Hi there!
To me, few scenes have ever been more thread-worthy on a music forum than the Canterbury Scene. I hope you'll join me in the celebration and perhaps discovery of the wonderful bands and artists connected to it.
If you're unfamiliar, The Canterbury Scene is what happened when an Australian named David Allen moved to England in the early 60s where he befriended Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge. They made a band together called the David Allen trio.. which was David Allen reading spoken word poetry to backing music by Wyatt and Ratledge. That band was scrapped, but then they created a new band called The Wilde Flowers which again kinda gave birth to Soft Machine, Gong and Caravan. From there, we also kinda got Hatfield and the North, Khan, National Health, Kevin Ayers, Bruford, Delivery, Matching Mole.
Less connected, but still talked about in the scene are bands like Egg, Henry Cow, Isotope, Gongzilla and Gilgamesh. Then you have a whole host of bands that either touched the scene briefly through collabs, like Panzerpappa or Karen Mantler, or were located outside of it all but were clearly influenced, like Ain Soph.
Musically, it's quite diverse, but with a lot of it falling into prog rock, fusion jazz or somewhere in between.
So what's your favorite stuff from the Canterbury Scene?
The first Hatfield and the North album very easily. I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing that one.
Quote from: larsvsnapster on Nov 08, 2023, 11:56 PMThe first Hatfield and the North album very easily. I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing that one.
Oh man, you may have gone straight for the best one ❤️ how beautiful is that run of songs from Licks for the Ladies up to and including Lobster in Cleavage Probe? And then Calyx, Son of There's No Place Like Homerton.. Their sound is so original and unique and also so beautiful and soothing at times.
One of my all-time favorites for sure.
Have you btw heard this little pre-Mumps medley? It was on a Virgin sampler, which makes it relatively rare, but has been added as a bonus track to certain releases of their debut. It's brilliant.
This song might scare some away, but..
National Health feels kind of like a continuation of Hatfield and the North, only a bit more structured and less fluid - often a bit more challenging and less focused on vocals.
When I first heard them, it was their debut, and the first song on that record is this one, Tenemos Roads:
It is written by the amazing Dave Stewart (Egg, Hatfield and the North, Bruford) and is a 14-15 minutes prog epic. To me, it's one of those songs that, despite being a challenging listen with parts in 25/8, it still manages to be catchy. Dave was real good at that. And there's something unique about this sound. It's an itch I can't get scratched anywhere else.
I reached out to Dave on DM's a long time ago and asked him about the song's inspiration. He told me it came from the book The Worm Ouroboros, an early 1920s fantasy book by E. R. Eddison. Of course I had to read it. I'm not sure I can recommend the book, but the song is great 👌
Quote from: Guybrush on Nov 09, 2023, 12:18 AMThis song might scare some away, but..
I found the 25/8 section you're talking about, and it occurs in "Elephants" from the same album. It's divided 6-6-6-7(4+3)and it's during the solo section, a descending chordal figure whose rhythm ends 1.1.123.
A good few of my favorite musicians of the era are from or associated with that scene, in particular Steve Hillage and Tim Blake, who both were members of Gong at some point and put out excellent solo work afterward.
As a synthesizer/ambient dork I'm partial to Hillage's Rainbow Dome Musick and Blake's Crystal Machine and New Jerusalem albums.
Quote from: larsvsnapster on Nov 09, 2023, 02:15 AMI found the 25/8 section you're talking about, and it occurs in "Elephants" from the same album. It's divided 6-6-6-7(4+3)and it's during the solo section, a descending chordal figure whose rhythm ends 1.1.123.
Hey, talk about dedication. Nice! I haven't actually looked for the part myself, but was writing from memory as its something mentioned once in a while, like in this post:
Post in thread 'time signature 25/16' https://www.tdpri.com/threads/time-signature-25-16.368722/post-4663488
Although here it says 16th notes, so I may have gotten that wrong.
But as you write, to me it sounds like it goes mostly in 6s which of course isn't difficult. I love playing and making music in 6/8s myself.
Thanks for checking it out. I'll have a listen myself, also to Elephants 🙂
Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Nov 09, 2023, 03:01 AMA good few of my favorite musicians of the era are from or associated with that scene, in particular Steve Hillage and Tim Blake, who both were members of Gong at some point and put out excellent solo work afterward.
As a synthesizer/ambient dork I'm partial to Hillage's Rainbow Dome Musick and Blake's Crystal Machine and New Jerusalem albums.
