WR

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - :: :: The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts :: :: Issue # 100 :: :: Monday, August 10th, 1998 :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT'S BEEN RATTLIN' ALL THIS TIME? - OUR 100TH ISSUE !!! ^^^Well, I'm not really a believer in symbolic figures. I don't fear the year 2000 for instance, and I guess for me #100 would have been just another issue number for WHAT'S RATTLIN'. But I wanted to take that opportunity to celebrate... not my own endeavour, but the fact that current and past Canterbury music has given us enough food for written thoughts 100 times, which I think is really the most important thing. This has of course been made possible through the global emergence of the Internet. American subscribers have probably known the Internet for a long time. For us Europeans it's a more recent discovery. I got my e-mail account in the Autumn of 1995, and was soon fascinated with the possibilities offered by the Internet to promote lesser known musical genres. The idea of a website emerged in February 1996, and What's Rattlin'? was the next logical step, three months later. It's proved to be a valid concept - there are currently over 550 subscribers to this digest, and I receive new subscriptions literally every day. Whether or not services like Calyx and What's Rattlin'?, and fellow websites like Musart, AgeProjex, the GAS website, StrongComet etc. can actually make up for the increasing difficulty of making and promoting music out of the mainstream in our current society is another issue. As I see it, it's becoming more and more difficult. Gigs and tours tend to become more sporadic. Perhaps our old faves are just getting older; it also seems to me, in France at least, that it's become harder to set up tours for lesser-known bands. Of course, and I don't want to minimize the efforts of people like Keith Bailey (Space Agency) or Shawn Ahearn (Pangea Music), Gong still plays decent-sized tours; let's rejoice for that. But that's the top of the iceberg. Smaller Canterbury bands like In Cahoots, who deserve even more support as they dare to play new music, struggle to make their sporadic gigs at least a little profitable (although the British Council's help on some of their recent tours gives reasons to hope). There's still a lot of work to do, and that's a plan for the next 100 issues! Meanwhile, an update on the Canterbury scene's activities. It seems logical to first mention the activities of Mark Hewins, who has proven to be the musician counterpart to "What's Rattlin'?" (not to mention his own pioneering website efforts) - his Musart studios have become the meeting point for everyone on the Canterbury scene. You name them, they've all been there at some point to do a bit of recording. Phil Miller, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Pip Pyle, Andy Ward, Richard Sinclair, Mike Howlett, Lol Coxhill etc. And most of them will be appearing on Mark's current project with Lady June, "Rebela". Obviously, another "unifying" project that comes to mind is Pip Pyle's "soon to be released" first solo album, "7 Year Itch". Once again the line-up reads like a who's-who of Canterbury music. Having heard both projects (in an unfinished form in the first case), I'd say they're equally exciting in that they combine in a fresh manner the individual talents we've appreciated in other contexts. It's this sort of project that keep the Canterbury spirit alive. Of course, Robert Wyatt's latest album "Shleep" deserves a mention. Although he's grown apart from the rest of the Canterbury scene in recent years (with the exception of the superb "Songs" album by John Greaves), Robert remains dear to our Canterbury scene followers' hearts. "Shleep" proves that Robert is still keen on pursuing new musical directions and starting new collaborations. As for the others, they're still there - Caravan is still gigging regularly with it's classic mid-70s line-up, and Pye Hastings is working on a solo album; Gong also toured France this Spring, and although we've yet to hear a new album, Daevid Allen is still pursuing various exciting solo projects; Kevin Ayers was recently over in California for two well-received gigs; Elton Dean has formed a new large jazz ensemble that has been very favourably reviewed by the critics, and still plays in various more or less informal line-ups; Hugh Hopper gigs with his own Franglodutch band from time to time, as well as Mashu; Phil Miller is busy writing new stuff for both In Cahoots and his duo with Fred Baker; Dave Stewart is still putting the finishing touches to the new Stewart-Gaskin, which could bear the title "7 Year Itch" if Pip Pyle hadn't used the name... and if it's finally released before the 7 becomes an 8; John Greaves started 1998 with two solo gigs in Paris and is also a member of Peter Blegvad's trio (alongside Chris Cutler) and Michael Mantler's "The School Of Understanding" opera. The only real M.I.A. these days is Richard Sinclair. There are probably several reasons to Richard's current absence from the scene. His four years of hard work probably didn't prove as rewarding as he'd hoped and his absence from both Mirage and the current line-up of Caravan, as well as the premature end of the RSVP group, seem to indicate that he's had problems finding the right context to express his talents. A couple of years away from music will hopefully bring us back this immensely talented artist with an even greater creativity, following the recent example of Pierre Moerlen. Meanwhile, his vocal