WR

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: - WHAT'S RATTLIN'? - :: :: The "Periodical" Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts :: :: Issue # 193 :: :: Thursday, April 25th, 2002 :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: MoonJune Global Media <moonjune@moonjune.com> Subject: MOONJUNE announces ALLAN HOLDSWORTH, ELTON DEAN, HUGH HOPPER & JOHN MARSHALL Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 02:38:44 -0400 MoonJune Global Media is pleased to announce the formation of S O F T W A R E ALLAN HOLDSWORTH electric guitar ELTON DEAN saxello, alto sax, keyboards HUGH HOPPER electric bass JOHN MARSHALL drums A new album, to be recorded in a London recording studio in June, will be released initially in Japan this September on the Universal Records with a tour of Asian countries to follow. This marks the first time these four musicians have worked together. They will perform music written especially for this project along with new arrangements of themes familiar to fans of their long and distinguished careers. And to those fans whose collective hearts are beginning to thump in 7/4 time, let us not be coy: The watermark of Soft Machine lies tantalizingly close to the surface of this venture. No group has sustained a more iconic, cult status. And, for many, the chance to hear and see them borders on the ecstatic. Software, however, is where we find these sublime talents today; and their commitment, as always, is to be rigorous, thoughtful, heartfelt and with feet firmly planted in-the-now! Longer term, the group plans to make this an ongoing concern while still pursuing their various solo activities. But 2003 will see Software at full-throttle, with concerts planned for Europe, North America and South America to coincide with the release of their record in these territories. For more info please contact Leonardo Pavkovic/MoonJune Global Media via e-mail at software@moonjune.com MoonJune Global Media is the exclusive worldwide representative of all things Softwareian. All rights reserved. "We Have The New Software For The Old Machine!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Canterbury Sound Festival 2002 Subject: More Festival Info Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 14:37:22 EDT Hello Aymeric, Just updating you that day tickets are available for Canterbury. Please see attached info Canterbury Fayre 23, 24, 25 august 2002Mount Ephraim Gardens, Hernhill, Faversham (nr. Canterbury), Kent A 5,000 capacity open-air event with camping facilities held in the grounds of the private estate of Mount Ephraim Gardens at Faversham (near Canterbury), Kent. Now in its third year. website http://www.canterburyfestival.com Tickets are not on general sale yet but you can pre-order tickets by sending a cheque or postal order payable to Brain Wave Festivals Ltd., for £80.00 (no booking fee applicable) per ticket with an SAE to: Brain Wave Festivals Ltd, PO Box 431, Chesham, Bucks HP5 3WG ENGLAND. Day tickets are £25 for Friday and £35 for Saturday or Sunday 2002 confirmed line up: Friday 23rd August (from 5.00pm) FISH CARAVAN KEVIN AYERS Saturday 24th August ALL ABOUT EVE RICK WAKEMAN 21st CENTURY SCHITZOID BAND (The music of King Crimson featuring Michael Giles, Ian McDonald, Peter Giles, Mel Collins & Jakko M. Jakszyk) OZRIC TENTACLES MAN MUFFIN MEN MOSTLY AUTUMN Sunday 25th August THE STRANGLERS THE DAMNED PRETTY THINGS OYSTERBAND ARTHUR BROWN KARNATAKA More acts to be announced... Cheers Vicky Powell ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Fred Chalenor Subject: hughscore gig with Hugh Hopper in seattle Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 09:50:40 +0200 Hi, This is Fred Chalenor from Hughscore, a band with Hugh Hopper. I thought I would tell you that Hughscore is playing it's first official gig with Hugh here in Seattle on august 16 (or) 17th. Seattle is having its first progressive music festival this summer that I am sure you will be hearing about. This gig is good for us because it means we can test drive some of the music that will be on the next Hughscore cd. Hughscore for the gig will be: Hugh Hopper on bass, Fred Chalenor on bass, Elaine DiFalco on keyboards and vocals, Tucker Martine on drums and processing and Steve Moore on extra keyboards. Hugh will also be performing with another group whose members I will wait to give out after I talk to the head of the festival next week. Fred ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kenneth