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  ::                                                              ::
  ::                     - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? -                    ::
  ::       The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts         ::
  ::                          Issue # 16                          ::
  ::                    Wednesday, May 8th, 1996                  ::
  ::                                                              ::
  ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

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From: cmeloche@julian.uwo.ca (Chris Meloche)
Subject: National Health - Missing Pieces delay
Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 09:02:39 -0400 (EDT)

(Steve) cuneiway@aol.com (CuneiWay) wrote:

>I spoke with ESD today.
>
>Sorry to report that they are now giving a release date of late October, &
>warned me that it may not be released until early next year.

A couple of weeks back I received "Missing Pieces" from their Canadian
distributor, Denon. Steve posted the message (on rec.music.progressive)
regarding the delay and one fellow from Canada responded that he had just
picked it up in a store. I think that Denon might have a problem when they
try to order a second batch from ESD. In the meantime, it looks as if we are
Lucky Canucks!
BTW - I'll be featuring tracks from "Missing Pieces" on my radio programme
Wired for Sound (CHRW-FM, London, Ont.) on Monday, August 12th. It's part of
a series called "Unearthed Treasures & Odd Ditties".

Cheers,
Chris Meloche
cmeloche@julian.uwo.ca

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From: marcel hermsen <hieph@bart.nl>
Subject: Mirage Live CD
Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 15:36:39 -0700

Hi there,
I'm Marcel from Holland, can you give me a gesture where I can buy the
Mirage live-cd.

thanks,
marcel (hieph@bart.nl)

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From: LASERCD@aol.com
Subject: Harald Luss' post
Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 10:01:17 -0400

Harald Luss mentioned some bands which he suggested people check out.  There
is one band in particular that I would appreciate help in tracking down.

Does anyone have any specific information regarding Book Of AM?

Please e-mail me at lasercd@aol.com

Thanks!

-Ken Golden/The Laser's Edge

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From: davidl@mail.tss.net (David Layton)
Subject: Where to hear Canterbury music
Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 09:06:44 +0100

I well know the complaints that most of us stateside and Canada bound people
have about the lack of worthwhile music on the radio in the North Western
Hemisphere.  Even when good musicians go "commercial", such as Stewart &
Gaskin, they still don't get played out here.  The only solution I have
found is to play them myself.  For the past 8+ years I have been a volunteer
DJ at various college and community radio stations.  Currently I broadcast
from 2 stations in Western Washington, USA: KGHP-FM 89.9 or 89.3 in Gig
Harbor Sundays 3-6 PM, and KAOS-FM 89.3 in Olympia Wednesdays 3-6 AM (I'm
doing something about getting a better time slot here).  On these shows I
play all manner of progressive rock, jazz fusion, electronic, RIO, and other
alternatives to "alternative" rock, including many of your favorite
Canterbury bands.  As stations rarely get these CDs as promos and they are
rare and expensive here, my collection is not as complete as it could be.
Still, little by little I'm adding to it (ex., I just got the CD of Cunning
Stunts and will be featuring this one soon).  So if you are ever in Western
Washington in Tacoma or just south of it and need that Canterbury fix, tune
in.  I would hate to say that I dedicated it to you, but you weren't listening.

David Layton (davidl@mail.tss.net)

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From: Teatse Vogelaar <vogelaar@epsilon.nl>
Subject: Canterbury music in Harlingen
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 1996 22:41:50 +0200

Hi there,

On your homepages concerning Canterbury concert-dates there is still one
very important missing. On september 21st and 22nd, Harlingen, Havenplein,
there will be a musical festival with the Richard Sinclair band :
R.S. bass and voice,
Hans Waterman drums,
Dave Rees-Williams keyboards
and Patrice Meyer on guitar.