contribution to Pip Pyle's album is as fascinating as ever. So yes, with a few exceptions they're all still there. If I'm proud of anything about Calyx and WR, it's probably that some of the old fans of the Canterbury scene have been made aware of all these people's current projects. That it's great to listen again and again to the old treasured masterpieces from the 70s, but that the talents that created them are still around, intact, and deserving support. Then there's of course the "encyclopaedic" vocation of Calyx, which is probably the main interest for newcomers. My hope is that it will "enlighten" more and more new converts and lead them to appreciate the whole variety of this scene - the great variety of styles, both past and present. Keep on rattlin' ! (whatever that means...) Aymeric Leroy ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: GHenry1480@aol.com Subject: Gongzilla live Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 21:37:08 EDT Hi all from the USA. I recently saw the Gongzilla show in a small club in Asbury Park, New Jersey called the Saint. They were really awesome and played some fine music, but I do not get where all the people were, there were only 10 people there. I don't like crowds but this was ridiculous. This club keeps trying to put this type of music on, a little over a year ago Brand X played here and Bon Lozaga has played there a few times b4, but if peole don't come out to the shows they will disapear. Bon, Hansford Rowe, Benoit Moerlen & Vic Stevens put on a great show but they will have to get some support if we are to keep seeing this type of music,so to all yoe east coast Americans,get off your asses... Thanks for letting me vent... The Jersey Gypsy ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David Cross Subject: Robert Wyatt annotated discography Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 14:28:21 -0400 Cheers on #100 Aymeric! Here's another chunk of that Wyatt interview. DC * * * * * * * * * "I think everybody should have a go at their Cecil Taylor impersonations..." A Robert Wyatt Annotated Discography By Robert Wyatt THE END OF AN EAR I was very grateful to CBS, I have to say, for the opportunity to go into the studio and make an album. I don't think they realized that I was going to make a totally improvised album like that, and I didn't get invited back. One of the things that mucks up some of the earlier memories is that we didn't get any money from those early records at all. None of them. Our managers were total crooks and since they are dead I can name them, which is - Mike Jeffries and Chas Chandler. I mean they just took everything. The record companies were no help - they seemed to close rank with managers rather than see musicians got their dues. In my real life I don't remember much peace and love in the music industry in the peace and love era at all. Having said that - I was very happy to have the chance to record, there again, to play piano and do my little Cecil Taylor impersonations. I think everybody should have a go at their Cecil Taylor impersonations. ROCK BOTTOM In my mind, if I ever a transition from adolescence to adulthood it was by that record. People think it must have been a very tragic period of my life, with breaking my back and all, but 1974 was the happiest moment of my life. The record came out, it came out how I wanted it to come out, it was made with friends. Alfie married me on the day it came out, which was a disgracefully self sacrificial thing of her to do, but made me feel great. RUTH IS STRANGER THAN RICHARD On that record I wanted to give the musician I was working with more space to do their own thing. I set up "Team Spirit" as a tenor solo for George Kahn. And there again - I got Fred Frith to play some of his own tunes - still some of the favorite things I've ever recorded actually. "Muddy Mouse/Muddy Mouth". In fact before doing those tunes he played this note, I can't remember what it was - some sort of high D or even an E flat. And I said to Fred "I can't sing that" and Fred says "Yes, you can. Your range is from a low F to a high F#." He listened to my records and knew exactly what notes I'd hit on various records and told me I could do it, so I had to do it. NOTHING CAN STOP US This wasn't intended as an LP. Virgin was very angry with me when I disengaged myself from them and they threatened us not to make an LP or there would be legal trouble. While Geoff Travis at Rough Trade was trying to sort that out and placate Richard Branson, they allowed us to make a few singles, which is what I did. And it allowed me to sing some songs by people like Violetta Parra and so on... that meant a lot to me. But I did them, more or less, as a musical journalism really. I didn't feel these ideas had to last forever. It was Geoff Travis' idea to put them together onto an LP. ANIMALS FILM SOUNDTRACK Julie Christy had been invited to do the narration on that by Victor Shoenfield, who made the film. They had asked the Talking Heads to do the music. They used one song of the Talking Heads for the opening credit tracks and it cost them 500 pounds. Well, since the budget for the whole film was just a few thousand pounds they couldn't afford them for the whole score. Julie said "I've got a friend who'll do it for really cheap." And it's true - one thing I'm really proud of is I work cheap. Geoff Travis at Rough trade once said "You may not be the most successful, or the best musician we've ever had here at Rough Trade, but you're certainly the cheapest." And indeed, I did the rest of the film score for 100 pounds. They