^ oh man that is nice. What a vibe.
^ oh man that is nice. What a vibe.
Two Rainbows Daily is one of my favorite Cuneiform (re-) releases. Love everything on it.
Heavenly.
SM debut.....what a stellar recording. It gets closer and closer to Vol. 2 for me every year. I love the way this album sounds.
I've been toying with the idea of going through the entire Softs discography in chronological order over the course of the next couple of weeks, including the archival live sets (the ones I have, anyway). Just casually inserting them one at a time among the other titles in my daily listening choices (I don't want to focus on them all at once and feel like I need to 'get through them'). I listened to the debut last night and Vol. 2 this afternoon, so the all-time bad boy will be next.Originally Posted by chalkpie
Of course, it doesn't take long in their catalogue before the stylistic course veers from the more Canterbury flavours into the jazz-rock world, but I love it all.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
'The best stuff is really when Mick Pointer was a baby, banging on pots and pans. That was their most "out there" stuff.' - JKL2000
My car trip soundtrack yesterday took in a good chunk of Gong's Flying Teapot, selected live tracks from the trilogy deluxe editions, Gilgamesh and Mainstream by Quiet Sun.
I see that Two Rainbows Daily has got a mention or two. I'd just like to add that I agree with the comments here - it's lovely album - Alan Gowen produced some magical sounds for that one.
'I would advise stilts for the quagmires"
Got the 2020 Grog vinyl reprint of Picchio Dal Pozzo's first record. One of the best non-UK Canterburish records. "Dedicato A Roberto Viatti"
Nice chunk 'o tunes there. Gilgamesh and Quiet Sun are relatively late comers for me and they are fantastic.
^^^ Recent purchases for me too and well worth getting!
I have a question for the Soft Machine experts: I recently read Mike Barnes' A New Day Yesterday and in it he says that Kevin Ayers' bass is out of tune throughout the first album. Now I play a bit of guitar, but I'm not a proper musician and it's all 'good enough for folk' to me - so I wonder if anyone has noticed it - or not!
'I would advise stilts for the quagmires"
Its not very noticeable if it is out of tunes, however I just spun "A Certain Kind" and it sounded fine to me. I hope I don't obsess over this now on this record
^^^ Oops- sorry!
'I would advise stilts for the quagmires"
Excellent album, and so were their three follow-up releases which saw them blend avant and jazzy tendencies with the Canterbury flavours while maintaining that level of excellence. I have all four CDs as well as the live one and they all get semi-regular spins around here. Although the debut remains my favourite, Camere Zimmer Rooms comes very close. A killer compilation of material recorded in between the first two albums. Wonderfully tasteful compositions.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
'The best stuff is really when Mick Pointer was a baby, banging on pots and pans. That was their most "out there" stuff.' - JKL2000
Played Caravan & The New Symphonia yesterday. In fact this was the first Caravan-album I owned. Bought it in 1976 when I was in an orchestral mood I guess after buying the first Alan Parsons Project, followed by Rick Wakeman's Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, Stomu Yamashta's Go and The Snow Goose from Camel. The remaster from the Caravan-live album is well done with a lot of extra's.
Last edited by interbellum; 01-03-2022 at 02:14 PM.
Nah....I'm usually sensitive that stuff and it never stuck out to me. I'm sure its not perfect perfect but there's enough chaos on that album to make it work.
Easily my favorite SM
And yes despite the fact the band members did not appreciate the recording and Tom Wilson’s production for me the album stands out sonically and production wise
Despite Wyatts domination Ayer’s presence is a part of this albums charm
Good choices. Quiet Sun is so good; being a one-off also makes it special.
I was reading the excellent article on Calyx's site (http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr/index/whatis.html) about Canterbury music. I am sure some would not class later-period Robert Wyatt as being "Canterbury", but there are as many opinions as to what constitutes "Canterbury" music as there are people giving them.
I like this quote in the article from Michael Bloom: "What I think distinguishes Canterbury from other kinds of music, and what I like best about it, is its particular quality of humor. There are other kinds of "funny" music out there : Zappa, Devo, Randy Newman, Tom Lehrer, the Jazz Passengers, the Swinging Erudites, etc. etc. But the Canterbury school seems to me uniquely capable of making purely musical jokes without parody, without insult to other musicians or listeners, without vitiating musical or intellectual ideals." That alone, for me, would put Wyatt squarely in the Canterbury camp. Here's a good one.
You ask, in uncertain voice, what you should do / As if there were a choice / But to carry on / Miming the song / And hope that it all works out right
I don’t think that he dominates; seems pretty evenly split to me.
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin
Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
Nope Kevin sings in only 2 tracks and Robert on the rest of the album
And by domination I was also referring to the way the drums are mixed loud and proud and the bass is usually muffled and overshadowed by the fuzzed Organ
Played the Soft Machine Vols 1 & 2 through this afternoon. I've got the twofer cd (and the double vinyl too- but I rarely dug that one out)
'I would advise stilts for the quagmires"
Matching Mole's s/t this evening (again). Seriously, on some days this is my favorite Canterbury record of them all. It just hits all the right buttons for me. Will never forget what it felt like the first time I heard the opening notes of "O Caroline".
Gotta do some Caravan next, I think. Land of Grey and Pink is sounding pretty good right about now. There's a potential winter storm this evening, so I kind of hope it snows and I'll be stuck inside with some tunes.
"what's better, peanut butter or g-sharp minor?"
- Sturgeon's Lawyer, 2021
^ Nice, enjoy. Matching Mole s/t is amazing.
I did Rotters Club on vinyl tonight, one of my favorite albums ever by anybody. Mumps always blows my mind! The composition itself is genius, but each individual plays perfectly for that tune/style. Just amazing.
Following the above cues, I've started my day with the first Matching Mole album. Part of the Dance always reminds me of (I think) She's So Heavy off Abbey Road. Great tune anyway - great album in fact!
'I would advise stilts for the quagmires"
Matching Mole fans who may only know the two albums should avail themselves of some of the archival releases, particularly March. Well worth getting IMO.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
'The best stuff is really when Mick Pointer was a baby, banging on pots and pans. That was their most "out there" stuff.' - JKL2000
TBH, for me Smoke Signals is far ahead of either of the Mole studio albums. Haven't heard March yet.
I got Egg The Polite Force on CD for Christmas after only having a cassette copy for years. I can't have enough Dave Stewart!
-noisynoise
www.polarizedguru.com - 5-piece jazz fusion group
www.incandescentsky.com - inventive improvisational instrumental ensemble
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