01	The Limping Little Girl (Part 1)						03:07
	02	The Limping Little Girl (Part 2)						03:37
	03	The Limping Little Girl (Part 3)						05:17
	04	The Limping Little Girl (Part 4)						04:54
	05	Le Rodeur						01:59
	06	No. 6						00:08
	07	Ceux D'en Bas (Suite) (Part 1)						04:29
	08	Ceux D'en Bas (Suite) (Part 2)						02:02
	09	Ceux D'en Bas (Suite) (Part 3)						01:36
	10	Ceux D'en Bas (Suite) (Part 4)						01:58
	11	Ceux D'en Bas (Suite) (Part 5)						03:07
	12	Ceux D'en Bas (Suite) (Part 6)						06:18
	13	Sworlf						08:32

Line-up/Musicians
— Roger Trigaux / composition, vocals, musical direction, guitar on "Le Rodeur"
— Reginald Trigaux / guitars, vocals
— Dave Kerman / drums, percussion, vocals
— Pierre Chevalier / pianos, mellotron, vocals
— Keith Macksoud / bass
— David Davister / drums & percussion on "Sworlf"
Guest musician:
— Yuval Mesner / cellos

All music & lyrics by Roger Trigaux


Present - No. 6
Country of Origin: Belgium
Format: CD
Record Label: Carbon Records
Catalogue #: C7-043
Year of Release: 1999
Time: 47:12
Info: Carbon Records

Tracks: The Limping Little Girl (Part 1 (3:07), Part 2 (3:38), Part 3 (5:18), Part 4 (4:50)) (16:53), Le R'deur (1:58), Ceux D'En Bas (Suite) (Le Matin (4:30), Le R've De La Nuit (2:03), La Realite (1:36), Vers Le Cauchemar (1:58), Le Cauchemar Yo (3:08), Le Combat (6:15)) (19:30), Sworlf (8:31)

A band consisting of three Belgian and three American musicians, recording an album in Israel and giving assistance in mixing the tapes from Belgium over the Internet is quite an unusual combination. The results are at least as unusual as this... 'Present' can mean a gift, introducing something, not being absent, or today. For me, this CD means all of these, since this CD was sent to me without me knowing it, I haven't heard anything from this band before, the music is very present, and their sound is definitely of today.

As the bio states, Present are not stuck in a musical history, nor do they feel the urge to write something deliberately progressive. The result is, however, progressive in its non-comformity.
Present are Roger Trigeaux on vocals (he also wrote the music and lyrics) and some guitar, but mostly musical directions, Reginald Trigeaux on guitar and vocals, Dave Kerman on drums, percussion and vocals, Pierre Chevalier on piano, Mellotron and vocals, Keith Macksoud on bass, and David Davister drumming on the last track. Despite this line-up with many people singing, don't expect a lot of vocals. We are talking of heavily skilled musicians here. This is no music to be played by simply good musicians. The sounds grab your attention and won't let go, except for track number six (with reference to the CD title, of course, although this is the band's sixth album as well), which is nine seconds of silence.

It's not unnecessarily complex, but the time sigs change a lot. And when it does not, the music follows strange and unexpected melody lines, or almost a-tonal musical structures.
People reading my reviews know this is not my favourite kind of music, and that I don't have a lot of references of bands doing something likewise to offer. You probably would like to know some names, but it's hard to compare unique music with something! But I know of some names, though. Blast, for example, are in the same field, but are heavier and tend to put more notes in a shorter time spanning. If you like contemporary King Crimson albums, you definitely should listen to this as well. Somnambulist are a good reference as well, I think. Anekdoten are a bit more into melodies, but if you like them, go and find out about Present too! And if you're into Liquid Tension Experiment without the heavy keyboard layers and not because of the Dream Theater reference, you should also have a listen.

Like I said, this is not my favourite music. But this CD I found very interesting, nonetheless. The cold attitude towards technical musicianship and total lack of emotion as found in King Crimson's latest works is something Present cannot be accused of. The atmosphere created by listening to this CD is dark, humid, suffocating at times - and that's something I greatly appreciate in music: you have to feel it, experience it. When I heard this CD, I was as pleasantly surprised as I was when I first heard Somnambulist's first album. I think I'd better get Present's previous five albums very soon...

Conclusion: 9 out of 10

Jerry van Kooten