wanted it released to help publicize the film and that's what I did. I think making music for films is very good because you have to break out of the normal song cycle structure. The structure is given to you by the film. There is a structure but it's quite different and that makes you do things quite differently. I know Miles Davis had the same breakthrough when he did music for a French film Lift To The Scaffold. I really appreciate how useful that would have been for him when I was doing the Animals Film. OLD ROTTENHAT That was done when I was very isolated from other musicians, although I felt very at home spiritually with the musicians of that era, perhaps even more than with the musicians of my generation. The post punk people in England who were dealing in extraordinary surrealist combinations of punk and reggae and using old ska rhythms. There was a lot of great political music, like Jerry Dammers and indeed, Paul Weller, around that time but musically it was very different from me because it was very guitar based and I come from quite a different line of thought musically. So I found myself, more or less, on my own and working as a kind of miniaturist there - just trying to get distilled, pure song on it. And as political as the songs are, the main exercise was really, an aesthetic one. To try and to get essential song. Just to see how you could pare it down to that point. I'm also interested in artists in other fields in that way. Whether it's Samuel Beckett in writing, or Mondrien in painting it's a very interesting exercise - to try and pair things down like that. DONDESTAN Dondestan was after we left London and came to live up north of England, quite near the coast. We had spent some time in the eighties in Spain. England was a difficult place to be, so we took any chance we could to go away. Alfie had written quite a lot of poems in Spain. I think there's something about sitting in a Spanish cafe in an out of season holiday resort with a glass of brandy in front of you which brings out a little poetry in Alfie's soul. Especially with the flamenco posters on the wall. So that provided the basis for Dondestan. One of the possible titles for the LP was based on a Cuban film called Memories Of Under Development, that was nearly the title of the first track anyway, and a lot of it has to do with that sense of underdevelopment and dispersal. Not in the third world, but right among us. SHLEEP I had a rough period in the mid-early 90's musically speaking and there were some problems here at home as well. I mean, I don't like people to go on about their problems because it's boring... but I broke my legs here in 1993 or 1994, I think, and had to spend some time in the hospital. I fell out of my wheelchair... So those kind of things delayed my activity somewhat. But, as much as I get the exact sound I want when I'm on my own - I get lonely and music is a social act in the end. I was very happy to be reminded of Phil's studio and I went because it's near enough London where I can phone up people like Annie Whitehead and Evan without feeling that they had to spend five hours on a train to get to the studio. There again, I started exactly the same as I did with Dondestan. Which is, taking half a dozen pieces from Alfie's poetry notebooks and working on the music from that and then carry on with that momentum and finish it up myself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bailey, Jim" <baileyj@donmspcn.cmail.southam.ca> Subject: Greetings, congratulations, and a request Date: Tue, 21 Jul 98 19:58:00 EDT First off, the greetings. Hello to Aymeric and all the rest of you lot :).I just realized that this is my first post here (good thing it wasn't the Last Post, or I might think I was dead!) of many more, I hope. Secondly, the congratulations on a good job so far. One thing I've enjoyed about this list is how it doesn't seem to be affected by spurious characters in the text as I've seen on other lists. Makes it much easier to read. The content is also highly interesting, albeit at times frustrating because of all the great things happening over in Europe that we rarely get to see here in Toronto. Having just witnessed the Elephant Talk (King Crimson) list break through the 500 barrier, I would like to convey my hopes of seeing this one do the same. Keep on Rattlin'! Lastly, the request. It's something I've been meaning to ask about before, but never managed to get to. Does anyone out there have a current address for Mike "Wrong Movements" King? We were good friends a number of years ago, but have since lost touch - the last time I recall seeing him was when Kevin Ayers was in town (<-- relevance) at least five years ago. As you can imagine, in a city the size of Toronto (about 3 million, I think) there are several Mike or M. Kings in the phone book. None of them match the last address I had for him, and rather than bother several others before (or even if) I find him, I thought someone here could help, as I'd really like to get back in touch. We would occasionally bump into one another at gigs by visiting Canterbury folks or the like, but not too many have been by here recently that I recall. Any help would be greatly appreciated. [I then sent Jim MK's e-mail address - and he added:] I've been meaning to get in touch with him ever since "Wrong Movements" came out, but one thing and another have conspired to delay it. He had a release party here when the book came out, but unfortunately I had to work that evening, so couldn't make it. After seeing it in a local record shop I decided to suggest