A few hours ago also Tony Coe, who played the clarinet so well on Richards
latest CD "RSVP", announced that he will join the band.
The Hugh Hopper band will play that night with Frank van der Kooij on sax,
Martin Kruiswijk on drums and again Patrice Meyer on guitar.
The local group De Pleegzusters will do some Caravan songs together with
Richard Sinclair as they have done a couple of months ago. A childrens
choir will sing Caravan songs with Richard's help. We'll have a english
High Tea on the Saturday afternoon and an original english breakfast on the
sundaymorning (also very welcome for the people who made a long trip to get
to Harlingen, the Netherlands and had to sleep on the campsite). During the
breakfast solos and duos of Canterbury musicians will help us to digest.
That same afternoon Dave Rees-Williams will play on the historical organ of
the GROTE KERK and let us hear his versions of Caravan and Hatfield tunes.
We'll be there to witness the "birth" of the Hopper / Sinclair CD "Somewhere
in France", recorded in 1983 and never released (if the manufacturer does
not let us down).

There is a chance that one of the best known Dutch composers of Canterbury-
like music will be there to present his new line up and play the tunes
from the 70's (slightly modified). In the venue, nicely decorated, you'll
find small shops from our sponsors as well as a vinyl magazine, T-shirts
and caps, CD company VOICEPRINT with CD's and their catalogue, a shop with
all Canterbury related CD's we can lay our hands on, information from the
Internet and what more we can think of to help Canterbury music go on.

What I would like very much for you to do is, help us spread the word.

You have the most read Canterbury Home page and are able to reach the most
fans. It would be very nice to have as much french music lovers (and German
and Belgian and English) as possible and we welcome them to come by
busloads. I can give you information about sleepingplaces as well as
information about Harlingen which is a very old and attractive town. You'll
love it. Manfred Bress will have the news in his coming Canterbury
Nachrichten and Richard Sinclair is trying to spread the news in England (he
will also try to persuade the manufacturer of "Sheperds Neame", a fine
english beer, to sponsor us a few drinks). A film director is willing to
film it all with 3 cameras and most of the music will be recorded, so we
might end up with a nice "CANTERBURY MUSIC IN HARLINGEN" recording. Because
of the very limited time we have in the evening, that festivalpart will
start at excactly 19.30hrs (Dutch time) so don't miss half of it by coming
to late.

I would like it very much if you gave me a confirmation of this message and
I hope you will add this good news extensively to you homepage.

Teatse Vogelaar
Harlingen, the Netherlands

[For more info, and some minor designing efforts of mine (including photo
collages of both line-ups scheduled to appear, those of you with WWW access
should check out the "concerts" page of CALYX - A.L.]

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From: Steve.Pearce@octel.com
Subject: Caravan - UK gig
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 09:17:38 +0100

I just noticed in some Ticketmaster blurb that Caravan are playing a gig
at the London Astoria, the date is October 31st. Tickets are a very
reasonable 8.50 GBP.

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From: Phil Kime <Phil.Kime@ed.ac.uk>
Newsgroups: rec.music.progressive
Subject: REVIEW: National Health -- Missing Pieces
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 12:57:59 GMT

[This review is included with Phil's permission - A.L.]

I know, I know. This is delayed and thus a review of this is only
going to make people cry. However, I will forget all about this if I
do not post it now ...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After much rumours and speculation, the CD release most Cantebury
enthusiasts have been patiently waiting for. Unreleased National Health
tracks mainly from the line-up including Bruford. Copious amusing liner
notes by Dave Stewart detailing each track are an appreciated bonus. We have
a full version of "Paracelsus", a complete Cantebury-styled song with Amanda
Parsons singing called "Clocks and Clouds", amusing mistakes, and an
audience performing "Phlakaton". There is a lost Mont Campbell "arty" piece
re-recorded by Stewart and Gaskin plus silly titles galore and a snippet of
National Health augmented by Greaves and Blegvad doing "Walking the Dog".
All of the material is top-quality National Health officially unreleased
before. Some of Mont Campbell's pieces are quite "serious" and close to
tracks on Egg's _Civil Surface_. "Agrippa" is actually rather dark for
National Health. Thrill to the rock 'n' roll parody in 9/8 at the start of
"The Lethargy Shuffle & Mind-Your-Backs Tango", Boggle at the time-changes
in "Zabaglione" and technologically gasp at the rich synth remake of
"Starlight On Seaweed". It is hardly worth going into detail about the
tracks as I expect most people will buy this as a matter of course. Rightly
so too.

