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Posts tagged Robert Wyatt
Matching Mole – Smoke Signals (Live 1972) (@256)
23 Mar 2010
(Review from progarchives.com)
‘Smoke Signals’ was recorded in spring 1972 during an European tour mainly in Belgium and France. As these tapes were not planned for release the sound quality is just acceptable.
Most tracks appearing here were written by Dave Mc Rae and Phil Miller and would be recorded later for ‘The Little Red Record’. Dave Sinclair who started the tournee with the band had left and was replaced by keyboarder Dave Mc Rae who had already guested on the first record and brought with him some fine tunes like ‘March Ides’ and ‘Smoke Signal’ presented here for the first time in a rough version.
The band introduction by Wyatt, launches into ‘March Ides’.The theme is played by Phil Miller, who is soloing then over an ostinato bass line, followed by a drum solo. The second theme is ‘Smoke Signal’ (here re-named ‘Smoke Rings), maybe the most beautiful ‘Matching Mole’ theme by Dave Mc Rae. The theme is then followed by a longer improvisation until the re-exposure.
The next theme “Nan True’s Hole” was written by Phil Miller, who plays a repeated riff over which Dave Mc Rae plays an improvisation followed by another drum solo. ‘Brandy As In Benji’ follows the same structure of expostion solo, followed by a heavily distorted e-piano solo, that launches again into the ‘March Ides’ theme, followed by ‘Instant Pussy’ the only Robert Wyatt composition from the first record, with treated vocals by Robert and an e-piano improvisation.
The ‘Smoke Signal’ appears again, followed by another improvisation and a bass solo and finally the band launches into ‘Lything and gracing’ a Phil Miller composition, that would appear only as a Hatfield leftover on ‘Afters’.
The live sound of the band is for the most part instrumental fusion that point at which directions all future Canterbury related bands will go at. One might consider that Hatfield and the North, Gilgamesh, National Health are direct descendants from these live sounds provided on these archival tapes.
Line-up:
- Phil Miller / guitar
- Bill MacCormick / bass
- Dave McRae / electric piano
- Robert Wyatt / drums, vocals
Track List:
01. Intro – 0:44
02. March Ides I – 4:22
03. Smoke Rings – 7:51
04. Nan True’s Hole – 6:00
05. Brandy As In Benji – 4:22
06. Electric Piano solo – 1:11
07. March Ides II – 4:56
08. Instant Pussy – 2:52
09. Smoke Signal – 6:59
10. Lything & Gracing – 11:53
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Matching Mole – March (Live 1972) (@256)
22 Mar 2010
(Review from bbc.co.uk, progarchives.com)
By the time this album was recorded (March 1972, a month after Sinclair’s departure) the band were playing continuous sets with much room for collective improvisation amid the more arranged pieces. “March” captures both the uncertainties and glories of this method beautifully.
The material is drawn mainly from their eponymous first album, with guitarist Phil Miller’s rifferamas “Part of the Dance” and “Lything and Gracing” in full effect. Despite their progressive tricksiness, the Mole’s renderings of them are faintly haphazard, teetering on the brink of destruction then turning away at the last nanosecond. Wyatt’s extraordinary drumming comes across as a wired concoction of Tony Williams and Keith Moon; he and bassist Bill MacCormick sometimes appear to be operating in seperate time zones.
The sublime “Instant Pussy” features Robert’s trademark cosmic scatting, though without the usual echo (‘Where’s the sheets of sound?’ he repeats as the engineer desperately searches for the right buttons and fails to find them). Another vocal gem is “No Alf Measures”, Wyatt’s lovely arrangement of an early Kevin Ayers tune. Their cover of Caravan number Waterloo Lilly is surprising and vocal-less.
Miller’s distinctive playing has a keening, bluesy quality that sits nicely with his nibbled distortojazz stylings. His and MacCormick’s playing is kept in check by McCrae’s measured, shimmering electric piano.
So powerful, so thrilling, and so vital and lively their play should be.