Hey, I haven't heard any of those! Will check out. The only Hillage album I know well is Fish Rising which of course contains material intended for Khan's planned second album. It's pretty good 🙂
Just wanted to post something here before I go to bed, so here's two nice versions of Hugh Hopper's song Memories.
We gots some Robert Wyatt:
And here's a version by Material featuring a very young Whitney Houston.
Quote from: Guybrush on Nov 09, 2023, 07:52 AMThanks for checking it out. I'll have a listen myself, also to Elephants 🙂
Once you hear it it's obvious. As it comes out of the synth solo, the rhythm is easy to spot 1..2.. 1..2.. 1..2.. 1.1.123
Quote from: Guybrush on Nov 10, 2023, 12:06 AMJust wanted to post something here before I go to bed, so here's two nice versions of Hugh Hopper's song Memories.
We gots some Robert Wyatt:
And here's a version by Material featuring a very young Whitney Houston.
Whitney Houston's debut recorded performance backed up by the mighty Laswell & Co. and Archie Shepp on sax, on a lovely Hugh Hopper ballad. Who would have thought?
Now taking a rushed late lunchtime listen to a couple of tracks from Kevin Ayers's
Joy of a Toy. Thanks for this thread,
@Guybrush !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEGNfw-jd_M&list=PLCIVQjOLLGl4KoptSugyULmUKrw4N4zyN&index=5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCMJf4P3ePY&list=PLCIVQjOLLGl4KoptSugyULmUKrw4N4zyN&index=7
Cool and lesser known modern band from Italy
^ Homunculus Rex is a great band.
Also, for Italian good measure: the Genoese band
Picchio dal Pozzo's self-titled debut album -
very Soft Machine-influenced, and dedicated to Robert Wyatt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqNhh79or0
Song for Insane Times is beautiful, ribbons. It moves too fast for me to work out the progressions but I'll work it out later. And what is that great tempo which I can't describe? It's not exactly groove. Timbre perhaps.
I had a delve into Canterbury and Zeuhl a few years ago. (Cheers Guybrush for another good thread idea. Zeuhl next maybe?!)
Particularly liked Caravan and I got hooked for a while on "Pengola" (L'auberge du Sanglier) that has really nice meandering keyboard solos which reach for the high notes. I since learned that "L'auberge du Sanglier" was an inn/hotel in the back of beyond about an hour from me near Albi in France which for some reason hosted some amazing concerts in the 60s/70s. Pye Hastings describes how he came up with the title "L'auberge du Sanglier" around 2:50 below:
Pye Hastings on Caravan and FranceI've also been listening to this new band for a couple of years, who remind me a lot of that Canterbury sound. They have done concerts with full orchestra (Legend of Lumbar) and play those kind of festivals where you'll get a good pint of cider :beer:
Lydian Collective 'Out Of The Woods'
Quote from: Saulaac on Nov 10, 2023, 11:09 PMSong for Insane Times is beautiful, ribbons. It moves too fast for me to work out the progressions but I'll work it out later. And what is that great tempo which I can't describe? It's not exactly groove. Timbre perhaps.
I had a delve into Canterbury and Zeuhl a few years ago. (Cheers Guybrush for another good thread idea. Zeuhl next maybe?!)
Particularly liked Caravan and I got hooked for a while on "Pengola" (L'auberge du Sanglier) that has really nice meandering keyboard solos which reach for the high notes. I since learned that "L'auberge du Sanglier" was an inn/hotel in the back of beyond about an hour from me near Albi in France which for some reason hosted some amazing concerts in the 60s/70s. Pye Hastings describes how he came up with the title "L'auberge du Sanglier" around 2:50 below:
Pye Hastings on Caravan and France
I've also been listening to this new band for a couple of years, who remind me a lot of that Canterbury sound. They have done concerts with full orchestra (Legend of Lumbar) and play those kind of festivals where you'll get a good pint of cider :beer:
Lydian Collective 'Out Of The Woods'
Thanks for posting Lydian Collective! Love them and never heard of them before.
Another little-known band, this time from Spain.
Magick Brother & Mystic Sister are pretty song-oriented and rooted in psychedelic rock but the canterbury is still strong within this one.
Hey, Canterbury thread is booming! Thanks guys for your wonderful posts and great music 🙂
@Saulaac Caravan was my own entry point into Canterbury. I had a particularly intense love affair with the album For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night.