it to someone for an upcoming gift-giving occasion (can't remember if it was for my birthday, Christmas, or whatever). By the time they went to buy it there were no more copies. I have also had no luck in my search since. Now perhaps I can get one "from the horse's mouth" as it were; not only that, but get back in touch with an old friend. Mike has been a great booster of the Canterbury scene here in Toronto, and has been instrumental in bringing some of the artists here such as the Kevin Ayers show I mentioned, and Dagmar Krause. He also had a programme on a local college radio station for a while on which Canterbury and associated musics had a starring role. (I myself now have a show on the same station which occasionally gets "Canterburized" - such as a couple of "In Cahoots" tracks a few weeks back... hmmm, about time for some more, methinks). Anyway, keep up the good work with WR, and thanks again for the address. All the best, Jim Bailey ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Julian Christou <christou@as.arizona.edu>Subject: WR: Art/Prog Blowout, September at the Knitting Factory Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 09:02:34 -0700 Aymeric and all Attached is an announcement which came from another mailing list. I think the US/Can fans of Canterbury music will find this very interesting. Of course I'll be missing it 'cos I'll be in Germany, Spain & Italy in September - bummer! BTW anyone know of any good shows not to miss in London the week of Aug22? Ciao Julian ------- Start of forwarded message ------- From: relayer@iname.com (Roy DeRousse) Newsgroups: rec.music.progressiveSubject: Art/Prog Blowout, September at the Knitting Factory Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 21:21:57 -0500Message-ID: <MPG.101c51ec509daad69896a4@news.earthlink.net> This was a recent article posted to the e-prog mailing list. Looks like some amazing things are in store for the Knitting Factory! --- From: "patrick hayden" <middlemass@hotmail.com> September 5-8 at the Knitting Factory: Congress of the Progressive Rock Titans!!!!! Beginning Saturday, September 5th through Tuesday the 8th, New York's Knitting Factory plays host to a summit of the rock avant-garde's past, present and future. Pillars of experimental rock's European wing will gather at the Knit for several exclusive, soon-to-be historic collaborative performances. The festivities commence Saturday with an incendiary performance from Brainville, teaming the legendary Daevid Allen with his fellow Soft Machine alum Hugh Hopper, as well as his former colleague in Gong, drummer Pip Pyle, alongside hometown eccentric and Shimmy-Disc czar Kramer, best known for his work with Bongwater. Those left standing from Saturday's blowout will gather Sunday evening for two intimate shows from the recently resurgent troubadour, Roy Harper. The highly revered songwriter of 1970's Britain (and featured guest vocalist for Pink Floyd) will surely sell out, so devotees nation-wide best act quickly. Monday's very special festivities reunite old cohorts from the immortal Henry Cow. Avant-Rock stalwarts Peter Blegvad, Chris Cutler and John Greaves will appear in two distinct combos, Unearthed and Breadvan - the former, joined by famed H. Cow guitarist Fred Frith, highlights Blegvad's spoken-word explorations, the latter showcases the instrumental capabilities of these innovative giants (fans should also expect a visit from Mr. Frith during this performance, as well!) Truly, the results should be the stuff of lore. Tuesday the 8th, the aformentioned visionaries will be joined by several very special guests of the experimental bent, all to celebrate the groundbreaking work of Robert Wyatt. A fitting end to four days of unique forays into out-sound mania, this event promises to serve as a showcase for all the pioneers of rock's Outer Reaches, a State-of-the-Laboratory address those in the know cannot afford to miss. for more information, contact: The Knitting Factory 74 Leonard St. New York, NY 10013 (212) 219-3006 www.knittingfactory.com (email - max@knittingfacctory.com) ------- End of forwarded message ------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mihra@cerbernet.co.uk (Roger Bunn) Subject: The opinons of Hiseman Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 00:06:11 +0100 Jon Hiseman :Jazz drummer of some vast expereince and considerable talent. And studio exec. I have known Jon for over thirty years. He is a man of rugged opinons. Because the work we do from here takes on board democratic opinions when versed in an approximation of correct (for the situation we at the creative end of the music biz find ourselves in the main) language I found that one conversation with hima few weeks ago has stuck in my single brain cell. That was his opinion about the demise of the Big bands. In that Basie and Ellington were first of all dance bands. And when they moved away from the dance halls into the concert halls everything was down hill from then on. Anyone share that opinion? Or if you have opinions of your own, we would like to hear them, so would a few UK parliamentarians. Rr Policy Office Music Industry Human Rights Association UK Homepage http://www.cerbernet.co.uk/mihra email mihra@styx.cerbernet.co.uk Mihra was founded during UN50 to advance and protect creators rights in a cultural market monopolised by the six member recording / publishing Cartel. Mihra's roots are in music and anti-racism and it has called for a sports boycott of both Indonesia and Burma for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ALEXCARY@aol.com