Line-up:
- Bill MacCormick / bass
- Dave McRae / electric piano
- Phil Miller / guitar
- Robert Wyatt / drums, vocals
Track List:
01. March – 4:49
02. Instant Pussy – 4:53
03. Smoke Signals – 6:20
04. Part Of The Dance – 9:54
05. No Alf Measures – 5:44
06. Lything And Gracing – 11:36
07. Waterloo Lilly – 4:21
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Matching Mole – On the Radio 1972-1973 (@256)
21 Mar 2010
(Review from progarchives.com)
Over the year Matching Mole were together, they managed four BBC sessions but only one of them had been issued as “BBC in Concert” in 1992. This “On the Radio” album contains all four sessions (including the “BBC in Concert” session) with a good sound quality. The sessions aren’t chronologically ordered (the Jan 72 session is even broken up in two parts).
The first session we are subjected to is the April 1972 one, where all three tracks are meddled into a 20-mins — the band already has some tracks down for their second album. Indeed “Marchides” and “Smoke Signals” were only works-in-progress and both sound much different than in their future studio version (including a drum solo in the former); and are sandwiching “Instant Pussy” where Wyatt explodes his scat voice into echo effects.
Up next is the Jan 1972 session, broken up by the March 1972 session, with the delicious “Part Of The Dance” (with Sinclair still in the line-up and McRae in as well), with their first album just about to be released. The Miller-penned “Part of the Dance” song features both an Hammond organ and a Fender Rhodes, and even though the sound quality is a bit approximate, this is one of the album’s highlights. The two March session tracks (Sinclair was gone by then) are much clearer sounding, especially the Ayers cover “No ‘alf Measures” and the never studio-encapsulated “Lithing and Gracing” track, an exciting Miller, McRae & Wyatt composition. Rounding up the unreleased tracks is an extended version of “Immediate Kitten”, where Sinclair’s organ charms into the superb intro, then going fuzz into the body of the song. An extended and excellent workout that confirms that Matching Mole’s best moments were with both Sinclair and McRae in the band.
The second part of the album is an In Concert feature from late July 1972, just as their second album was almost finished; less than three months away from the group’s demise. This “session starts on the best Wyatt scat vocals ever with Instant Pussy, he yodels away madly in their best-ever version of this track. The next three tracks have been already featured in this archival release but are presented in much different versions and you’d have to be a chiefmasterconoisseur to guess blindly where “Lithing And Gracing” track begins. It sees Matching Mole in full madness roaring and “Marchides” sees McRae’s Fender Rhodes take a solid intro, before the group blinds us with their dexterity and virtuosity a bit further down the track. “Part Of The Dance” is again much livelier in this version than either the radio or studio version. Here, it is the pinnacle of Matching Mole’s short career, with Phil Miller shinning throughout the 6 minutes of the track. Absolutely essential stuff, with the closer ode to Benj (a roadie) melted in as a finale for the track.
Line-up:
- Robert Wyatt / drums, vocals
- Phil Miller / guitar
- Dave MacRae / e-piano.
- Bill MacCormick / bass
- Dave Sinclair / organ
Track List:
01. March Ides + Instant Pussy + Smoke Signal – 20:33
02. Part Of The Dance – 7:56
03. No ‘alf Measures – 6:49
04. Lithing And Gracing – 7:18
05. Immediate Kitten – 9:59
06. Instant Pussy – 5:47
07. Lithing And Gracing – 4:49
08. Marchides – 6:49
09. Part Of The Dance – 6:32
10. Brandy As In Benj – 1:16
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Matching Mole – Little Red Record (1972) (@256)
20 Mar 2010
(Review from progarchives.com)
Less than seven months after recording their debut album, having toured constantly recording a few radio sessions throughout Europe, Matching Mole entered the studios in July 1972 for their second (and last) album that was produced by Robert Fripp.
