Ktzat Acheret - Nonames (1973)
I would like to recommend one of the better progressive rock bands that was ever created. The Hebrew name of the band is Kzat Aheret (in English this translates to "A Little Different"). But besides the Hebrew name, on the album cover, there is one more name - "Nonames". They are a band that was created in Israel in 1974, by a three very talented musicians and composers; Shem-Tov Levi-flute and voices [mainly], Shlomo Ydov-guitars and voices [mainly], Shlomo Gronich-keybords and voices [mainly]. I write "mainly" because they played many more instruments like drums and string instruments. A very astonishing band for Israel in those days. They were experienced in many progressive styles, like a very sophisticated psychedelic style, with classical and extravagant improvisations and forms, with melodic and dissonant melodies, and with a theatrical style of humor in many episodes, and sometimes were influenced with their own folk music. They used great orchestration. They released their only album in '74 and published many singles. -- Dickmann Ofer (Israeli progressive rock)
*****
By 1973 Israel was involved in the terrible Yom Kippur war, this was a traumatic event for the Israeli nation. After the war, many artists tried to express the trauma. Gronich teamed up with Shlomo Ydov and assisted by several session musicians they recorded a brilliant album under the name Nonames/Ktzat Acheret (A Bit Different). This album reflected some of the pain and anguish of the Yom Kippur trauma and was very varied musically. At this stage strong influence of groups such as Gentle Giant and Mahavishnu Orchestra was reflected in their music, but they added a dose of jazz, classical, avant-garde, Middle-Eastern music and Balkan rhythms and a certain sense of humor. it had many highlights including the 3 instrumentals Shemi's Piece and Quinta which sounded like a symphonic version of Italian band Area and 204 that sounded like Gentle Giant on avant-garde pills, Two Chinese, The Little Prince and Pink Skies. This album is an essential masterpiece of Israeli prog. The band split due to Gronich's departure to USA.
