avant progressive", the music of the Alain Eckert Quartet is exactly what I expect. Like an earlier version of Forgas Band Phenomena, or a more playful and less serious Univers Zero. Compositionally strong, with a penchant for jazz, though a bit academic, without a strong sense of a groove. A good one for the brain, but perhaps lacking a bit in excitement.

The 31 minutes of live material as only found on the Soleil Zeuhl CD absolutely DESTROY the studio material. Here The Alain Eckert Quartet is ON FIRE, in the same zone as you might find Magma on their Live album - with killer Zeuhl bass, wild fuzz guitar soloing, insane drumming, and staccato piano. Stunning really.

CD: 2013 Soleil Zeuhl
LP: 1981 L'Amanite (Belgium)

The original vinyl is housed in a typical early 80s austere single sleeve cover. My first exposure to the album was buying a copy off of ebay in the mid 2000s. If there was ever an album to get the reissue CD of rather than the original LP, it's this one. Not only do you get the usual Soleil Zeuhl high quality production with great sound, liner notes, and photos - but you also get two critical bonus tracks that are not to be missed. Read above. This album was on our CDRWL as a Priority 3 for many years. Had I known about the bonus material, most assuredly it would have been Priority 1. 2017 update: I decided to part with the LP. The CD is all I need here.

Last listen: August 6, 2019