Starting on one of the most surprising track that Wyatt ever recorded, “Drink Our Politics Away” is a strange semi-operatic over some McRae keyboards and Eno synth layer. Directly and abruptly segueing into “Marchides”, the group takes its vengeance with a wild and torrid 100mph jazz-rock that veers a bit dissonant in its middle section, before coming back more relaxed. Some exceptionally inventive drumming from Wyatt on this track that had received much previous rehearsal since it was concert standard, but everyone contributes greatly. Again segueing straight into “Nan True’s Hole”, Robert develops some very strange gossipy vocals with him, wifie Alfie and friendly model Julie just yapping away over Wyatt’s jaw-dropping drumming and a Frippian guitar solo, courtesy of Phil Miller; the whole thing falling into “Righteous Rhumba” without really noticing much a change. Closing on the wild “Brandy as in Benj”, with McRae on a rare organ part at the start and Miller’s brilliant solo.
Being shutout throughout the first half of the album, McCormick scores “Gloria Gloom” as the flipside opens with the second centrepiece, which starts nightmarishly percussive and hauntingly spooky with Eno’s VCS-3 deranging many listeners and remaining dissonant through a few minutes, until chattering gossipy vocals take the track slowly into the middle section where Wyatt singing his heart out until Eno’s Martenot-like synth layers take us back to earth. After the popish “God Song” (sticking out like a sore thumb), “Flora Fidgit” where McRae’s el piano steals the show. The closing Smoke Signal is the third highlight, a slow developing ambient cosmic piece with Wyatt’s astounding drumming, and slowly dying in death throes.
Although Matching Mole’s last studio album is generally not as reputed as its debut album, it’s certainly as good as it, with this one being more of a group effort.
Line-up:
- Robert Wyatt / drums, mouth
- Phil Miller / guitars
- Dave McRae / grand piano, electric piano, Hammond organ
- Bill MaCormick / bass
with
- Brian Eno / synthesizers
Track List:
01. Starting In The Middle Of The Day We Can Drink Our Politics Away – 2:31
02. Marchides – 8:25
03. Nan True’s Hole – 3:36
04. Righteous Rhumba – 2:50
05. Brandy As In Benj – 4:24
06. Gloria Gloom – 8:06
07. God Song – 2:59
08. Flora Fidgit – 3:27
09. Smoke Signal – 6:38
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Matching Mole – Matching Mole (1972) (@256)
19 Mar 2010
(Review from progarchives.com)
With his first solo album under his belt, Robert Wyatt returned to Soft Machine, only to find that opposition to his vocal experiments had grown stronger than ever, and he left “this group that was making him so miserable”.
Wyatt called up Dave Sinclair, Delivery’s Phil Miller (brother of then-Caravan member Steve Miller), and found Bill McCormick during a Quiet Sun eclipse and formed his group, which only rehearsed three months before recording their debut album. About halfway through it became apparent that Sinclair wasn’t going to stay in Matching Mole, so the group added jazzman Dave McRae on electric piano, but supposedly as a guest.
The links between the two bands didn’t severe though. Not only did Wyatt name his new band after his former group’s French translation (Machine Mole >> hence Matching Mole), but the two groups spent much time touring together, the newcoming Matching Mole opening for the veteran Soft Machine.
Recorded around Christmas 1971, the band’s debut album is an uneven affair, with the record basically divided in three sections. The first section seems to elevate Wyatt as a superstar with his vocals brought to the fore, while the second movement is a wild fusion of jazz-rock and progressive rock, and the third part being quite experimental.
The opener “O Caroline” is a sentimental ballad with Wyatt’s fragile vocals accompanied by piano and mellotron sprawling all over the song. Next is the superb “Instant Pussy” where Wyatt orgasms into the microphone as if he was a woman, the whole thing over a tranquil bass line and a gentle jazz-rock rhythm. Segueing directly into “Signed Curtain”, Wyatt starts with his no nonsense “first verse and chorus” lyrics over a piano. After the first three songs celebrating Wyatt’s diverse fortunes as a singer, the albums veers (first gently with a soft electric piano) but less than a minute into Miller’s “Part Of The Dance”, we are deeply in hard-driving uncompromising jazz-rock, the type that fries your brains when looking out for the sun. This track blazes and smokes all the way throughout its 9-mins+.