Phil Kime (Phil.Kime@ed.ac.uk)
Centre for Cognitive Science/Dept of Philosophy
University of Edinburgh

[Greaves was a member - so only Blegvad 'augments' the line-up - A.L.]

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From: Lisa Shannon <lisanico@access.digex.net>
Subject: various (Re: WR#15)
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 22:18:05 -0400 (EDT)

Hi people!

First of all, to quickly relate a portion of a dream I had the other
night.  I was looking out the window of an apartment and Daevid Allen was
doing somersaults and flips out in the yard, in a cool black & white
outfit. He did one final cartwheel and landed in a mud puddle.

> WGTB - a campus radio station at Georgetown University in DC. Its really
> hard to find out about the Canterbury folks stateside - Wash, DC is NOT a
> center of great music - tho there are a few of us die-hards around.

Many of us are on this list, though!  Me & Rob & Steve F, if not more (any
other DC types out there?)  A moment of silence, once again, for the
demise of WGTB... whimper...

> I'd like to add a couple of band names worth giving a listen. I'm aware that
> some experienced of you might have troubles filing some of the names under
> Canterbury but as some wise men have stated - music was/is always subjective
> and can therefore (luckily) not be generalized.

Here's another band that you people might be surprised by, but I swear it
sounds like Hatfield or National Health melodies & vocals played by Ralf,
Florian, and John Cale:  Stereolab.

Bye everybody!!!  A bientot - Lisa

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From: Teatse Vogelaar <vogelaar@epsilon.nl>
Subject: other concerts
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 1996 12:09:43 +0200

Hi again,

Just had a chat with Richard Sinclair. He will also play with his band in
Germany (Oberhausen, Starclub, Mulheimstr. 24) on the 14th of September
at 9.30 p.m. and the next day (15th of September) in Amsterdam (Paradiso).
I told him its gonna be crowded in September, because also Caravan would
play in Tivoli Utrecht (16th), as mentioned on your homepage. He told me
that that seemed very unlikely to him, so you better check that out.

[Well, I'm sorry for any possible inaccuracies on the "concerts" page.
Unfortunately, I'm not in direct contact with any concert promoter or
band's managements so I have to rely on fan info ! - A.L.]

On these two gigs Tony Coe won't be there, but Richard is still trying to
contact Didier Malherbe, so he might be there.

Bye - Teatse

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From: Phil Kime <Phil.Kime@ed.ac.uk>
Newsgroups: rec.music.progressive
Subject: Stewart and Gaskin : debut UK live gig
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 1996 09:13:34 GMT

I have just received a flyer from Broken Records saying that Dave
Stewart and Barbara Gaskin will be playing live in the QEH in London,
UK on September 28th. Aparently, this is their first UK gig ever?! It
is part of the Unknown Public CD journal's "Unknown Public Holiday"
event with lots of artists in different genres playing on the day.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Michael Bloom <MHB@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Subject: More recommendations for the Rattlin' crowd
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 96 10:39:48 EDT

Perusing Harald Luss's list of Canterburiesque bands, one name leapt out at
me: Picchio dal Pozzo. I should've mentioned them myself, I think they're
wonderful, sort of a cross between Hatfield and Grand Wazoo-era Mothers.
They made two LPs, several years apart, but stylistically fairly similar--
for example there were different saxophonists on the two albums, but both
of them tuned their horns slightly flat (again in imitation of Zappa?).
The rest of the instrumentation was the usual guitar/keys/bass/drums.
The keyboard guy definitely studied his Dave Stewart arpeggios.

Even Chris Cutler liked them-- they contributed one tune to the double LP
Recommended Sampler.

He also mentioned Bon, who is Bon Lozaga, who has verifiable Canterbury
pedigree, having played in Pierre Moerlen's Gong. He's now based on the
American east coast, playing guitar through a delay device and building
ad hoc megastructures of loopage, and he also leads occasional fusion
ensembles. And he's on the net and should be encouraged to sign on here
and explain himself! I think he's scheduled to perform in September at
that prog series in Baltimore; details can be found on the Progday
webpage at : http://www.vnet.net/users/ctucker/progday

And somebody else mentioned the Shiny Men, who were also pretty cool.
They sounded like Richard Sinclair kidnapped by the Buzzcocks and
forcibly Mohawked-- which would have been a real challenge, given his
follicular deficiencies :-) The only recorded work of theirs I know
was an LP called Fall Out!