This is my favorite song from that album, but I'd guess it's a common pick 😊
You mention L'Auberge du Sanglier. The most exquisite part (imo) of that extended last track, incorporating a few melodies, is their version of Mike Ratledge's Backwards. Soft Machine recorded this song on their Third album where it's rolled into the larger composition Slightly All the Time. It can be heard after about 12:50 minutes here:
But Caravan's cover might be the better version? 🙂 Coming in here after about 4:19.
Funny thing about that sequence -- the one that begins with "L'auberge du Sanglier" the first time I saw it I misread it and thought it was "L'aubergine du Sanglier." Instead of Sanglier's hostel, I thought it was about eggplants in Sanglier. Seems more like a Caravan title to me, although it's missing a bawdy angle. Good grief could they come up with some "dirty" titles. The Love In Your Eye? If I could do it again, I'd do it all over you? The dog, the dog, he's at it again? Cunning Stunts? LOL Maybe we could come up with a few creative things to do with that eggplant if it's the right shape.
That said, the proper Canterbury band that makes it for me is indeed Soft Machine. Their third album actually unlocked Miles Davis for me when I learned how "Mousetrap" went. For years I only had that song on a live tape -- before the era of massive archival releases. They play the riff just before they go into "Noisette" during "Slightly All the Time" but they never play the head, and for a while Miles did that and refused to put the full track list on the album, just like Third. I hear "Facelift" as one song. "Slightly" includes a 9/4 song they don't seem to have played anywhere else, followed by "Mousetrap", "Noisette", "Backwards" and then "Noisette" again to end it. I hear "Moon in June" as three songs followed by the jam they would play live, and then the vari-speed bit that has "Singing a Song in the Morning" in it. "Out-Bloody-Rageous" I hear as "Spaced" followed by "Out-Bloody-Rageous" proper followed by "Eamonn Andrews" and then "Spaced" again. And that album just seems so short to me. I half wish that they'd gone even more like Miles and have the sides be nearer the half-hour mark.
Soft Machine was never one of my favorites, but I still like some of their music and Third has a certain sound/vibe that's both kinda gritty and endearing. It takes me back to the time when I was discovering these bands.
Here are a couple of wonderful songs by Richard Sinclair (/Caravan of Dreams) that I suspect many will not have heard as they're from the 90s and relatively late in terms of what most people listen to from the Canterbury scene.
Going for a Song:
And What's Rattlin' which comments a bit on what it's like to be part of a scene that's kinda behind you.
I first discovered Steve Hillage through his progressive electro-ambient Rainbow Dome Musick LP. He also had production credits on key releases from The Orb like the iconic Blue Room and Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld.
Hillage led me to Egg's self-titled LP from 1970 and many other classic of the genre.
Quote from: Guybrush on Nov 11, 2023, 01:55 AMYou mention L'Auberge du Sanglier. The most exquisite part (imo) of that extended last track, incorporating a few melodies, is their version of Mike Ratledge's Backwards. Soft Machine recorded this song on their Third album where it's rolled into the larger composition Slightly All the Time. It can be heard after about 12:50 minutes here:
But Caravan's cover might be the better version? 🙂 Coming in here after about 4:19.
Yes you're correct Guybrush, I thought that nice keyboard part was called Pengola but you're right of course, it's Backwards. (Pengola is apparently just a few riffs in the lead up to Backwards).
Soft Machine and Caravan versions are a bit different, but I'm tempted to say that I slightly prefer the Caravan cover.
Quote from: Saulaac on Nov 12, 2023, 06:47 PM(Pengola is apparently just a few riffs in the lead up to Backwards).
L'auberge du Sanglier = acoustic guitar section opening
A Hunting We Shall Go = the bit in 19/8 (5/4 + 9/8 alternating)
Pengola = the bit in 13/4 led by the viola
Backwards = obvious
then A Hunting We Shall Go again followed by massive thunder.
Quote from: innerspaceboy on Nov 12, 2023, 06:40 PMI first discovered Steve Hillage through his progressive electro-ambient Rainbow Dome Musick LP. He also had production credits on key releases from The Orb like the iconic Blue Room and Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld.
Hillage led me to Egg's self-titled LP from 1970 and many other classic of the genre.
Rainbow Dome Musick is one of my all time faves! If I ever get around to continuing my top 100 ambient albums thread, that will be evident in how high up it is.