The flipside starts on two tracks that could’ve easily come from the better Caravan albums, and it’s a bit surprising to find that Sinclair didn’t write these two. “Instant Kitten” is a slow developing track that pays tribute to its sister “Instant Pussy”, but once the second part of the track has arrives, it sounds stunningly like a Caravan track looking for home (Grey & Pink era). The next track, “Dedicated To Hugh” (after a Vol 2 Soft Machine track) starts on weird electronic noises, before returning to a Caravan sound (this time Waterloo Lily era), before veering completely insane RIO improvisation. “Beer As Braindeer” is a cosmic theme in its middle section, but takes upon the RIO realm for the opening and losing parts. The latter “Immediate Curtain” is spooky cosmic track that resembles eatly Tangerine Dream.
Matching Mole’s debut album is a bit of a confusing and uneven, but the qualities are so much greater than its flaws. Though it’s hard to recommend any Matching Mole albums to a novice Canterbury pilgrim.
Line-up:
- Robert Wyatt / drums, vocals, piano, mellotron
- Dave Sinclair / keyboards
- Bill MacCormick / bass
- Phil Miller / guitar
with
- Dave McRae / keyboards
Track List:
01. O Caroline – 5:05
02. Instant Pussy – 2:59
03. Signed Curtain – 3:06
04. Part Of The Dance – 9:16
05. Instant Kitten – 4:58
06. Dedicated To Hugh, But You Weren’t Listening – 4:39
07. Beer As In Braindeer – 4:02
08. Immediate Curtain – 5:57
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Henry Cow – Concerts (1976) (@256)
25 Apr 2008
(Review from progarchives.com)
This album could be subtitled “The Young Person’s Guide To Henry Cow”. In the absence of an official compilation, this is the closest thing we have to a one-stop shop which contains new versions of pieces from every album, a couple of cover versions, a generous slice of live improv and (bonus on the CD reissue) half an album’s worth of studio improv as well. The original issue was a lengthy vinyl double album, but for the CD reissue Henry Cow’s contribution to Greasy Truckers Live at Dingwall’s Dancehall is added as well.
Side 1 of the vinyl original was taken up with a 23 minute medley originally recorded in 1975 for legendary DJ John Peel’s show. It was winning Peel’s ‘Rockertunity Knocks’ contest that helped Henry Cow secure a record deal in the first place, so it’s fitting that this session was included. Rather than simply rattle through a few tracks off their latest album, they arranged a continuous medley with new bridging passages. They start with ‘Beautiful As The Moon…’ from In Praise Of Learning, here played with even more clarity and intensity than the album version. This leads into a new, different version of ‘Nirvana For Mice’, the opening track from their first LP. The substitution of Lindsay Cooper’s bassoon for Geoff Leigh’s sax gives the piece a rather different, less overtly jazzy feel. Then we’re into ‘Ottawa Song’, a version of a song known to some from Matching Mole’s Little Red Record. This again was a fitting choice, as Matching Mole were the only other UK prog act of the time to make explicit political statements. Dagmar’s interpretation of the lyrics is clearer than Wyatt’s, and the arrangement almost makes it into a new song altogether. ‘Gloria Gloom’ is an otherwise unreleased Cutler/Frith composition, and a reprise of ‘Beautiful As The Moon…’ brings the whole thing to a close. Clear and concentrated, this was Henry Cow at their most accessible.
Side 2 was tracks 2 and 3, recorded on stage with Robert Wyatt. This segment opens with ‘Bad Alchemy’ from Desperate Straits, featuring Wyatt and Dagmar duetting to great effect, before a segue into a manically uptempo reading of Wyatt’s ‘Little red Riding Hood Hit The Road’. Following this is a live version of ‘Ruins’, probably the most complex of their composed pieces. This version is nothing short of amazing, but the real revelation comes in the closing section of the piece where Dagmar sings Fred Frith’s violin part from the studio original.
