Over the weekend, I managed to get hold of an album by Harmonium - “Si on avait besoin d’une cinquième saison”.  I must admit, it was very interesting - when you think of Canadian Prog Rock, you tend to think of Rush or Saga but, as Harmonium hail from Québec, the sound is radically different.  I instantly noticed the total lack of any percussion.  It’s a very stripped down and organic sound - acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards (particularly piano and mellotron), flute and saxophone.  All the lyrics are in French which doesn’t really put me off (after all, I enjoy Italian prog despite understanding hardly of it), but the music is fantastic - especially when the mellotrons come in and give it this lush, orchestral sound.  Unfortunately, there must have been a problem converting the album to my iRiver, so I missed the last 5 minutes of the closing instrumental.  One I shall have to listen to again!

Once it had (abruptly) finished, I went to another CD I had over the weekend - The Snow Goose by Camel.  I managed to play about 7 minutes before I got in to work.  I’d heard of them but had never played their music before, and I like what I’ve heard so far - almost like an instrumental version of Jethro Tull, only more accessible.  I’ll play the rest at lunchtime.