I should add the Hampton Grease Band to the roster of bands who might
appeal to Canterbury fiends. They released a double album on Columbia
in 1971, which is widely regarded to have been the worst selling album
in Columbia's corporate history (although the liner notes of the new CD
reissue claim that in fact there was some yoga record that did worse),
and which is just terrific, being almost entirely composed of 20 minute
songs with bazillions of carefully tweezed guitar riffs, frenetic jams,
lyrical rants about the contents of spray paint and the tourist sights
of Halifax, and general bizarritude. No keyboards, but the guitar licks
are intricate enough to fill that niche-- and one of the guitarists was
a young Glenn Phillips. It's certainly a very American sounding band--
maybe as if the original Butterfield Blues Band took on Mike Ratledge as
musical director, with just a hint of Beefheartronics.

So why is all my favorite music from two decades ago?

[BTW, at the time of "Grand Wazoo" and "Waka Jawaka", I seem to think Zappa's band wasn't called the Mothers - although it was before and after (just a pointless remark to show off my great culture)... sorry, anyway I hope the bands you mention are as entertaining as your descriptions of their music ! Are the CD reissues easy to find ?... About Bon Lozaga - yes, he should appear at Progday (Aug 31/Sep 1) in Baltimore. He'll play solo stuff in the intervals. A nice idea. Another artist (new-age/prog multi-instrumentalist Jeremy) will do the same on the first day - A.L.]

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From: JDLevinson@gnn.com (Jerry D. Levinson)
Subject: Caravan - Better By Far
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 1996 21:50:07

The best songs on "Better by Far" are "The Last Unicorn" at
5:50, "Man in a Car" at 6:12, and "Nightmare" at 6:26. Though these
songs are not as impressive as some of the longer suites on the
earlier albums, they still provide rewarding listening to me.

You also might consider the effect that the disco era had on
popular music production techniques when that album was recorded.
They may have been pressured to put a "dance-able" track like
"Silver Strings" on the album in order to keep their recording
contract.

From this fan's perspective, even disco Caravan is better than
no Caravan at all. The more, the merrier. Let me know if you know of
anyplace where "Better By Far" or the first album may be purchased
on CD!

[I've never heard of "Better By Far" being available on CD - and
apparently the CD reissue of "Caravan" from 1968 that I was told about
has yet to appear. If anyone knows more, please write ! - A.L.]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Michael Bloom <MHB@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Lyrics to "Clocks and Clouds"
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 96 14:16:43 EDT

Here's the words to "Clocks and Clouds," which I got from a gentleman
named Phillip Page, who used to do promotion for Passport Records, who
released the National Health debut album in the States. Aymeric, if this
text is already common knowledge, please send it to the bit bucket...

[These lyrics have been on the CALYX site since the beginning (or quite),
but as a number of WR subscribers apparently have no access to W.W.W.,
it's probably a good idea to include them here - as they do not appear
in the booklet of "Missing Pieces" (so far, at least). BTW, I got a copy
of these lyrics 5 years ago from... Virgin ! I'm still surprised they
answered my query. I wrote to them asking for copies of all Hatfield
lyrics... and they made photocopies, etc ! Apparently, they also had Slapp
Happy lyrics in the same drawer or something, so they also sent these to
me. Most of the lyrics are handwritten or typed by the artists themselves,
apparently, so these are really nice ! - A.L.]

Past the Northern Lights, and flying on through polar nights
the pressure's growing overhead
In a month of Sundays you won't find a sunbeam,
clocks and clouds say rainy times ahead.

From the northern shores and down the starlit corridors
the clouds are gathering again
I can feel the weather-clocks humming in their cases,
soon we'll have to shelter from the rain.

Chorus:
Grey skies, magnetized, my how time flies
Seeing stars ionized, my how time slips away.....

Now then Sun, what's your problem? Rise and shine.
There are butterflies to chase and shadows to define
On a day like this there's no point in starting late
You've got atmospheres to warm, equators to equate
Come on then, hurry up, you're obviously bright enough
to know that you're only wasting time.

