Sean Trane Easily one of the most interesting group to come out of France in the early 70's along with Magma and the GonG galaxy , MGP's second album is certainly impressive having gained in writing ability what they have lost in enthusiasm. The ever-excellent Musea booklet explains the whys and hows of their relative success (and the lack of greater success), but these guys missed the golden opportunity to strike it big! Bankrupted right from the start (the bassist never even owned his bass and the drummer and KB player were forced to sell their instruments afyter the release of this album) , the lack of finances was probably the only reason for their failure because, talent they cretainly had!

The tiltle track , the monster 14 min+ World of Genius Hans is probably their magnum opus displaying excellent capabilities from all musicians even for guitarist Bertram - which had appeared a bit short on the previous album. But clearly the star of the show is Hemlinger and his never ending switch from trumpet to saxes , flutes and Kb works. Astromonsteris yet another highlight and Moving Theme is without a doubt a leftover of lenghty concert improvisations. The album ends on a calm note with a short sax-filled Un Jour... This is the only track to have a french title in their first two albums , but as in all cases , their vocals were sparse and in English and generally very Canterbury-like.

The bonus tracks are from the much later album they recorded as Moving. One might have feared that they would be bothersome (especially that they date from 1980), but nothing to worry about: although they are noticeably different (especially vocal-wise as they are much more present and in French) and have a vastly different line-up, they remain in spirit with the the first two albums

Sean Trane MGP is one of those superb early 70's band that was victim of the poor means of their promotion team and the decaying club scene in France as the gov't was shutting down everything that could cause the great French Student Anarchy movement of May 68 to revive.

We are dealing with a superb jazz-rock somehow very close to Canterbury bands like Soft Machine , Caravan , Hatfield etc... The band is the project of the two younger guitarist (who actually swapped their instruments as they thought they could do better than the other) and were joined by older members (6 years older) Gerard Pons (brother of Magma's bassist Dominique Pons) and Maurice Helmiger on both winds and KB. And do these guys rock!! Their enthusiasm is over bearing and very communicative. The opening track London Cab is simply marvellous interplay between all four members. Theior inventive sort of jazz-laced rock with short vocals interludes (in English and also sometimes very anectdotical as most song lyrics were not above four lines long) is captivating. Helmiger swings from the flute to saxes and trumpets (sounds a bit like Nucleus's Ian Carr) and keyboard is clearly the man that males the difference. X-25 is rather calmer and gelatine is probably the tracks that fits them best.

Side 2 starts with the 15 min+ Last Song (which it is not ) and was clearly their closer on their live sets. It is a very great tune but marred by a lenghty drum solo that does take a bit of the charm of repeated listenings. Memories is rather forgettable after such an epic.

The bonus tracks are from their third album, recorded 8 years after the break up , but rest assured , there is no catastrophe! The tracks are jazz-rock that are quite pleasing , and do not sound out of place too much with the rest of the album. They are there and do not shock but they DO pale a bit in comparison with the original album.

Essential record for all of those wishing to see that the "Canterbury Sound" existed across the chunnel!

siLLy puPPy MOVING GELATINE PLATES was a short-lived band formed by Gérard Bertram (guitarist) and Didier Thibault (bassist) who met in 1966 when they were both wee teenagers at 14 years of age in school. These guys had a huge interest in the jazz-fusion scene that was blossoming in the late 60s and were especially influenced by Soft Machine and Caravan. MOVING GELATINE PLATES are also notorious for being the first non-English band to fall into the Canterbury Scene. These guys came from from Sartrouville, France but because of their strong influences and willingness to eschew the political leanings of the early 70s and worship the whimsical and predominantly instrumental instead, they have been lumped into the Canterbury Scene labeling. The music sounds very Canterbury and yet maintains a strong uniqueness at the same time.

After acquiring the extra talents of Gérard Pons (drums) and Maurice Hemlinger (organ, trumpet, soprano and tenor sax, flute) the band found the right chemistry and talent to create one EXCELLENT debut album. This album is so packed full of musical integrity that it is hard to believe that it is only slightly over 36 minutes long. These guys hit all the right notes and created all the best aspects of rock and jazz-fusion with tight sophisticated melodic compositions. This is one of the most energetic albums i’ve heard from 1971. The band is simply on fire with all the hooks, leads and infectious grooves that somehow maintain an accessible and seductive melodic systematic approach married with the extreme complexity that every progressive rock band of the day was striving to create in order to outdo the others. This is catchy enough to keep you entertained but complex enough that you keep coming back for more.They simply created a perfectly balanced sound that took all the complexities of progressive rock, all the addictive melodic approaches of jazz and classical musical, put them in a blender and dished them out like the tastiest of fresh pastries on the Champs-Élysées.

