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  ::                                                              ::
  ::                     - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? -                    ::
  ::       The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts         ::
  ::                          Issue # 81                          ::
  ::                 Wednesday, January 21st, 1998                ::
  ::                                                              ::
  ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

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From: Dave Cross
Subject: Robert Wyatt quotes from 6-1-98
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 11:19:47 -0500

Hello All -

Last post I cryptically alluded to the fact that I just interviewed Robert
Wyatt.

I'm sure many of you are aware of Robert's new album Shleep. Originally released in the UK on Hannibal/Ryko it is set for release here in the US in about two weeks time. I strongly suggest you all run right out and buy it
because it is a treat you all deserve. Also to be released this month is a brand new live Soft Machine CD of a German radio show from 1971. Included on that are (abbreviated, I can only guess) live versions of all the songs from Third and Forth. Look for that on Cuneiform on January 18!

I interviewed Robert just last Tuesday ( 1-6-98 ) and it was a LONG, LONG interview, 100 minutes total. I roughly calculate it to be around 20 pages long.

Here was my agenda:

1.) Discussion of Shleep - 20 minutes
2.) 1 paragraph description of 30 people Robert has worked with over 3 decades
- 20 minutes
3.) Alfie Benge interview - discussion of all the projects she has done (2
children's books and around 10 other LP covers) in addition to nearly all the Robert Wyatt LP covers - 10 minutes
4.) 40 minute discussion of Robert's entire musical history - early and late
Soft Machine, Matching Mole and all of his solo work and how it came about. Robert put up with me giving him the full grilling for almost two hours straight and was as warm and funny as you'd imagine him to be.

The interview will appear in Popwatch magazine sometime later this year. I'll post as it becomes available. Other treats to be included are some great photos of Robert now, the very first Soft Machine promo photo from Polydor (where the hell did Vernon Fitch find that?) and the sweetest of all the treats is that Alfie Benge is currently painting the cover for the magazine. I can hardly wait.

So to answer a couple posts from the last WR:

"Does Robert Wyatt have an email address?"

No. Nor does Hugh Hopper for that matter. You can send email to the Musart site and I'm sure it'll find it's way to suggested parties. Will they answer you?

"I've heard Robert doesn't plan on recording again. Is this true?"

>From Robert himself -

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

PW: Are you thinking in terms of recording another album any time too soon?
RW: Well I've got bits of more material. I had more leftover it's just a question of not, you know, not recording more than I can deal with at any one moment because I like to tackle each song in it's own right. Each song might require quite a different treatment. So I don't want to get into sort of a factory process thing. I've noticed that with even some musicians that I really like, especially on the CDs... they just go on and on and on and you feel like after about a half an hour that that whole way of doing things is sort of starting to repeat itself too much and I don't want to do that. So I keep material back. But I've been asked to do a couple of things for other people which I'll get out of the way first - before I get back on to the next thing.

PW: It seems like your an ideal artist for 7" records. It's too bad they've gone away.
RW: What do you mean - like singles and things?

PW: Exactly. Like the series of singles you made for Rough Trade.
RW: Well it's funny that you should say that. Rough Trade have a singles club which is a just a subscription only thing where they issue one single a month - on vinyl with a proper packet. A couple of months ago they - although I'm not on Rough Trade anymore, Geoff Travis at Rough Trade asked me and Hannibal Records if they could use a couple of tracks of mine for one of their singles. They used "Free Will and Testament" and, in fact on the other side they put an earlier piece, one of Alfie's things "Sight of the Wind" from Dondestan LP. And it was just as a single just for their club so it was nice to see that. It was very nostalgic. In the fifties when I was a lad you got jazz on singles. I mean there were Thelonious Monk singles let alone more obviously commercial things like Art Blakey and Cannonball Adderly and Joe Zawinful and that kind of thing - you know before Weather Report he was working with Cannonball - and that merged into some kind of Nina Simone and Ray Charles stuff and the soul records. All the best jukeboxes in London - I just loved them for that and I do miss that.

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

Hey - I guess I let two cats out of the bag - one is that, yes, Robert is indeed working towards doing another LP - and  two is that Robert released a 7" record in 1997. Imagine that!