Egbert" <invizzigoth@earthlink.net> Subject: Another review Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 8:43:28 -0400 Hello, Aymeric: Although Supersister are not a Canterbury band per se, it has always seemed to me that the band has enough of the form's touchstones incorporated into its sound to warrant inclusion by proxy. So here goes, and thanks for asking for another review (with TONE CLUSTERS up on blocks for a while longer, What's Rattlin' is my main outlet. Pleased to be of assistance!) SUPERSISTER - Supersisterious (SOSS Music, Netherlands, 2CD set) Long ago I was digging about in the music racks in Pantasia Recorz, an institution of higher musical learning in New York City in the 1970s, and Joel the Grand Panjandrum (and store owner) mentioned he knew of a band from Holland which nicely occupied the space between early Soft Machine (the Wyatt/Hopper/Ratledge trio) and Hatfield and the North. I was not aware there was such a space, but as if to prove his thesis, Joel tossed on PRESENT FROM NANCY, the Sisters' 1970 release. The music was fairly dizzying and it did indeed replicate the attitude I often heard in the best Canterbury releases: it produced in my mind a delightful confusion and a suspicion that 'this can't possibly be happening...' Other examples of this syndrome: Caravan writing 22-minute etudes called "Nine Feet Underground" which never actually mentioned being in such a state, or National Health taking a page out of the Beatles' songbook with "Tenemos Roads" (which always struck me as being, like "Strawberry Fields," the place in the world you most want to go), a glorious march for no particular reason except to celebrate the occasionally delightful enigma of being alive. While not taking itself too seriously. After a lot of thought (I'm a critic, it takes me a while to think of these things) I dubbed the phenomenon "cheery psychosis." What does a psycho do, after all? When confronted with reality, he/she reorders it to suit her/his taste. Hard to get away with on occasion, but a worthwhile method of going on vacation from life for the 40 minutes it takes for a LP to play through. As if in suggestion, in their song "Psychopath" Supersister mentioned a need for such a state; so you might say they did most of the hard work already. In his fine liner notes Aad Link, current manager and majordomo of SOSS Music, mentions that to his mind Supersister became a way of thinking early on. This is my best approximation of that: the concept that if life is absurd it can be stood apart from and made scandalous fun of, without one necessarily being dragged off to the mental hospital in a straitjacket. For this reason (and the fact that the Netherlands supported the Softs and Hatfield and Matching Mole fanatically during their tenures) I think Supersister should be considered an honorary Canterbury band. Their taking Elton Dean on board for a bit in the mid-1970s and their hiring of Univers Zero percussionist Daniel Denis (more evidence of their sense of the absurd!) at another point is further evidence of this! Well, there are 2 CDs of music to discuss here, best get on with it. Supersister's recent reunion before the untimely death in 2001 of flautist/composer Sacha van Geest elicited some joyfully received concerts, a CD of rarities (MEMORIES ARE NEW, also on SOSS) and this very fine document. Probably the place for you to begin in the discovery of the Supers if you have no earthly idea what I am talking about, SUPERSISTERIOUS is basically their Greatest Hits Live, along with some additional lunacies, stage announcements in Dutch (get out your Baedekers), sharper and more lush arrangements than on the original records, and most important, a spirited performance throughout. Had somebody told me this was recorded at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in 1972 as opposed to 2000, I would have believed them! Well, the lack of a Farfisa organ with the fuzzbox on 10 (another Canterbury reference) might have tipped me off, eventually. "Present from Nancy" opens the festivities and showcases almost everything the Sisters are good at: lugubrious chord changes on the piano, Duke Ellington jungle drums from Marco Vrolijk, and van Geest's flute fills give way to a Moment of Confused Silence (orchestrated, I'm sure), a short fuzzed Yamaha DX7 opinion courtesy of R.J. Stips, and then the original piano riff done double time with all the extra notes falling off. Flute duels with the fuzzy DX7, and I think to anybody whose taste