Despite this being a brilliant debut album that blows away most of the competition, i am in agreement with everyone else who feels that the drum solo on “Last Song” is waaaaaaaay too long for its own good, but other than that one faux pas (and really it isn’t bad, it just ruins an otherwise perfect album) we have a ridiculously consistent album that more than stands the test of time. In a perfect world this band would have made the cover of Rolling Stone. Yeah, that perfect world that i wish i was in, but hey! This album is real. It was made and believe it or not, the next one is even BETTER :P

If you own the CD you will find that in addition to the original 5 tracks there are 4 bonus tracks that come from their comeback album under the truncated band name MOVING. For some reason someone deemed it wise to disperse these tracks in no particular order between the debut and album and the second “The Genius Of Hans.” Makes no sense but if you own the first two albums on CD you will essentially own the third one as well. No it’s not as good as the first two but not totally shabby either.

siLLy puPPy MOVING GELATINE PLATES followed up their debut album only a year later with the phenomenal THE WORLD OF GENIUS HANS. This was the pinnacle of the first wave of progressive rock when every band was trying to one-up the other and by the time we get to 1972 we have some of the most complex musical machines pumping out some of the most creative and bizarre music ever. MGP were particularly ambitious in their approach as even to this day, albums like THE WORLD OF GENIUS HANS remain as some of the most ambitious and progressive music to ever hit the market. Like many similarly minded musical acts of the day who were pushing themselves so far and evolving musical ideas at the speed of light, the band found it impossible to coax the album buying public to hop onto their prog train and ended up breaking up after this album due to lack of sales, however time has been very kind to MOVING GELATINE PLATES and both of their first two albums have become regarded as two of the most adventurous musical extravaganzas to be had in the early years of prog and all of prog history for that matter. This is super complex music that takes time to seep in. There is simply too much to take in on after one, two or even ten listens but the rewards for the dedicated lover of complex music are immense due to the fact there are more than 450 developments leading to a fast and non-repetitive musical motif.

The distinct influences on board are from Soft Machine and Frank Zappa’s jazz-fusion era only everything here is on steroids taking everything in the Canterbury Scene and jazz-fusion world and increasing the complexity manyfold while jettisoning the irritating solos of the debut album leaving behind a cohesive and mind-bending musical masterpiece. Despite the band only being a four-piece unit of Gerard Pons (drums), Didier Thibault (bass), Gerard Bertram (guitars and vocals) and Maurice Helmlinger (trumpet, saxes, flute and hammond organ)and a few additional guests that add trombone, bassoon, vibes and backing vocals, the music sounds more complex than an entire symphony in a music hall as it is the themes are elaborate offering instantly catchy melodies that turn into the hundreds of combinations of themes, instrumental tradeoffs and ridiculously labyrinthine song structures that keep this whole affair on a seemingly different musical plane.

This is for the seasoned prog lover and would surely alienate the uninitiated abecedarian. As much music as i have consumed in my ever growing addiction i would have to rate THE WORLD OF GENIUS HANS to be one of the most challenging and difficult-to-grasp albums that i have ever heard, yet it is not so far out as to not be able to pick melodies up from first listen, it’s just that the sheer number of melodic developments, their brevity and overall musical structure is a staggering affair. I love these kinds of albums and wish there were more of them. MOVING GELATINE PLATES is a band that has gained recognition over time due to their being so ahead of the pack at the time of release. Thanks to Musea Records for bringing this kind of music into the current era for this music is timeless. On the CD releases there are five extra tracks that are half of the third MGP’s release that came out in 1980 only under the moniker MOVING. They are randomly distributed between the first two albums and although not anywhere near the complexity of the first two releases still make for a decent listen. THE WORLD OF GENIUS HANS is a mega-masterpiece in my world and a desert isle pick for sure since even after a gazillion listens i can still listen to this at any given moment.