Interview portions (C) 1998 Popwatch magazine. Do not copy. I'll post more as relevant. When Popwatch #10 becomes available I'll let you all know where to find it.

Regards,

Dave Cross

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From: chris topham <chris@toppo.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Italian Prog
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 09:12:49 GMT

[In WR#80, Davidkow <Davidkow@aol.com> wrote:]
>Unrelated:  Anyone know of an e-mail newsletter like this dedicated to 70's
>Italian ProgRock?

To: PFM@cup.com (E'Festa!)

That's the only one I know of - very friendly place.  Drop them a line, expect about 5-10 messages a day.

Chris in West Sussex, England

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From: Steven Hill <shill@mojo.europe.dg.com>
Subject: Help finding early stuff
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 19:24:27 +0000

Aymeric

I'm trying to find out if any of the following have been released on CD:

Uriel: Arzachel
Khan : Space Shanty
All the Egg albums

Also do you knwo of anyone who has tape recordings of early David Stewart, eg. Ottawa Music Company stuff. I am very keen to hear any of the above (I used to have the Egg albums but they were stolen many years ago :-(

All the Best,
& many thanks for Calyx!
--
Steven Hill
shill@mojo.europe.dg.com
Don't wake me up too soon...

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From: Michael McNamara <qwest@interlog.com>
Subject: Blegvad
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 09:47:03 -0500

[In WR#80, NYLifer wrote:]
>Tom gives an annual free show for fan club members (and he does great
>shows by the way, great mix of old hits and new soon to be hits).
>This year Peter Blegvad is opening. I asked Tom if I could forward this info
>to this list and he said 'the more the merrier", so consider yourselves
>invited.

Um - did I miss something?
Please! When and Where! If I can make it I'll gladly make you a tape!

Incidentally - I've only recently become a member of this list, largely because of my interest in Peter Blegvad.  Is there anyone who can advise me on the story of the CD "King Strut and Other Stories". Why it is so difficult to find and where I can get a copy?  I'd really appreciate any advice.
By the by - I lived in Brighton in the early 70's and saw many Canterbury Bands... (and Canterbury Style) - Curved Air, Colosseum, Soft Machine Hawkwind...

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From: NYLifer <NYLifer@aol.com>
Subject: Tom Robinson and Peter Blegvad gig
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 16:44:22 EST

>Um - did I miss something?
>Please! When and Where! If I can make it I'll gladly make you a tape!

YES. See below for when and where.

BELGIUM

17 january: WETTEREN at zaal nova, an old cinema, 9pm till late. Support act: Peter Blegvad. 1998 free castaway party: no tickets required. Wetteren is a small town near Gent in Flanders, and there'll be signs in the town centre pointing to the concert. (NB UK Castaways: Wetteren is two hours's drive from Calais or less)

Robert

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From: Age Rotshuizen <age@xs4all.nl>
Subject: Softs' Peel Sessions
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 15:35:17 +0100 (CET)

Hullo Der,

[In WR#80, Aymeric Leroy wrote:]
>I'm planning to add a page to Calyx which would give details of the
>contents of albums and CD's whose credits are unclear - such as Soft
>Machine's "Peel Sessions" etc.

For information - recording dates, credits, songs, lyrics (?) - regarding
Softs' 'Peel Sessions', please look at my 'Canterbury Index',
http://www.xs4all.nl/~age/cant-ind.html

Age

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From: Anton Viergever <a4gever@dds.nl>
Subject: (none)
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 22:10:14 +0100

Hi,

I recently visited your homepages and noticed you added a lot of "could be" lyrics, which I found very nice. Finally I could compare the words I always heard with what someone else heard. I understood that most of the lyrics were NOT provided by the composers/songwriters themselves. I have only downloaded the lyrics of Caravan's "In the Land of Grey and Pink" which is an ultimate classic for me. 99 % was exactly what I've always heard, and for the 1 % I can't imagine an alternative.