hasn't devolved to Classic Rock, that feeling of "cheery psychosis" will begin to appear. The Italian bands, like Osanna or PFM, had a similar ability to switch structures on a dime and give one nine cents' change but only Supersister, the Canterbury bands and a few others like Gentle Giant infused their songs with this manic glee I've tried to define here. SUPERSISTERIOUS consists of most of the PRESENT FROM, TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER and PUDDING & GISTEREN albums along with a hip-shaking "Mexico" (greasy enough to spread on a tortilla), "6 Blauwe Dwergen" from the later Sisters more vocal song style, and the very strange "Wow," a sort of demolition of all that came before. Hardly surprising. Standouts on the two CDs include the entire 22-minute, almost Baroque in its structural delicacy, "Pudding & Gisteren"; the manically optimistic "Energy (Out of Future)," which features R.J. Stips' best vocal (by the way, the band also tacks on "Higher," their infamous answer to the Doors' "Light My Fire," but don't look for it on the track list); "Judy Goes on Holiday," the Sisters' hilarious hijacking of a Pink Floyd bass line (from"One Of these Days", to which two beats were added to make it 6/8; performed by Ron van Eck with pinpoint accuracy); Stips' matter-of-fact vocalizing throughout, which makes his stranger lyrics stranger still; and if I keep on like this I'll have to mention all 111 minutes of the music here so I'll just say that it's all worth a listen or five. Thanks to Messieurs (Minjheers?) van Eck, the late van Geest, Vrolijk and Stips for reminding us how good a band this was, to Aad Link for asking yours truly to contribute one of the liner notes to SUPERSISTERIOUS (full disclosure!), and last but not least to Joel for turning me on to this band in the first place. Good on yer all! And we miss you, Sacha; always. Web sites: http://www.stips.nl / http://www.supersister.nl (ordering information will be found therein) Ken Egbert --- TC Media --- Subversive Music & Media --- invizzigoth@earthlink.net or --- toneclusters@earthlink.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: stevesly@aol.com (Stevesly) Subject: Progday 2002 News Date: 23 Apr 2002 00:02:42 GMT The longest-running North American prog festival continues! ProgDay will take place for the eighth time this Labor Day weekend, August 31 and September 1, at Storybook Farm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This is the second year that ProgDay has been run as a community event, with volunteers from all over the country pooling their efforts to make it a reality. Last year there were a lot of happy faces at the Farm by the end of the weekend, and we are very pleased to be able to continue offering this event, for the people who come year after year, the newcomers who join the tradition, and all the bands who have brought their music to a wider, more appreciative audience. We would like to announce the first three bands for this year's edition: * The Muffins: People from across the country were delighted last year by the Muffins' first festival appearance. The classic line-up of Dave Newhouse, Tom Scott, Billy Swann and Paul Sears ripped through a setlist of old material (Manna/Mirage era) as well as new material, including unreleased material and material from their forthcoming album on Cuneiform, entitled Bandwidth. We were thrilled that they came to play for us, and even more excited when the possibility arose that they could make a repeat appearance. Not content to stay in one place, they are preparing even more new material for this year's show, as well as dusting off some old material that has not been done live in a very, very long time. Whether you were able to see them last year or not, this is obviously a can't-miss event. The Muffins return to Storybook Farm at ProgDay 2002. * Avant Garden: Don't let the name fool you; while a spirit of adventure certainly resides in their work, this is a band whose melodies will get in your head and stay there. Given a unique sound by the alternating use of flute and sax, at times this band will remind of trilogy-era Gong, and at others they'll sound more pastoral, almost like Italian progressive rock. Although their first release came out in late 2001, this band has been around a while longer and have played live in California, including an opening date for Spock's Beard on a recent tour. Avant Garden strives to push the frontier of modern music and break through commercially imposed