Subject: Stewart/Gaskin Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 23:13:18 EDT Aymeric, Way back in '97 one of the WR's said there was to be a new release by Dave andBarbara in January '98. Has this happened because I haven't heard anything about it? Dave's website doesn't alude to it either. If you know, please advise. Thanks so much and as always you're doing an incredible job. On On [Dave and Barbara are reportedly still at work on it - 7 years in the making already, could have been titled "7 Year Itch" like Pip's... hoping it won't take much longer than that ! - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Voci" <david_voci@tcibr.com> Subject: Wyatt and Other Things Date: 23 Jul 1998 12:29:42 U Hulloder Rattlebury Fans, Sometimes I feel that I am lost in a haze when I read about all the musical projects going on that I am unaware of. The English music scene has always seemed to be boiling over with collaborations and special pairings of musicians, people from this group who are playing with people from that group etc, etc... Such a wealth of great players whose sole purpose in life seems to be music and just playing with equally inclined people. That there is such a smorgasboard of projects going on at any given time is, to say the least, awe inspiring. I'm talking about all the different groupings of musicians I read about in WR and things like this just make me want to go to college to learn how to win lottery so that I may be able to purchase every one of the subsequent CD's these projects yield. Thanks for WR98...great reading. And 99 too. Who is in Colosseum now, anyway? Dick Heckstall Smith still around? [That's the "Live'71" line-up - Heckstall-Smith, Hiseman, Greenslade, Clempson, Farlowe, Clarke - AL] Liked R Wyatt Interview...At first I felt supreme pity for this guy and his terrible accident but upon further thinking this guy is one lucky bloke not to have died as a result of this fall... This man is certainly a unique musician and I'd like to offer my opinion of Matching Mole CD's and The End of an Ear... great stuff and until recently unheard... As I was telling an aquaintance I met through these pages, it's kinda cool that when you are a devout music fan, to find and listen to bands you always knew about but never got around to listening to in earlier times is like having money in the bank... you know all the while that there is potential here but the time in which to listen and absorb new material isn't always there because of everything else you have. So to tap into such a vast resource of yet unheard music is a veritable gift. I am very pleased with the two MMole's musical content, especially the quasi electronic/experimental direction on the first one, great mellotron passages... I like Wyatt's vocals but can't wait until the vox stop and the instrumental jamming picks up... the tightness of the players is excellent and I would love to see 20 or 30 minute versions of any of these songs. I found the Mole's stateside on CBS England and was astounded that they only cost me $11.99. Surprised/Pleased to see that Robert Fripp produces on Little Red Record... Another point I wanted to make is that even though from another area in England, Crimson deserve a place in the annals of this musical style. Of course, I've read that very few of the so called Canterbury players are even from this place. End of an Ear is great too and I had no idea of the animosity (as Wyatt indicates in new liner notes)that Soft Machine had in him doing a side project... Even though Wyatt might have been a little inclined to sing his drumming was perfect for the Softs sound and as witnessed on the Moles and Ear recording, Wyatt knows perfectly well how to just play drums and refrain from singing. It's too bad those differences existed but I don't think that ever stopped Wyatt from growing as a musician/writer. I've heard End of an Ear out of print? Also surprised to see that Wyatt doesn't seem to have written any material for Little Red Record. Do any of you WR readers know who might have the 'Softs BBC II' CD still in stock as I've been told it is out of print... Would really love to have this as it represents Jenkins period material? [Apparently, the Windsong label on which a lot of BBC recordings were released in the early 90s doesn't exist anymore. The task has been taken over by Hux Records, who are in the process of repackaging and rereleasing some of them, for instance Gentle Giant's. Which means that (a) the CD you mention is indeed out of print and (b) maybe it'll be reissued in the future... maybe not - AL] The National Health-Complete CD is great and jam packed with great sounds... another one of those bands (along with Hatfield) that has been long overlooked but better late than never. [Possibly the greatest CDs & CD package ever released, don't you think? Too bad they couldn't do something similar with Hatfield... - AL] Just bought Isotope's 1st and 2nd(Illusion) on 1 CD and a song from Illusion was omitted. Sliding Dogs/Lion Sandwich was the omission and I was just wandering how long this song was and if I am missing anything here? It is so lame that when companies do this to fit material alot of times they omit your favourite song in the process.