(Sympho Prog) Milkweed - Milkweed - 1978, APE (image+.cue), lossless

Milkweed biography
MILKWEED was a one-shot, very obscure progressive offering by a group of Canadian artists released on vinyl in the late seventies. The album was re-issued in the nineties by SynPhonic Records, and is still carried in that label's catalog.

While information about the project is scarce, this does not appear to have been an actual band, but rather a project to deliver multi-discipline art in the form of a progressive recording. Saxophonist Marcel Lapointe is an established performance artist and chamber musician who has also appeared as a guest artist on world-music recordings such as those of MUSA DIENG KALA, and continues to perform today in the Quebec area. Guitarist Jocelyn Sheehy appeared as a stock musician in the 1974 Francophile film 'Guitare'. Multi-discipline artist Pierre Nadeau appears as vocalist on the album, his contributions consisting primarily of spoken-word poetry recitations. Mr. Nadeau was a well-known concert pianist in eastern Canada who passed away in 2004. The remainder of the members of the project have largely disappeared from the international music scene.

MILKWEED deserve consideration for inclusion in the Archives for the symphonic stylings of their solo effort, and for their semi-legendary status as an ultra-obscure seventies music project.

Bob Moore (ClemofNazareth)

Review by Tom Ozric
PROG REVIEWER

Milkweed are a Canadian ensemble featuring vocals, drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, oboe and sax, and this, their only release from 1978, is a rare oddity, lovingly re-issued on vinyl, thanks to Greg Walker's Syn-Phonic label, with a much nicer artwork. The music covers a great scope of styles, from the almost New-Wave synth pop of the first track, 'Nervous Houses' (4.34), to Avant-Garde, Symphonic, and even, thanks to some synth sounds, Neo-Prog. Accompanied by some amusing narration/poetry, the players are often in full-throttle mode, especially the Keyboardist, Sergio Goncalves, who composed all the tracks. The track 'Milkweed' (7.18) is a prime, prog arrangement, and 'Time-Bomb Ticking' (8.10), is a fast and furious jam with some fantastic drumming. The overall production is very crisp and clean sounding, even if a little 'thin'. Side 2 consists of a shorter than usual, side-long composition, 'Out For A Walk' (13.37), and is totally instrumental with 3 distinctive sections. Starting out with some avant-jazz piano backed with upright Bass, this lasts the first 4 minutes or so, then the band comes in with a mid-tempo groove, featuring a long synth solo, which then gives way to the almost baroque sounding end section with piano, oboe and acoustic guitar. A superb album, worth tracking down for all serious prog-heads.

Bass – Nelson Gamboa
Composed By, Arranged By – Sergio Goncalves
Design [Cover Design] – Ron Pieniak
Drums – Gerard Masse
Engineer – Jean-Marc Payer
Guitar – Edoardo Couto, Jocelyn Sheehy
Keyboards – Sergio Goncalves
Lyrics By – Pierre Nadeau
Oboe – Louise Caffope
Producer – Greg Walker
Saxophone – Marcel Lapointe
Vocals – Pierre Nadeau