Love The Orb too, though Ultraworld is the only album I know well.
Quote from: larsvsnapster on Nov 12, 2023, 06:54 PML'auberge du Sanglier = acoustic guitar section opening
A Hunting We Shall Go = the bit in 19/8 (5/4 + 9/8 alternating)
Pengola = the bit in 13/4 led by the viola
Backwards = obvious
then A Hunting We Shall Go again followed by massive thunder.
Thanks lars. What threw me is that I didn't know exactly where Pengola started, so I'll look out for where the viola starts the 13/4 bit.
^
@Saulaac They're very different, so as background music for, say, brewing coffee in the morning I might prefer Soft Machine. For listening to on headphones while sitting on the bus, I'd prefer Caravan's version 🙂
Now that I'm interested in learning some Rhodes-songs, I might have to take a stab at this song by National Health.
Clocks and Clouds - sung by ex-Northette Amanda Parsons and unreleased until Missing Pieces (archival release) came out in the mid 90s.
Another great but somewhat lesser known offshoot of the original scene.
Thanks for sharing,
@grindy 🙂
I know Phil and his In Cahoots kept things going for quite a while, so.. While I've dipped my toe in it, there's a lot that I've yet to listen to.
I think there was also some intent to publish more unreleased material after his death which might be worth checking up on.
I've sometimes mentioned that me and my daughter listen to music together at bedtime.
Something we might listen to then is Glass Butterflies by Dirk (or sometimes Mont) Campbell who was in Egg and also briefly in National Health, so.. there's some Canterbury connection to his wonderful world music.
Writing about him, I am also tempted to share his composition Agrippa from when he was in NH, BUT it does feel like one of those times when I like something most people don't 😅
It's kinda slow and meandering so prob not a fan favorite - and it wasn't released in its time either. Still, there's something to this song that I quite like.
Quote from: Guybrush on Nov 16, 2023, 12:07 AMI've sometimes mentioned that me and my daughter listen to music together at bedtime.
:love:
@Guybrush, your daughter will have a well trained ear and rich sonic palette given the fine music you're exposing her to. That's lovely.
Dirk 'Mont' has always been sort of mysterious and wonderful, a superb creative bassist and multi-instrumentalist and a deft composer. I've heard
Music From a Round Tower and his other world musics but unfortunately have heard only snippets of
Music From a Walled Garden. Thanks for the gentle reminder that I need to listen to the entire album.
QuoteWriting about him, I am also tempted to share his composition Agrippa from when he was in NH, BUT it does feel like one of those times when I like something most people don't 😅
It's kinda slow and meandering so prob not a fan favorite - and it wasn't released in its time either. Still, there's something to this song that I quite like.
Hardly - I happen to think "Agrippa" was his finest composition and certainly the best thing he did with National Health. Besides, I like slow and meandering. :)
Quote from: ribbons on Nov 16, 2023, 11:35 PM:love: @Guybrush, your daughter will have a well trained ear and rich sonic palette given the fine music you're exposing her to. That's lovely.
Dirk 'Mont' has always been sort of mysterious and wonderful, a superb creative bassist and multi-instrumentalist and a deft composer. I've heard Music From a Round Tower and his other world musics but unfortunately have heard only snippets of Music From a Walled Garden. Thanks for the gentle reminder that I need to listen to the entire album.
Hardly - I happen to think "Agrippa" was his finest composition and certainly the best thing he did with National Health. Besides, I like slow and meandering. :)
@ribbons , I'm astonished you know this! How? But then you do have impeccable taste. But I consider these albums by Dirk to be relatively obscure. In fact, I don't think I've ever listened to Music From a Round Tower myself, though I might see if I can buy it digitally from someplace tomorrow.
I know he also has played in the Safar wind band and checking YouTube Music, he's actually up now with two other albums I've never heard, Middle Eastern Journeys and Meditation. Checking his Wikipedia page, it seems these are both from a multitude of library music albums (?) he's done, so maybe they've not had a regular release before.
An exciting discovery 🙂 tomorrow will be world music day.
Another obscure track, a very good friend of mine plays bass in Panzerpappa and they got a hold of Richard Sinclair for a collab for their 2006 album Koralrevens Klagesang (lament of the coral fox). It's not the best song from that album, but a pleasant tune still:
Quote from: Guybrush on Nov 19, 2023, 04:09 AM@ribbons , I'm astonished you know this! How? But then you do have impeccable taste. But I consider these albums by Dirk to be relatively obscure. In fact, I don't think I've ever listened to Music From a Round Tower myself, though I might see if I can buy it digitally from someplace tomorrow.