From the northern shores and down the starlit corridors
the clouds are gathering again
so in stormy times I'll open my umbrella
clocks and clouds make rainy times again

(Repeat chorus)

[This verse for live work only. Studio version fades after organ solo]

The storm is gone, the clouds have vanished from the sky,
the sound of thunder fades away
And the weather-clocks are ticking rather slowly,
measuring the last part of the day..........

[(c) 1976 by D. Stewart]

Nice stuff, no? I believe I detect an allusion or two to "Busy Doing
Nothing," which he did in the '80s with Barbara Gaskin.

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From: Forbol@aol.com
Subject: Didier Malherbe Question
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 15:10:12 -0400

Hello:

I have a vinyl copy of Didier Malherbe's BLOOM as far as I Know it's the only
album this band put out.  My question is - has this album been put on CD and
if so would you know where or how I could order a copy?

[I've talked with Bernard Gueffier of Musea recently, and he told me this
would be re-released on his label... although not immediately, as their
release schedule until next February doesn't mention it. They've already
reissued the album by Moving, which was recorded at the same period and,
probably, on the same label. It was an offshoot band of Moving Gelatine
Plates, featuring Didier Thibault (who also had a stint with Gong before
Mike Howlett), and the album included guest contributions by Malherbe and
Mico Nissim - A.L.]

Thanks
Daniel G. Whittemore
forbol@aol.com

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From: Otherroad@aol.com
Subject: Gongzilla and The Artist Shop
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 17:39:06 -0400

Hi, folks.  I've been lurking since issue one.  This is a wonderful
newsletter and I'm enjoying it greatly.  I'd like to invite you all over to
my house, The Artist Shop <http://www.artist-shop.com>.  It's devoted to
independent artists putting out their own product and our most recent member
is the latest of Gong progeny, Gongzilla.  We also have the rest of the LoLo
Records catalog with cover graphics and RealAudio Soundbites for every album.
So stop on by and say hello.  Let me know what you think.

Gongzilla is the lastest branch of the Gong family tree.  Their current
album, Suffer, features Allan Holdsworth, Bon Lozaga, Hansford Rowe, Benoit
Moerlen and more.  This is a heady combination of Progressive Rock and
Fusion Jazz.  And good news, Bon tells me Gongzilla is in the studio at this
very moment working on a follow up.

This is just a part of LoLo Records started by Bon Lozaga and Hansford Rowe.
Their catalog is a most impressive collection of experimental, progressive
and jazz music.  Guests include Allan Holdsworth, David Torn, Percy Jones,
Caryn Lin, Geno White, Randy Brecker, Pierre Moerlen, Bobby Thomas and more.
As usual, you'll find RealAudio soundbites for all the albums in The Artist
Shop.  Stop on by for a visit.  And don't forget to visit our other artist
labels:

King Crimson's Discipline
Mike Pinder's One Step
Suzanne Ciani's Seventh Wave
Rhonda Larson's Ventus Records
Larry Fast's Third Contact
Adrian Belew Presents

And new artists Richard Johnson, David Bagsby and Roger Zahab.  Plus we've
got some rapid expansion planned so stay tuned for further details.

Gary

**************************************************************
                           Gary Davis
The Artist Shop                                 The Other Road
http://www.artist-shop.com                   OtherRoad@aol.com
                SUPPORT THE INDEPENDENT ARTIST!!!
**************************************************************

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From: PETERGIF@aol.com
Subject: Re: WR#15
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 16:55:54 -0400

Thanks for my first issue of What's Rattlin. I have been a fan of Caravan,
Camel, Hatfield, Gong and such for many years now, and with the exception of
one close friend, I know of no other people who give a damn. I loved Caravan
since I saw them in New York (it was probably around the time of "Cunning
Stunts") when they opened up for Fairport Convention (who were also very
good). I did not want the show to end. I am 41 now and I don't anticipate
ever losing my taste for this stuff....I often wondered what it would be like
to be 80 and to still be listening to Pye and company.....

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                             END OF ISSUE #16

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