If CD 1 gives a good overview of Henry Cow’s skills as composers, CD 2 plunges into the altogether more challenging waters of their group improvisations. ‘Groningen’, Groningen Reprise’ and ‘Udine’ all come (I believe) from a Dutch tour where they played as a quartet without Dagmar or Lindsay Cooper. In parts of these pieces you can hear fragments of what would become ‘Living In The Heart Of The Beast’ on In Praise of Learning. The interplay is often stunning on these tracks. ‘Oslo’ features the full 6 piece line up in almost half an hours worth of extremely free improvisation, including Dagmar apparently speaking in tongues about half way through. On all the concert recordings Frith’s guitar is superb, and he also manages to work in some manic xylophone passages. The remaining tracks on CD 2 were earlier recordings from ‘Live At Dingwall’s Dance Hall’, and they sound like a set of studio improvisations recorded between the departure of Geoff Leigh and Lindsay Cooper joining. Leigh is credited on the sleeve, but any contributions he made are inaudible and his name is also absent from the composer credits. These are not as advanced as the studio improvs on “Unrest” and “In Praise Of Learning”, but they are a welcome addition to this reissue.
“Concerts” was excellent value on vinyl, and is even better as a CD reissue. It functions as a good introduction to the many faceted beast that was Henry Cow, and gives tasters of their previous albums without spoiling them.
Line-up:
- Lindsay Cooper / bassoon, flute, oboe, piano
- Chris Cutler / drums, piano
- Fred Frith / guitar, piano , violin, xylophone
- John Greaves / bass, voice, celeste, piano
- Tim Hodgkinson / Organ, clarinet, alto saxophone
- Dagmar Krause / voice, piano
- Geoff Leigh / tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, recorder, flute, clarinet
- Robert Wyatt / vocals
Track List:
CD1
01. Beautiful as the Moon, Terrible as an Army With Banners – 5:41
02. Nirvana For Mice – 5:30
03. The Ottowa Song – 4:15
04. Gloria Gloom – 4:13
05. Beautiful As The Moon (Reprise) – 3:11
06. Bad Alchemy – 2:54
07. Little Red Riding Hood Hits The Road – 5:49
08. Ruins – 16:29
09. Groningen – 8:53
10. Groningen (Again) – 7:26
CD2
01. Oslo – 1 – 5:38
02. Oslo – 2 – 3:15
03. Oslo – 3 – 3:23
04. Oslo – 4 – 3:00
05. Oslo – 5 – 3:00
06. Oslo – 6 – 1:44
07. Oslo – 7 – 4:54
08. Oslo – 8 – 4:01
09. Off The Map – 8:22
10. Cafe Royal – 3:20
11. Keeping Warm In Winter / Sweet Heart Of Mine – 9:58
12. Udine – 9:39
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Hatfield and the North – Hatfield and the North (1973) (@256)
06 Nov 2007
(Review from progweed.net, progarchives.com)
Sometimes nothing suffices like this group’s definitive concoction of jazzy, off-beat progressive rock. Those shimmering guitar solos, fluid rhythms, sparkling synths and choppy organ motifs bubbling around in the groups distinctly quirky, and distinctly English, brand of exquisite, melodic prog-fusion. If any band could possibly define the “Canterbury” sub genre, Hatfield & The North might be that band. The group consisted of a veritable all-star team of Canterbury musicians. Stalwart Dave Stewart on keyboards (Arzachel, Egg, Khan), Pip Pyle, fresh from a brief stint in Gong on drums, Caravan’s beloved Richard Sinclair on vocals, and of course the incomparable Phil Miller, from Matching Mole, on guitar.
Their selftitled first album is definitely not easy listening. A grower indeed, something you have to listen to repeatedly and with a good deal of concentration. Four superb musicians (true masters of their craft), jazz-tinged, experimental compositions, angelic female vocals and contributions from such greats as Robert Wyatt of Soft Machine fame… Heaven for some, hell for others. Hatfield and the North are certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. The music has more shifts and time signature changes than most people’s attention span can cope with, and most of the tracks are instrumental.
There are quite a lot of tracks listed on the record’s sleeve, though it is practically impossible to see where one ends and the other begins – they flow seamlessly into each other, forming a continuum which challenges the listener’s powers of concentration in a way the traditional song format does not. As such, it is not easy to mention individual tracks, although there are obviously some which stand out, notably the 10-minute-plus “(Son of) There’s no Place Like Homerton”, where a beautiful vocal interlude courtesy of The Northettes is followed by wildly blaring horns. “Calyx” features delicate vocal harmonies from Robert Wyatt; while “Fol de Rol” starts with Richard Sinclair humming nonsense words and then launching into an incredible bass solo.