I know he also has played in the Safar wind band and checking YouTube Music, he's actually up now with two other albums I've never heard, Middle Eastern Journeys and Meditation. Checking his Wikipedia page, it seems these are both from a multitude of library music albums (?) he's done, so maybe they've not had a regular release before.
An exciting discovery 🙂 tomorrow will be world music day.
Another obscure track, a very good friend of mine plays bass in Panzerpappa and they got a hold of Richard Sinclair for a collab for their 2006 album Koralrevens Klagesang (lament of the coral fox). It's not the best song from that album, but a pleasant tune still:
@Guybrush, first of all, "Koralrevens Klagesang" is delightful and I really like Panzerpappa's light, playful sound. I have never heard them before. How were they able to recruit Sinclair!? Very cool that your friend plays bass with them. 8)
OK - Where did I begin with my Dirk Campbell journey? What first caught my attention was via reading an article in the early '90s which mentioned that Mont/Dirk had been influenced by Keith Emerson in his days with The Nice (and I've always been a huge admirer of Emerson). So then I gravitated to Egg's albums, which I loved; and read further that Mont/Dirk had very briefly been in National Health and Gilgamesh. Then in the late '90s I frequented a record store in Greenwich Village whose owner was a prog nut and had an extensive prog/Canterbury section in the shop. He turned my attention to the NH
Missing Pieces compilation, Dirk's
Music From a Round Tower and also the
India album Dirk recorded with the Indian percussionist Dinesh Pandit. Later on, I also purchased Dirk's
Eastern European Journeys and
Middle Eastern Journeys – then listened to his library and film pieces as well as World Wind Band's
Safar online.
I would highly recommend
Music From a Round Tower to you, Tore – it's a beautifully atmospheric world music album with a variety of non-Western instruments, vocalese and light synths, but still retaining a somewhat pastoral English ambience. If you do manage to get it, I hope you'll like it and maybe even add it to your daughter's playlist. :)
Quote from: ribbons on Nov 20, 2023, 05:55 AM@Guybrush, first of all, "Koralrevens Klagesang" is delightful and I really like Panzerpappa's light, playful sound. I have never heard them before. How were they able to recruit Sinclair!? Very cool that your friend plays bass with them. 8)
OK - Where did I begin with my Dirk Campbell journey? What first caught my attention was via reading an article in the early '90s which mentioned that Mont/Dirk had been influenced by Keith Emerson in his days with The Nice (and I've always been a huge admirer of Emerson). So then I gravitated to Egg's albums, which I loved; and read further that Mont/Dirk had very briefly been in National Health and Gilgamesh. Then in the late '90s I frequented a record store in Greenwich Village whose owner was a prog nut and had an extensive prog/Canterbury section in the shop. He turned my attention to the NH Missing Pieces compilation, Dirk's Music From a Round Tower and also the India album Dirk recorded with the Indian percussionist Dinesh Pandit. Later on, I also purchased Dirk's Eastern European Journeys and Middle Eastern Journeys – then listened to his library and film pieces as well as World Wind Band's Safar online.
I would highly recommend Music From a Round Tower to you, Tore – it's a beautifully atmospheric world music album with a variety of non-Western instruments, vocalese and light synths, but still retaining a somewhat pastoral English ambience. If you do manage to get it, I hope you'll like it and maybe even add it to your daughter's playlist. :)
Wow,
@ribbons I'm impressed! You're definitely the site's Dirk Campbell scholar 🙂 I only hope to follow in some of these footsteps.
I was quite sad to get the news some years back that Dirk lost his own daughter, Anna (who was a soldier), when she was killed by Turkish bombs when fighting ISIS.
About Panzerpappa, I can't quite remember how they got a hold of Richard, but I am technically able to reach him myself as I've corresponded a bit with his wife Heather some years ago (she handles his email). I was trying to run a site/forum dedicated to all things Canterbury called The Polite Force (after one of the more obscure groups) and got in contact, possibly through guitarist Mark Hewins. Mark also shared with me and my site some lovely stories from going on tours with Pip Pyle and others.
