The Best Band You've Never Heard of Post 4 -- Bernard Szajner

While the Pittsburgh-based duo Zombi have been giving the horror beat genre a much needed kick in the testicals, and kids in Brooklyn and L.A. continue to argue about what exactly Italo-disco is, I'd like to take this blog post to reintroduce a lost gem of electronic album genius: that is the work of Bernard Szajner's "Some Deaths Take Forever."

Now apparently this dude was a lighting technician for Magma, the ferverently original and prolific French prog outfit that made up their own language and music that still sounds completely out of this world today. And, when he wasn't inventing LAZER HARPS(!!!) he was making kick ass long-players chalk full of synth goodness that rival that of any kraut.

Szajner

"Some Deaths Take Forever" is an evolved concept album around the life of someone waiting on a death sentence (cheery I know) and it was composed by Szajner in 1980 after Amnesty International contacted him to make a short piece to draw attention to their cause. Proceeds of the album went to Amnesty International as well, although I doubt they saw much, and I know they didn't get anything when I spotted this bad boy in the used bin at Amoeba on Telegraph. I did make a contribution over the Internet in following weeks after listening however. So long live concept albums and AWESOME synth work!

What Allmusic says:

"Some Deaths Take Forever is a concept album that is dark, brooding, and futuristic; an inventive album firmly rooted in rock, much like other quirky recordings of the era by Gary Numan, Jean-Michel Jarre, Robert Fripp, and pre-ambient Brian Eno."

What Rev Rob Dobbs says via Amazon review:

"Bernard Szajner is clearly one of the most original and talented electronic musicians of the 20th century. 'Some Death Forever' is, in my opinion, the greatest electronic/progressive/industrial works that I own (electronic music lovers: if you haven't heard it, you certainly should!) and features a host of great musicians (Pierre Chereze, Marc Geoffroy, Klaus Blasquiz, Bernard Paganotti, Michael Quartermain, Alain Agius, Michael Rabinowitz)."

What Ryan says:

"Synth arpeggio lines with sparse drum machine patterns a la Drumulator and Roland boxes with wood paneling, spaced out chanting interruptions with a slight Zeuhl freak out flare, and guitar work as exciting as Hillage or Gottsching make this an imperative must own for fans of Zombi, Goblin, Cluster etc."

Good luck finding yours though ;)