{"id":21730,"date":"2021-09-30T05:30:37","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T09:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=21730"},"modified":"2021-09-28T14:21:17","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T18:21:17","slug":"album-review-nektar-sounds-like-swiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/30\/album-review-nektar-sounds-like-swiss\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Nektar \u2013 \u2026Sounds Like Swiss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Nektar was one of those bands that got lost in a sea of great music. Though they were British, being based in Germany certainly didn\u2019t help gain them exposure in places like the U.S. So despite the high quality of their music \u2013 especially on albums like 1971\u2019s Journey to the Center of the Eye<\/i>, 1972\u2019s A Tab in the Ocean<\/i> and Remember the Future<\/i> from \u201873 \u2013 they made little commercial headway in the States. Often regarded as their high water mark, Remember<\/i> the <\/i>F<\/i>uture<\/i> did reach #19 on the U.S. album charts, but today it\u2019s unfortunately little-remembered.<\/p>\n

But among those in the know, the Nektar catalog is highly regarded. Muscular rock music that displayed the group\u2019s ambitious nature, Nektar\u2019s body of work is nonetheless characterized by a healthy down-to-earth nature that generally avoids some of progressive rock\u2019s excesses. And while the band is nobody\u2019s idea of krautrock, the group\u2019s home base does seem to have influenced its musical chartacter: there\u2019s a trace-y, hypnotic vibe to even the most pile-driving rock excursions.<\/p>\n

The year 1973 saw the release of not one but two Nektar albums. But in contrast to the conceptual nature of Remember the Future<\/i> (with an album-long track), ...Sounds Like <\/i>Th<\/i>is<\/i> was a double LP that relied more upon improvisation and \u2013 dare I utter the word \u2013 jamming. But wait, gentle reader: don\u2019t be put off by that malignant label. Nektar knew how to jam without getting all self-gratifying about it. …Sounds Like <\/i>T<\/i>his<\/i> isn\u2019t the band\u2019s best, but it is a worth excursion done during the band\u2019s peak.<\/p>\n

All of that is context for a new archival release from Nektar. The punningly-named Sounds Like Swiss<\/i> isn\u2019t an especially appetizing title, but the music contained therein is more than worthwhile. Recorded live in 1973 during dates in support of …Sounds Like <\/i>T<\/i>his<\/i>, it\u2019s a 2CD +DVD document of onstage performances. The set list spans the group\u2019s earliest release, and includes material that appeared on …So<\/i>u<\/i>nds Like <\/i>T<\/i>his<\/i> as well.<\/p>\n

The sound quality is quite good, and the performances are energetic, impassioned, and strike just the right balance between freewheeling\/exploratory and coherent\/structured. Lead vocalist Roye Albrighton is in fine form, as are his bandmates. Nearly all of the material on the second audio disc \u2013sourced from the Palladium in Geneva \u2013 is featured on the DVD.<\/p>\n

The film is in black-and-white, but it\u2019s commendably sharp. And the producers of this latter-day arcival release have resisted the temptation to letterbox\/upscale the moving images for modern screens; it\u2019s presented in its original 3×4 format, which is perfectly fine. A multi-camera shoot, it gives prime-era Nektar the care and attention this band so richly deserved, and so rarely got.<\/p>\n

Listeners who enjoy the band\u2019s early \u201870s work (and\/or the surprisingly solid late-period release Time Machine<\/i> (from 2013 and featuring Yes man Billy Sherwood helping out) will find …Sounds Like Swiss<\/i> a supremely enjoyable set. And those who don\u2019t know the band\u2019s music \u2013 but who appreciate the sounds and textures of bands like Deep Purple at their most ambitious \u2013 will find …Sounds Like Swiss <\/i>as fine an entry point as any of Nektar\u2019s studio sets of that era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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