Odyssice – Impression. 2000. Odyssice play a combination of bouncy, brassy, big beat 80s instrumental rock with some introspective guitar centered solos, ala Camel (variation No. 238). There are a couple of brooding numbers that serve “Impression” well with simulated mellotron and even a good synthesized sample of a yangqin. No doubt Odyssice would be on the SI label if it were still around.

Sustain – s/t. 1978. One of those big time rarities that have collectors turning every stone over for. And when you finally here it, you go “What? That’s it?” Sustain are about as generic as it gets. Slow to mid tempo rock/jazz tracks, amateur thin production, slightly spacey textures, poorly executed accented English vocals, some mild sax and guitar leads. I suppose if you look at some of the other Dutch/Flemish albums from the era, like Flyte and Isopoda, you can get an idea of their sound. It’s not that its terrible or anything, but it’s hard to imagine ANYONE getting too worked up about it. It’s just so… so….. plain. There isn’t a CD, but I imagine once the collector community has their curiosity sated, then this album will have little audience.

Falstaff – Prononcez. 1981. The nice thing about collecting progressive rock records in the late 1980s was that the French scene could still be had on the cheap. So whereas vinyl prices were skyrocketing for UK and Italian bands, one could score a quality French group for $10-$25 (including bands like Dun and Eskaton). I’m talking about records you would never find in a US store, quite simply because they were never imported (other than maybe a mail order specialist like Eurock). So when I first obtained Falstaff I was pleased with its contents – a quality instrumental rock record. Except it didn’t hold my attention for the long haul. So when I had the Great Record Collection Purge of 1995, Falstaff got the heave-ho. This is my first time to hear the album since, and all I can say is that I made the right decision 12 years ago (as I did with about 95% of those I sold off). That’s not to say it’s a bad album – it’s not. It’s just a light, easy going, instrumental symphonic rock album. Maybe a little funk, and a little jazz to spruce things up. Recalls late 70s Camel, or possibly more to the point, Rousseau’s first two albums. Had Musea reissued this in the early 1990s, it would’ve sold pretty well I think. Not so sure now.