I don't want to share personal correspondence in public, but anyone curious can ask me on DMs. I might publish Hewins' stories here if I can find them 🙂 I'm sure he wouldn't mind, having also shared them with the Facelift Canterbury fanzine back in the 90s (still available from Phil Howitt, I believe - I got them all ❤️).
About Koralrevens Klagesang, our bedtime playlist and my bass playing friend, one of our favorite songs from that album is his composition Apraxia. Since you also like slow and meandering, maybe you will like it too 🙂 it is vaguely Canterbury related and so on topic after all.
I've used this song to try and teach my daughter how to count beats.
It goes three bars of 7/8 and one bar of 6/8 first. Then, it changes to three bars of 6/8 and one bar of 5/8 for a middle section, then a return to 7 and 6 for the ending. While being unusual time, it's very easy to count.
Also the first part is 31 bars while the second is 20 and the last is 13.. which is nearly Fibonacci's sequence, although it's missing a bar in the second part. And the last note ends on pi (3:14) 😄 so that's some insight into my friend's composer brain, at least back then.
@Guybrush, yes, I was also very sad to read the news of the tragedy befalling Dirk's daughter Anna/Şehîd Hêlîn Qereçox. She was so brave, and so young. What a hero she was.
Very interesting that you ran a Canterbury site! – on first glance at the title, I thought you had named it after the Egg album. If you are able to find any of Mark Hewins's reminiscences I would like to read them some time.
I am REALLY liking Panzerpappa's music so far, and "Apraxia" is especially lovely – the Scandinavians do have their ways with the poignant melodies. ;)
Your daughter must a be a very smart girl learning sophisticated concepts about meter and tempo at this young age, courtesy of dad. 8)
As far as Canterbury goes, the ones I've been going back to a lot recently are Camel's Rain Dances and Breathless albums. Those two albums showcase the genre spreading its wings a bit into other kinds of commercial but still proggy waters, and I think they work really well.
Quote from: ribbons on Nov 21, 2023, 05:37 PM@Guybrush, yes, I was also very sad to read the news of the tragedy befalling Dirk's daughter Anna/Şehîd Hêlîn Qereçox. She was so brave, and so young. What a hero she was.
Very interesting that you ran a Canterbury site! – on first glance at the title, I thought you had named it after the Egg album. If you are able to find any of Mark Hewins's reminiscences I would like to read them some time.
I am REALLY liking Panzerpappa's music so far, and "Apraxia" is especially lovely – the Scandinavians do have their ways with the poignant melodies. ;)
Your daughter must a be a very smart girl learning sophisticated concepts about meter and tempo at this young age, courtesy of dad. 8)
Thank you for your kind words 🥰
Being inspired by Egg might seem the more obvious route (and maybe The Civil Surface also could have worked), but it was the discovery of the band and trying to find recordings of them that made me think of using it as a name for the site 🙂 Either way, the site thoroughly failed.. but at least it put me in contact with some interesting people, including Mark Hewins who played guitar in that old band.
I'll see if I can't dig up those stories and dole them out here in this thread 🙂
About Panzerpappa, they are great! And play at RIO and Zappa festivals, etc. Some of my other favorites by them are Kantonesisk Kanotur (fan favorite from Koralrevens Klagesang) which has some lovely percussion and Ugler I Moseboka and Bati La Takton (from Astromalist). Ugler i Moseboka is the song I generally recommend to new listeners 🙂
I think I managed to omit Camel in my original post (!!) but of course they deserve mention. I actually listened to Breathless not too long ago for the first time in many years. My favorite is still Down on the Farm. It's also very obviously a Richard Sinclair song having wormed its way onto a Camel album 😄
But hey, I love Richard.
Also, my daughter loves Rhayader's theme from The Snowgoose and we had to play it over and over again in the car while driving around Denmark this summer.
Here's one of Mark Hewins stories which I believe may have been published in the Facelift Fanzine in 1994:
Edit:
Actually found all of them on Mark Hewins very old website available through the Wayback Machine, so I'll just provide a link instead 🙂
https://web.archive.org/web/20030822115145/http://www.musart.co.uk/stories.htm (https://web.archive.org/web/20030822115145/http://www.musart.co.uk/stories.htm)
In the words of Mark: "This page contains stories about the band 'Soft Heap' (a living-branch of Soft Machine), featuring: Elton Dean, Pip Pyle, John Greaves, and Mark Hewins. Also you'll find anecdotes about odd Canterbury bands in the 70's and 80's."
The stories are actually quite fun to read!
