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|   Still, another passing in the Rock world | unleasHell
Jan 2, 2002 3:26 PM | | Sacha Van Geest, he played Flute and sang for Supersister.
He passed away in Augest 2001, I could not locate more details.
They have a 2-CD live that has (or is about to be released)...
Camel Fans should like these guys, as they were a BIG influence on
Camel back in the early 70's.... |
| Shame. Supersister were excellent, but nothing like Camel... | Placido
Jan 2, 2002 8:17 PM | | Supersister's "Present From Nancy" and "To the Highest Bidder" are two of my favorites.
I would not, however, say they sound anything like Camel (or Renaissance.) Not at all. Supersister's sound was kind of a mix of Wyatt-era Soft Machine (especially Soft Machine II), "Uncle Meat"-era Mothers of Invention (whom they namecheck on Present From Nancy's "Corporation Combo Boys"), and maybe a bit of Wigwam or Focus. Heavy, playful, Canterbury-style organ, jazzy drums, odd meters and stunning shifts, funny lyrics.
"Present From Nancy" bops along fun and furiously, very much like Soft Machine II, while "To The Highest Bidder" is sort of a concept album, and is a bit more serious. For example, the song "No Tree Will Grow (On Too High a Mountain)" is a touching piece seemingly about someone who's become distant from family and friends, perhaps due to drug use, ambition, or self obsessed withdrawl. But at the the song's hypnotic ending, the guys pile on layer upon layer of delirious laughter lest things become too serious. "Present From Nancy"'s last track begins with a brooding organ overture, only to switch into a twisted carnival theme -- perhaps similar to something Zamla might do. That's Supersister.
The Camel connection comes from the fact that the two bands toured together in the early 70's, and Camel dedicated a song to the band -- "Supertwister". I don't hear any musical similarities, though. maybe you will. |
| well sorta.................. | unleasHell
Jan 2, 2002 9:00 PM | | I too have the 2-on-1 Supersister "Present From Nancy" and "To the Highest Bidder" CD and it is pretty great.
I hear a ton of Supersister influence on Mirage which is so much more mature than the first Camel, but I would agree that later releases do not exhibit such.
I also read somewhere about them touring together after the first Camel, so all the fast little musical changes in direction on Mirage might just be attributed to Supersister.
I saw Supersister at the 2000 Progfest and they were very tight and like many bands that have made the long trip to California (Solaris, Le Orme and others) they are sooooo happy when they hear the roar of a defining crowd (that many times does not even speak the same language). They were truly happy and you can read more about their |
| Well, this being the internet and all... | Ed TBPO
Jan 2, 2002 8:44 PM | | From the Supersister website:
Terrible news reached us : our one and only Sacha van Geest, superfriend
and Supersister's flute player, is no longer with us. Sacha's heart -
such a good heart we knew he had - gave up during a boat and swimming
trip at Malta, July Sunday 29th.
From what I've heard from Camel, I can't see much of a resemblance between them and Supersister. But pretty much what I know about Supersister was from the Progfest 2000 gig they put on. They were totally mahvelous.
Btw.. long time no see.. been to Greg Walker's recently?
Peace to all this new year. |
| hello Ed | unleasHell
Jan 2, 2002 9:03 PM | | no I have not been in a while, but perhaps in the next few weeks, how about you? |
| re: Still, another passing in the Rock world | jack70
Jan 3, 2002 8:03 AM | | Supersister was one of the best progressive bands of the early 70's era. One of my top-10 European bands from that era... and that's coming from many hundreds I've heard. Placido is correct on their sound... not the hard guitar in there like in Camel (Camel's earlier 2 are my faves... plus a great live side on a rare Ltd ed. set with 3 other bands). I always thought there was a jazz and classical influence (ballet music) that was very strong, especially their later stuff. Wyatt's Soft Machine and Matching Mole is a good comparison overall... but they are much wider ranging. They had a great Zappa/quirky influence in there too, but it's their jazz influence that I always felt made them different and better than 90% of the other progs out there. RJ Stips did a lot of other interesting things over the years.
I have all their original LPs, and 3 double-CD (2-fers) that total 6 Albums worth... the CDs are from '90. Of note:The early great pop cuts "Radio", "Psychopath", and "She Was Naked", which goes thru a range of tempos in 4 minutes, ending with a great organ freak-out that would make Keith Emerson green with envy. From the Album "Spiral Staircase" there is the great cut "Jellybean Hop" which is a great Audio-system workout cut......great dynamics... starts quiet with jazzy-string bass with wind chime-bells & piano...then merging into pop-chaos... with angelic voices in the background... a really nice 6 minute workout. I'd love to see a nice double-CD "best of" set, with some rare, unreleased, and live stuff. |
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