Someone on another board adviced me to listen to Jablkon after I said I was listening to Uz Jsme Doma. It seems to be another Czech avant garde band, sounds interesting. This their allmusic bio:

"The adventurous, highly risk-taking Jablkon has turned out to be one of the more long-lasting bands on the Czech music scene. Formed in what is now the Czech Republic back in the late '70s, Jablkon was around during the Cold War — lead singer Michal Nemec is old enough to remember a time when Eastern Europe was dominated by Soviet-style communist regimes, and the group is still going strong long after the fall of communism and the demise of the Eastern Bloc. Jablkon's music is not easy to categorize; perhaps their work is best described as an experimental, far-reaching mixture of avant-garde rock, progressive rock, European classical, jazz and Eastern European folk. Their lyrics are in Czech, but musically, Jablkon has a lot of non-Czech influences. Because Jablkon is so original, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly who their influences are; suffice it to say that Nemec sounds like he has listened to everyone from Béla Bartók and Sergei Rachmaninov, to jazz greats Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman to ambitious rockers such as King Crimson, Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd. Nemec obviously appreciates rock's more complex side, but at times, his group has shown an awareness of punk's gritty, in-your-face toughness. And for all its eccentricity and abstraction, the band is quite musical — Nemec and his colleagues aren't known for simplistic, easy-to-absorb music, but they are melodic nonetheless.Jablkon was officially formed as a trio in Prague in 1977, when Nemec joined forces with two people he had met at a Czech conservatory: acoustic guitarist Ingo Bellmann and drummer Ivan Podobsky. Nemec was working as a postman at the time, although he had studied composition and conducting at the conservatory; Bellmann, meanwhile, had studied to be a mathematician but was seriously interested in guitar playing. And Podobsky had studied acting. One of Jablkon's first live performances was at Prague Jazz Days, a Czech jazz festival. But even though Jablkon was jazz-influenced, they were never pigeonholed as a jazz group — and they also acquired a small cult following in rock, classical and folk circles. For 12 years, Jablkon was a trio, but the group became a quartet when a second guitarist, Martin Carvan, was added to the lineup in 1989. It was also in the late '80s — not long before communist Czechoslovakia became the capitalist Czech Republic — that Jablkon started building a catalog. The Ninth Wave, their first album, was released on Panton Records in 1988. Jablkon went on to record at least six albums for various Czech labels in the '90s, including Jablkon & Sveceny (1991) and Baba Aga (1993) for B&N, Symphonic Jablkon (1995) for Fi, and Machalaj (1995) and Pisnicky (1997) for Baba N. Records — and the early 2000s found them recording for the Indies label. Along the way, Jablkon has had a few lineup changes. In 2004 — which marked Jablkon's 27th anniversary — the group's lineup consisted of Nemec (lead vocals, guitar), Carvan (acoustic guitar), Petr Chiouba (drums, percussion, accordion, vibes) and Johnny Judl (electric bass, electric guitar, bassoon)."

Is anyone familiar with them? Seba maybe?

more information and some mp3 samples here

Am I that predictable?

Well, yes, I do know of them. I have their record, Cestující v Noci, but nothing else, although I haven't listened to it in quite a while. If I remember, I think the vocals were what interested me the most. I'll play it again in a minute and let you know what I think.

Actually, I just remembered that there was a reason I hadn't listened to it for a while -- I don't think I cared for it much the first time I heard it, but I'll give it another try.

Alright, playing it now, and I remember why I didn't care for it. As you, I was impressed by that review above, but their music really isn't that experimental, it's more like Czech art pop. It has some nice keyboard lines, and the vocals are interesting, but their music seems a bit hollow to me in the instrumental department. A little too conventional for me, I guess. They have the occasional odd time signiture and sax/trumpet line, but it's just not that impressive to me. It's not terrible, just not great. Maybe their other releases are a bit better.

yes and it was you who spread the Už jsme doma love here first...
tried two of the samples and they seem nice, but not fantastic... but 30 seconds is way too short anyway... better two put a few full downloads on your site instead of 30 seconds of all of your work, methinks...

Like I said first time around, I like their vocal delivery, but nothing else really.

yeah the samples seemed poppier than AMG's review suggested...

If you want to listen to another Czech band after hearing Uz Jsme Doma, you need look no further than the Plastic People Of The Universe!

http://www.furious.com/perfect/pulnoc.html

They were a huge influence on Uz Jsme Doma, particularly their album, "Egon Bondy's Happy Heart Club Banned".

no downloads anywhere and btw that album you have of Jablkon seems indeed to be their worst... disappoint Czech pop AMG calls it...

and btw2 have you heard of the Swedish band Philemon Arthur & the Dung? they've influenced both Hedningarna ("Vals i Fel Dur" of Hippjokk is a cover of one of their song) and bob hund (indierock band, won't interest you), two of my favourite Swedish bands, but I can't find any downloads directly... there's a rather enthusiastic review of their one album at rateyourmusic.com

Yeah, I don't know where you'd hear samples of that record, even the CD is hard to come by (( but it's worth it )), but look around file sharing networks, I'm sure you'll find someone with a few tracks you can check out.

No I haven't.