boundaries; everyone we've run into seems to think they've succeeded. * Thieves' Kitchen: Whoever said that the modern British scene only falls into the same two or three categories needs to check these guys out. Although they've been around only a couple of years, Thieves' Kitchen already have two studio releases to their credit; Head, released in 2000, and 2001's Argot. Instrumentally they can keep up with any band out there, and they show it over and over in their lengthy compositions (averaging at least fifteen minutes). On top of this they have accessible melodies and relevant, grounded songwriting. This is a band that does all the things symphonic prog should, but does it in new and exciting ways. There have been many rumors of other bands for this year's event; the speculation is exciting, but we are announcing bands as we get contracts back, so we ask that you all be patient! I think you'll agree it's worth the wait in the end. Tickets for ProgDay 2002 will go on sale in the coming weeks. This information, and all other ProgDay-related information, will be made available at our newly revamped web-site (http://www.progday.com). We invite you to surf there, check out our new digs, and join our mailing list. We would also like to announce our first auction: Kopecky - S/T 1999 debut by this trio of brothers from Wisconsin who performed at ProgDay 2000, signed by all three. "Wedding heavy-metal crunch guitar with Eastern-sounding sitar and fretless bass work, Kopecky successfully explore territory that few bands have tried to cover before." - Brandon Wu [Ground And Sky] Opening Bid: $15 The current high bid on an item will be posted to the website as often as possible, which should be at least once a day and bidders will be contacted by e-mail when there is a change in bids. You can get notified about items being auctioned by joining our Mailing List. A $2 fee is charged for shipping and handling of each auction item. Place Bid by sending e-mail to auctions@progday.com This auction ends at Midnight PST on April 28th * FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT http://www.progday.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Weston" <David.Weston@btinternet.com> Subject: Small ad Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 23:08:16 +0100 Dear Aymeric I don't know if this acceptable WR content, if not fine I will understand but it's so difficult to find kindred spirits. BASS PLAYER WANTED I am looking for a bass player for what is a part time (we all have jobs and families) jam-band project in the Essex / East London area of England. I would say quite WR content friendly (especially Gong and the Softs) but also with influences from the USA in the form of the Dead, Phish etc. As indicated it's not a professional band by any means although those currently involved are all pretty competent and with 20+ years experience of live gigs festival etc. Typical age is early 40's. My fave three gigs of 2001 (in random order) were In Cahoots, Gong and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones so that might give some indication of what's possibly in store. Interested parties should drop me an email on david.weston@btinternet.com. Regards David Weston ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "m.laplante" <m.laplante@videotron.ca> Subject: Robert Wyatt / "Le Peuple Migrateur" Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 19:47:52 +0000 Hi to all Not sure if it has been mentionned here before:I just saw there's a promo single including two songs from the French film "Le peuple migrateur": one song is sung by Robert Wyatt, with lyrics by Gabriel Yacoub, the other is by Nick Cave. Is it available on the market? The Wyatt song is very nice, if not quite his usual style : the movie is about migrating birds, so the music is pretty light and atmospheric. Martin. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Anthony Shaw" <tonyshaw@clinet.fi> Subject: Syd Barrett Query Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 13:33:06 +0300 As part of my continued regression into sounds-gone-past I have been listening to some old Barrett tracks: First the video of Peter Whitehead's 1967 film Let's all Make Love in London, including live copy of original Floyd performing Interstellar Overdrive, and an ad hoc improvisation Nick's Boogie. Stupendous free-form sounds, even if a little removed from the Canterbury canon. Secondly an LP from Helsinki library(!!) called Beyond the Wildwood: A Tribute to SB . This is a real gem to my mind, again very distant from Kent etc, with much prominent Barrett-like angst guitar. Does anyone one know of this record, released 1987 on Imaginary Records of Heywood Lancashire by Alan Duffy?? Or any of the many bands and individuals featured eg. Ashes in the Morning (Nick Halliwell, Ali Butt etc), The Lobster Quadrille (Sherrif Jack, Paul Wallace, Simon Turner), The Mock Turtles (Martin Coogan, Martin Murray, Krzysztof Korab, Steve Green, Steve Cowan), SS-20 (Madeline Ridley etc) and many more. Also credited with thanks is Martin Newell(New Model Army??). Sleeve notes Phil Smee.... Any comments gratefully welcome - Tony ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gary Davis <artshop@artist-shop.com> Subject: Canterbury related releases Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 14:35:41 -0400 Hi, folks: The latest Artist Shop newsletter is out and you'll find it in its entirety at <http://www.artist-shop.com/news.htm>. Meanwhile, here are some excerpts for Canterbury fans. On our new imports page <http://www.artist-shop.com/catalog/imports/new.htm> WYATT,ROBERT-DONDESTAN Japanese reissue of 1991 album that's unavailable in the US, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. WYATT,ROBERT-NOTHING CAN STOP US Japanese reissue of 1981 compilation, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. WYATT,ROBERT-OLD ROTTENHAT Japanese reissue of 1985 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. WYATT,ROBERT-ROCK BOTTOM Japanese reissue of 1974 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. WYATT,ROBERT-RUTH IS STRANGER THAN RICHARD Japanese reissue of 1975 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. WYATT,ROBERT-SHLEEP + 1 Japanese reissue of 1997 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. Includes the bonus track 'September In The Rain'. GONG-FROM HERE TO ETERNITEA (2CD) Disc 1 features the 2000 release Zero To Infinitea. Disc 2 features a unique performance of the band's internet broadcast recorded at the Subterranea. On our new domestic releases page<http://www.artist-shop.com/catalog/domestic/new.htm> HOLDSWORTH,ALLAN ROAD GAMES Coming soon from DGM <http://www.artist-shop.com/discipln> Bill Bruford's Earthworks/Footloose in NYC ....DVD Now you can absorb the whole Eartworks experience on this unique DVD, Footloose in NYC, and enjoy an intimate, up-close evening of state-of-the-art jazz at The Bottom Line in New York City. Effortless, elegant and economical, Bruford personifies the art of the drummer, and his group, Earthworks, 'casts new light on the jazz quartet format.' - Los Angeles Times Includes 1 hour & 50 minutes of concert footage, 20 minutes of exclusive backstage footage and interviews, full discography and biography, Dolby 5.1 surround sound, Dolby stereo, interactive menus, instant chapter access to songs, picture format: NTSC 4:3, all regions, running time 134 minutes. Gary ************************************************************** Gary DavisThe Artist Shop The Other Roadhttp://www.artist-shop.com artshop@artist-shop.comphone: 877-856-1158, 330-929-2056 fax:330-945-4923 INDEPENDENT PROGRESSIVE MUSIC!!!************************************************************** Artist Shop Radio <http://www.artist-shop.com/radio> Check out the latest Artist Shop newsletter at http://www.artist-shop.com/news.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------- END OF ISSUE 193_________________________________________________________________________ WHAT'S RATTLIN'? - WHAT'S RATTLIN'? - WHAT'S RATTLIN'?_________________________________________________________________________ CALYX - The Canterbury Website http://perso.club-internet.fr/calyx WHAT'S RATTLIN'? BACK ISSUES - ONLINE ARCHIVE http://musart.co.uk/watrat/watrat.htm + search engine : http://musart.co.uk/ssearch.htm BACKWARDS - LISTE DE DISCUSSION 'CANTERBURY' EN FRANCAIS Pour s'abonner: mailto:backwards-subscribe@egroups.fr * To subscribe, send me an e-mail with 'WR sub' in the subject line.* To send a message for inclusion in the next issue, send it with 'WR: [subject]' in the subject line.* If your e-mail address changes, please notify me and mention both your old and new addresses so I can remove the old one and add the new one.* If you can no longer receive WR or don't want to anymore, don't forget to unsubscribe! (i.e. let me know)* All contributions are welcome! Please write to: CALYX@club-internet.fr_________________________________________________________________________