(Rory Gallagher/Irish Tour/U.S. release comes to mind). Placed first order with Wayside music and very happy with their catalogue. Only complaint is no phone, only fax or email but what the heck, as long as product arrives who's to gripe as this stuff is generally not available at all shops. Curious about a reissue of Soft Machine-Third I heard about on BGO Records wherein the recording was cleaned up and remastered in a much clearer/crisper way. Is this true? After hearing this and listening to Third again I did realise that the sound quality on the CBS original release does seem a bit muddy but regardless, this is still a quintessential, timeless recording that really has staying power. This writing is so long that I'd be surprised if it didn't carry it's own WR#. Again, it's been a pleasure sharing my thoughts with all of you and of course reading all of yours. DVoci/Northern California ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Niko Paech" <paech@rols2.oec.uni-osnabrueck.de> Subject: New address Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 12:59:10 +100 Hi Aymeric, Please note my new e-mail address: niko.paech@t-online.de. My old address will be cancelled in a few days. Please send the WR digests to the new address. Thank you. WR is my favourite mailing list! It's the best thing for Prog/Canterbury/.. fans. Thanks for the good work. Due to health problems, a new job, and a removal... I didn't respond to the Patrick Forgas CD which I receive from you. I have to apologize for that because I really love this CD. I must admit, when I subscribed to the CD project, it was a kind of loyalty... But then, when I heart it, I was blown away. I only can recommend it to everyone who's interested in Canterbury related music. Bye, Niko Paech ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Benoit Dufresne <bdufresne@pandora.electricite.ge.hydro.qc.ca> Subject: WHAT'S RATTLIN' 100 Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 15:41:55 -0400 WR100! Can't resist to be on WR100! First, I go trought congratulations for maintaning the digest. This 100th anniversary issue is one more proof of gold mine of interest for our Fidel few of the Cant. style (no so "few" in fact but I like the allusion...). While I'm far from being an ignorant about Cant., I can hardly feed new informations for the digest indeed. Interesting facts certainly go the other way, i.e, WR to me. For example, we don't have any cant. gig around here in Quebec. Well, may be two exceptions, Ayers/Allen for one and Gong for the second. Both where at the the Club Soda, which is, of course, a rather alternative place for music here in Montreal. I missed Gong since I was not around when it happened. But I was all there for Ayers/Allen. Just to compare, Gentle Giant came in Montreal a dozen of time (may be this is why it is not a Canterbury group, ha, ha). So, I was delighted by Ayers/Allen gig. It begun slowly. the first set with Kevin, who was clearly tired (because of the airplane, I guess) was alone with is acoustic guitar. It took a couple of song to tune his voice which became ok, thanks to a beer. He played many of his classics including some super salesman and (do I have to name it?) Lady Rachel. Kevin wished that Daevid came along with him for the set.And so felt the assistance. Daevid appeared only for the last song,very shy, turning back to peoples. We waited a pretty long time for the second set, enough to think that, well, that's all folks. And Daevid stepped on the stage in great shape man! I mean he played almost 2 hours non-stop. Betweens beautifuls songs of his classical repertoire (dont ask me titles) he was the perfect troubadour, speaking poetically of many subjects as far from each other as banana and sex. He even ate one on stage (the former, I mean). BTW, I made a recording of the show, just for fun, as I do sometimes. The recording is not bad like the one I also made of Carla Bley with Steve Swallow. Of course, we could make exchanges if ever some of you is interested. And this is my last subject, CD. It is definitly not easy to find some CD around here. I say this for Wrattlers who shops in Montreal and Quebec. Apart from Le Free Son and Dutchy's (barely) I dont find any Canterbury discography at all. Fortunately, some houses in others countries are on the web and accept postals commands, when it works. For example, I ordered Flotsam Jetsam from Little Indian and never had even a reply! Meanwhile, this is one of some CDs I always try to get. Feel welcome for suggestions. Lasts words. If any band of the confrerie needs help to book a place in Montreal (say, while touring on the east coast), I will do my best to make arrangements and contacts. A happy North Soft Gong and a Caravan of Health to all Wrattlers for this 100! Benoit Dufresne ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mellow@sistel.it (MELLOW RECORDS - MAURO MORONI RECORDS PRODUCTIONS LTD) Subject : CANTERBURY TRIBUTE Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 16:49:16 +0200 We are planning a tribute to the bands included in the "Canterbury scene".If you are a musician interested or a journalist who wish to write the liner notes for the booklet please contact us. Best regards. -- MELLOW RECORDS International Business Affairs Dept. http://www.pangea.it/music/mellow mellow@sistel.it mellow@pangea.it ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Marcelo Spindola Bacha <dronsz@magma.uerj.br> Subject: WR#100: Congratulations! Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 22:49:21 -0300 (EST) Hi Aymeric, Congratulations for WR #100! This is just to let everyone know that the archive at http://magma.uerj.br/calyx is still on, with all the back issues. Long life to WR! Best regards, Marcelo [Thanks Marcelo, and thanks also to my friends at Musart who maintain an archive of past issues too, with the bonus of a search engine which enables to look for specific topics of discussion - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: WOODDUV@aol.com Subject: Robert Wyatt Interview: Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 14:06:15 EDT Hi Ya'll, I want to thank you for the wonderful interview with Robert Wyatt. That was definitely a thorough cross-cut view of the heart of the Canturbury style. Sort of like a cross-cut saw to me,anyway. It really showed me where the school of Canturbury music comes from & why. I can understand the feelings behind Robert and that style of music. Oddly enough, I am a very similar being & share those experiences that he & others like him share, as I am also an artist & musician. I think that the Canturbury stlye is a headset. It doesn't really have to be a locale... He mentioned his wife as an inspiration. That was beautiful. He was talking of dreams, especially that place called twilight sleep where you can find answers and inspiration. A bird is a great analogy for the human spirit. We can soar to the heights or be captured in a cage of ignorance or dispair. Sometimes that dispair is the vehicle for breaking free. It is that longing inside that sometimes fuels the fire for creativity. That seems to be the time when an artist or musician is freed from the prison of pain...Strange deal, isn't it? Chagall is one of my favourite artists. I love his dreamlike paintings.They have almost a child-like quality, inhibited and free as a child sees life...I can say that, no matter where how or where we are bound, we must unfold our wings & fly. That is our ultimate right & destiny for everyone anywhere, to find that child in each of us. Life is too short. I was physically in Canturbury this spring & couldn't find much there, as one mentioned in this newsletter a while back. It seems to be more of a movement or a school of thought that reflected this style of music. It's odd but, over down here where I'm from on the Delta there's a new breed of music on the horizon that's very similar to this style. It's strange to hear such similarities from 2 diverse backgrounds! I think it's in the midst of the myst, wheither it's in Canturbury or in the Delta myst. It's floating everywhere. As I was saying, I really did enjoy that interview with Robert. I feel like I know you, Robert. Let's let the music flow as if we're swimming underwater. Lost in the Delta Myst..............Ramona ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rick Mealey <rmealey@connix.com> Subject: The Hatfields FAQ page Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 17:02:05 -0400 Bonjour Aymeric: Having a brief revisit to the Calyx website (I already subscribe to What's Rattlin') and putting happy thoughts back into my head-- what a treasure trove of information on all my favorite bands... thank you for keeping this up. I've often wanted to contribute something-- and now I think I can. The FAQ page poses the question, Why were particular titles chosen for albums and compositions? I can help you with one of these at least: Your Majesty Is Like a Cream Donut comes from a Monty Python skit from the same time period.... At a party, Oscar Wilde, James McNeil Whistler, and George Bernard Shaw are engaging in a battle of wits (jazz musicians would call it a sort of cutting contest) when England's reigning monarch joins them. In a display of one-upsmanship, they compare him to, variously, a cream donut, a stream of bat's piss, and a dose of the clap. I don't remember which Python album this is from, or which episode of the series... but it is available on CD, and I can get that info for you if you like. Hope this was a help. Looking forward to the next WR, and the next...-- Rick ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David R Ashcraft <105704.1431@compuserve.com> Subject: Concert Update Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 23:06:26 -0400 A small group of fans in Chicago has been putting on some concerts over the past few years including Present, Boud Deun, and Richard Sinclair. Two more shows have been booked and we really need fan support inorder to keep this fledgling series alive and well. We are taking all of the financial risk in putting on the shows since the club owners are unwilling to do so. All profits go to pay the bands. Now for the good news! The Peter Blegvad Trio (including John Greaves and Chris Cutler) are playing on Thursday, September 17th at 9pm. Location is Martyr's which is at 3855 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Boud Deun will be playing Martyr's on Wednesday October 7th at 8:30 (with support band, "Numbers"). They'll be featuring tracks from their sizzling new disc on Cuneiform. Martyr's is a great club with an excellent sound system, good sitelines, and some tasty microbrews. We will have the opportunity to do future shows there IF these concerts are a success and the club makes a buck. This is the chance that Chicago-area progressive fans have to get some shows going in their area. Future gig possibilities include Djam Karet, Anekdoten, Korai Orom, Ozric Tentacles, PFM, and Magma (underline possibilities for all of these however). Please pass the word on to everyone about these shows and we hope to see you there!! Thanks, David ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Peter Rijnsburger <100627.474@compuserve.com> Subject: Top 10 favorite Canterbury albums Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 15:49:19 -0400 Hello Aymeric and fellow rattlers, First of all I would like to say how nice it is to see there's still a lot of interest in everything the Canterbury scene has done