SUPERSISTER: TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER (PROG FROM HOLLAND)

$

40

Wow, what you are bidding on is a beautiful import pressing of  SUPERSISTER: TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.   This is on the POLYDOR label, from HOLLAND.  The jacket is in great condtion, the lp looks unplayed.    Beautiful! 

A very good follow-up to Supersister's excellent first album, Present From Nancy, this one isn't all that different from the debut, although I find the results to be slightly less impressive. As is often the case with hastily-recorded sophomore albums, there seems to have been an issue here with the band having enough album-ready material. Whereas the debut album consisted of ten songs, each with its own distinct personality, the bulk of this album is taken up by three long tracks where the musical ideas occasionally are stretched too much or abandoned before their fullest possibilities have been evinced. Nevertheless, this is a very good record. The tempos generally are slowed a bit from the previous album and although the arrangements don't sound as "busy" as they did on Present, the sonic layers sound fuller. So, while To the Highest Bidder does not have the have the manic energy or the wacky sense of humor of Present, it is still an album of very interesting — mostly instrumental — Canterbury-styled progressive rock.

There really isn't a whole lot to distinguish the three longer tracks from each other, but since they're organized loosely and all have the same basic sound, this isn't very important. In fact, it creates a pleasant, seamless flow to the album. The longest track, "Energy (Out of Future)" is my favorite. It starts slowly, with just a march-cadenced bass drum; some flute riffs are added and then an organ kicks in and the tempo quickens, but the basic march rhythm is held for the first 3:40 of the song. Then the rhythm changes and the main melodic theme begins, which in my opinion is the best on the album. The lyrics — shakily constructed English phrases of questionable competence to be sure — nevertheless work well in the context of the song. A, light tuneful melody is paired with the utopian images of children breathing in the air and "floating over countries / in slow motion / like a lotion to feel free." The piece seems to be a warning about the dangers of allowing age to deaden one's responsibility toward building a better tomorrow, and as the song progresses and the vocals are treated to sound mechanized ("you think you're living / in some sort of paradise / out of your future / and out of your time") the main theme ends and the tune is finished by a few minutes of mournful industrial ambience, not unlike what Pink Floyd would do a few years later on "Welcome to the Machine." The mood is broken by the ethereal euro-lounge pop of the fourth track, "Higher." It's the sort of sound that the French electronic band Air would revive on their 1998 debut album, and is further proof that Supersister could have been a heck of a pop band had they chosen that direction. Charming.

Robert Jan Stips, keyboards, lead vocals, vibes; Ron van Eck, bass guitar, fuzzbass; Sacha van Geest, flutes, vocals; Marco Vrolijk, drums, percussion, vocals

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