Lars recently mentioned Elvis Costello who, of course, also has a very slight Canterbury connection. But it's enough for this thread.
Record producer and songwriter Clive Langer had composed music for a song for Robert Wyatt, but wasn't happy with the lyrics and so brought Elvis Costello on board the project to come up with something. The result you may be familiar with, the song Shipbuilding.
About it, Wyatt said: "Geoff (Travis, head of Rough Trade Records) sent me a cassette saying this is a pretty good song, you ought to sing it. So I tried it out and it sounded good. The musical setting was nothing to do with me. Elvis had already recorded a vocal for it – very good vocal – and it was going to come out in the same form with him singing on it. I went in and did a vocal in a couple of hours with Mr. Costello producing, and that was it ... I had no expectations of it at all. All I thought about was singing it in tune!" (Source: Wikipedia)
So it must have been a surprise when it later on charted 🙂
Robert's version can be heard above and Elvis Costello also made a version:
I do prefer the version with Wyatt, but something I find interesting about Costello's version is it features Chet Baker on trumpet.
I like Chet.
I'll just gush a little bit about Of Queues and Cures, National Health's second album.
It is mostly instrumental music, somewhat rigidly composed but just fun and amazingly catchy while still challenging for first time listeners.
The album starts and closes with two versions of The Bryden 2-Step for Amphibians which may be the band at their most catchy.
The highlight of the song, in both versions, is the ascending riff that starts just after 3 minutes in this version.
The next song you probably learn to love, though it might take a few tries, is The Collapso.
And I won't go on too much longer, but the track Binoculars is quite wonderful once you get used to John Greaves singing.
The best part of it is Jimmy Hastings' best recorded flute solo starting at about 3:10 and followed by that brilliant organ riff by Stewart that goes duuh duduh duduh duh duh!!
I feel like I should also mention Pip Pyle's drumming which is loose and fun and great to my ears and Phil Miller's guitar tone that always cuts straight through the mix. I think some probably find it jarring, but then you kinda learn to love it ❤️
Pip Pyle died in 2006 on August 28 in a Paris hotel. I strongly suspect it was suicide although I've seen no source confirming this.
I remember there was some clip online, maybe on YouTube, of Richard Sinclair singing God Song at his funeral, backed by a band that I believe included Phil Miller and other mourners who happened to join in briefly.
The song is one of my favourites from Matching Mole, Wyatt's band after leaving Soft Machine (and Matching Mole is kinda what Soft Machine sounds like translated to French).
Quote from: Guybrush on Dec 05, 2023, 12:32 AMI'll just gush a little bit about Of Queues and Cures, National Health's second album.
It is mostly instrumental music, somewhat rigidly composed but just fun and amazingly catchy while still challenging for first time listeners.
The album starts and closes with two versions of The Bryden 2-Step for Amphibians which may be the band at their most catchy.
The highlight of the song, in both versions, is the ascending riff that starts just after 3 minutes in this version.
The next song you probably learn to love, though it might take a few tries, is The Collapso.
And I won't go on too much longer, but the track Binoculars is quite wonderful once you get used to John Greaves singing.
The best part of it is Jimmy Hastings' best recorded flute solo starting at about 3:10 and followed by that brilliant organ riff by Stewart that goes duuh duduh duduh duh duh!!
I feel like I should also mention Pip Pyle's drumming which is loose and fun and great to my ears and Phil Miller's guitar tone that always cuts straight through the mix. I think some probably find it jarring, but then you kinda learn to love it ❤️
I love that album so much. Recently listened to it while driving through the snowy woods on a sunny morning and it was such an amazing atmosphere.
Quote from: grindy on Dec 27, 2023, 10:52 AMI love that album so much. Recently listened to it while driving through the snowy woods on a sunny morning and it was such an amazing atmosphere.
Yes! I recently listened to Bryden while driving home from our Christmas party at night. I'm always playing drums as I'm driving 😄 and I love Pip's drumming on that track so much - as well as everything else.
Such a fun, lively album.
Here's Robert Wyatt and Monica Vasconcelos singing a duet from the 2007 album Comicopera.
Never heard about this band until today, but looks like Rubber Tea might be a cool newcoming addition to the Prog/Canterbury scene.
Just browsed through their newest album so far but it sounds really promising.
Was at a bus stop when I last read your post, so didn't get to actually listen, but yeah.. these guys have a good sound.
Also there's not enough female singers in prog 🙂