and is still doing. Luckily a lot of the musicians are still active, and so am I, collecting recent and not so recent stuff on CD. This year for instance I bought John Greaves' "Songs" at a bargain price (4 pounds) and "Guitar solos" by Fred Frith at midprice. Both well worth hearing. But even better than those is the new Slapp Happy album "Ca va". It took some time to obtain a copy (I bought mine last month), but after a couple of spins it sounds as if it's a real winner. Marvellous stuff. The same is true of Robert Wyatt's "Shleep" but that's already been mentioned enough in "What's rattlin?". Apart from the music on disc and cd, I also have witnessed some ourstanding performances by artists featured in WR, among them Fred Frith, Dagmar Krause (with Phil Minton and Steve Beresford plus The Maarten AltenaEnsemble), Lindsay Cooper and David Thomas together, Kevin Ayers and a solo concert by Richard Sinclair (the last two in the 90s). And only in 1996 I saw an excellent one-off performance by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin during the Unknown Public Holiday at London‚s South Bank Centre. Especially their version of 'Shaking all over'‚ was splendid. There are of course many more memories that come to mind (during a summer holiday in the late seventies I spent one night in Canterbury in a caravan because the youth hostel was full; the caravan was parked in the garden of an old-pensioners home; I'm not making this up!), but my fascination with Canterbury music is perhaps best illustrated by presenting my top 10 of alltime favorite albums from Canterbury related groups and artists. It's the least I can do in return for all the interviews and other information that is contained in every issue of "What's rattlin?". And I suppose I'm not the only one busy making top 10 lists and enjoy reading about them. So, here they are. 1 Robert Wyatt - Rock bottom 2 Hatfield And The North - The Rotters‚ club 3 Slapp Happy - Acnalbasac noom 4 Caravan - In the land of grey and pink 5 A. More - Flying doesn‚t help 6 Quiet Sun - Mainstream 7 Soft Machine - Soft Machine (first) 8 Caravan - Caravan (first) 9 Fred Frith - Gravity 10 National Health - Of queues and cures It's mostly seventies stuff, but those are the 'golden years'‚ for me, because I started listening to Canterbury bands and other 'progressive' music like Genesis, Gentle Giant and King Crimson in the early seventies. Those first albums I bought are really the ones that I tend to remember longer than the recent music coming out of Canterbury (or anywhere else). One reason of course is that I'm listening to much more music nowadays than I was 25 years ago. Perhaps I've heard The Rotters‚ club more than 40 times, which is easy enough to do when you buy only 20 records a year! Since the 1980s I buy a lot more albums a year, so a maximum of 15 spins is the most if I'm lucky (and if the music is any good). Not forgetting the longer duration time of CDs, which doesn't help to increase the spinning average. Finally, two words from Richard Sinclair which can be applied to top 10 lists: "please do not take it seriously" (Share it, The Rotters‚ club) and to writing about Canterbury music: "keep on caring" (Caravan of dreams). All the best, Peter Rijnsburger Amstelveen Holland [Thanks for your contribution to WR#100, Peter. Just one minor correction: the lyrics to "Share It" are actually by Pip Pyle. Perhaps you have the CD edition of "The Rotters Club" where the credit is omitted, as is Dave Stewart's for writing "Mumps"... - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** FORTHCOMING CANTERBURY-RELATED CONCERTS ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [for more info : check out the 'Concerts' page of CALYX - see URL below] CARAVAN[Hastings-Sinclair-Richardson-Coughlan-Leverton-Boyle-Bentall] Oct 30 - London, Astoria DIDIER MALHERBE/PIERRE BENSUSAN Aug [11-14] - Lorient (F), Festival Inter-Celtique Sep [22-30] - Irish tour Oct [2-10] - UK tour AVANT-GARDE ROCK FESTIVAL The Knitting Factory, New York City Sep 05 - Brainville (Allen/Hopper/Kramer/Pyle) Sep 06 - Roy Harper Sep 07 - Peter Blegvad Trio/Frith-Cutler Duo Sep 08 - a combination of the former + others PETER BLEGVAD TRIO [P.Blegvad-J.Greaves-C.Cutler] Sep 17 - Chicago, Martyr's [3855 N. Lincoln Ave], 9pm FORGAS BAND PHENOMENASep 03 - Paris (France), Petit Journal Montparnasse [tel: 143.215.670]Sep 11 - Paris (France), Studio des Islettes [tel: 142.586.333]Sep 12 - Paris (France), Studio des Islettes [tel: 142.586.333]Sep 23 - Paris (France), Peniche 'La Balle Au Bond' [tel: 140.518.706]Oct 09 - Paris (France), Peniche 'Le 6/8' [tel: 143.807.454]Oct 23 - Paris (France), Theatre Dunois (tbc) [opening for John Wetton] Nov 13 - Paris (France), Le Glaz'Art [tel: 140.364.849] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * END OF ISSUE 100 _________________________________________________________________________WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ?_________________________________________________________________________ CALYX - The Canterbury Website http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/calyx.html THE ULTIMATE ONLINE CANTERBURY DISCOGRAPHY http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/cantdisco.html WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? BACK ISSUES - ONLINE ARCHIVE http://musart.co.uk/watrat/watrat.htm + search engine : http://musart.co.uk/ssearch.htm Send all correspondence regarding 'CALYX' and 'WHAT'S RATTLIN' ?' to : bigbang@alpes-net.fr _________________________________________________________________________