The album’s a delightful mixture of styles: in a brief period of time you are taken from chirpy music-hall style singing, to crisp electric guitar solos, delicate flute salads and angelic girl choirs. A marvellous concoction!
Line-up:
- Phil Miller / guitars
- Pip Pyle / drums
- Richard Sinclair / bass, vocals
- Dave Stewart / organ, piano
with
- Jeremy Baines / pixiephone
- Barbara Gaskin / backing vocals
- Geoff Leigh / saxophones, flute
- Amanda Parsons / backing vocals
- Ann Rosenthal / backing vocals
- Robert Wyatt / vocals (4)
Track List:
01. The Stubbs effect (0:23)
02. Big jobs (Poo Poo extract) (0:36)
03. Going up to people and tinkling (2:25)
04. Calix (2:45)
05. Son of “There’s No Place Like Homerton” (10:10)
06. Aigrette (1:38)
07. Rifferama (2:56)
08. Fol de rol (3:07)
09. Shaving is boring (8:45)
10. Licks for the ladies (2:37)
11. Bossa nochance (0:40)
12. Big jobs No 2 (By Poo and the Wee Wees) (2:14)
13. Lobster in cleavage probe (3:57)
14. Gigantic land-crabs in Earth takeover bid (3:21)
15. The other stubbs effect (0:38)
16. Let’s Eat (Real Soon) (Bonus) (3:16)
17. Fitter Stoke Has a Bath (Bonus) (4:35)
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Soft Machine – Third (1970) (@256)
12 Aug 2007
(Review from progarchives.com)
From start to end, this album is an absolute killer. Every single second is just excellent, the listener cannot lose his attention on the music. Third is by far Soft Machine’s best album and the last one with Robert Wyatt. With four pieces of approximately 20 minutes each, mainly instrumental, the musicians push back the frontiers of space modal jazz rock far beyond.
The record opens the live song “Facelift” and its crazy sonic experimental deflagrations. A disturbing atmosphere takes place to let the energic and catchy jazzy theme suddenly explode. The ambiance changes at the middle of the track to become calmer and more mysterious. This section shows echoes of John Coltrane’s playing. “Slightly All The Time” is a soft and slow evolving piece of modal jazz. It has sometimes faster moments which will take you to the heights. The second half of the song is more tormented and spacey. Terrific ! But then comes the best side of the disc. First, the only track with vocals, “Moon In June”. Robert Wyatt’s psychedelic and soft voice is just magic and fits perfectly to the melancholic and enchanting music. Just listen and relax. The number of changes of musical directions is just amazing! The second part of the song displays an unbeatable combo of powerful jazz rock. Terrifying! “Out-Bloody-Rageous” concludes magnificiently the album by making it enter definitely into the legend. The tune starts and finishes delicately with an ethereal aquatic electronic ambiance taking the listener to the clouds during nearly 5 minutes. The rest just features top-notch and very inspired modal jazz with talented musicians at their best.
Less psychedelic, more jazz and progressive oriented than their two first releases, Third is an exemplary tour de force and a milestones in its genre. You will not see the time pass.
Line-up:
- Robert Wyatt / drums, vocals (track 3), piano (track 3), organ (track 3), bass guitar (track 3)
- Hugh Hopper / bass guitar
- Mike Ratledge / organ, piano (except track 3), electric piano (except track 3)
- Elton Dean / alto sax (except track 3), saxello (except track 3)
- Lyn Dobson / flute, soprano sax (track 1)
with
- Nick Evans / trombone (track 2)
- Jimmy Hastings / flute, bass clarinet (track 2)
- Rab Spall / electric violin (track 3)
Track List:
01. Facelift (Live) (18:54)
02. Slightly All The Time (18:14)
03. Moon In June (19:18)
04. Out-Bloody-Rageous (19:17)
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