I also have a suggestion for a topic of discussion:

All the vinyl records I have are quite "grey" although I've always been quite secure in handling them. Since the introduction of the medium CD, to which I have protested in the early years, I have become so familiar with the sound quality of CD's, that I now get irritated about the sound quality of the old vinyl records. There's only one good music shop here in town (amongst 100 pulp ones). I often see that old music is now republished on CD, but I'm always quite suspicious about that. Very often such cd's are remixes and I don't give a shit about EDITED remixes, I'am only interested if it is the original, and
if possible with better soundquality.

So, it might be a good idea to make a list of all official Canterbury  scene recordings which are nowadays available as official and authorised CD's. I mean authorised by the composers, not by record companies and all kinds of so called connaisseurs and compilers who bring out crap of second hand master tapes. What do you think ?

Kind regards, Anton

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From: mail@musart.co.uk (Canterbury Musicians Server)
Subject: More memories
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 07:23:38 GMT

Hi Rattles

Some people have been requesting Hugh's tune 'Memories'
The manuscript (written by his own fair hand) is on our page:

< http://www.musart.co.uk/sheetex.htm >

The words should be available (inc. the extra verse by Robert Wyatt)
In a few days.

Some extremely bad news, Lindsay Cooper has Mutiple Sclerocis. Musart have offered all the help we can. She's an Incredible Talent. She told us that there are plans for a compilation CD in the Spring. Watch Musart Noticeboard for details

Also Lady June has been involved in a car crash in Majorca. She was badly shaken up but seems to be on the mend now.
 
What a start to what will be a great year.
We wish one and all their hearts desire 1998

P&L>M
MUSART - THE CANTERBURY SCENE MUSICIANS

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From: rabin <rabin@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU>
Subject: Gong est mort?
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 14:02:30 -0500

Okay, here's a question about the Gong est Mort album.

Around the same time that Gong's Shapeshifter was first released on Celluloid (1992?), Celluloid also reissued the Gong est Mort album on cd.  This release has a lot of fadeouts in strange places--including halfway through RadioGnomeInv. !

Is there any one out there with the vinyl release who can say whether or not this record was trimmed for the all-on-one cd reissue?

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From: "Peter Carlton" <pcarlton@dircon.co.uk>
Subject: Caravan
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 00:36:34 -0000

I am in the process of putting together research info with a view to producing a video about the history of Caravan and would appreciate any help you can give me.

Peter Carlton

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From: Francois BOURNICHE <francoisbourniche@compuserve.com>
Subject: Music scores
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 08:36:54 +0100

Hello,

I'm looking for piano scores and/or guitar tabs from Caravan and Soft
Machine. Don't you know where to get it on the net ?

Thanks.
Francois from Paris.

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From: Strong Comet <cometail@netvision.net.il>
Subject: Wyatt Article In Billboard Magazine
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 02:23:50 +0200

Hi fellow rattlers:

Billboard Magazine, one of the most important music industry's magazine had a feature on Robert Wyatt's "Shleep" release in the US. It reveals some more information on the album and some interesting stuff on the where abouts of the man himself in recent years.

I've put the article on a temporary page on my site. If you would like to read it, please visit:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/6940/billboard.htm

Wishing all the luck to Thirsty Ear, the label who distributes and promotes the album in the US, as of January 20.

Strong Comet

Cometail@netvision.net.il

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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*               FORTHCOMING CANTERBURY-RELATED CONCERTS                 *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[for more info : check out the 'Concerts' page of CALYX - see URL below]

BILL BRUFORD'S NEW EARTHWORKS
[Bruford-Clahar-Hamilton-Gascoygne]
Feb  8 - Utrecht (Netherlands), SJU
Feb  9 - Amsterdam (Netherlands), Paradiso
Feb 10 - Bonn (Germany), Jazz Gallery
Feb 11 - Freiburg (Germany), Jazzhaus
Feb 12 - Kaiserslautern (Germany), Kammgarn Cotton Club
Feb 13 - Ludwigsburg (Germany), Scala Theatre
Feb 14 - Kircheim (Germany), Club Bastion
Feb 15 - Ingolstadt (Germany), Burgerstreff
Feb 16 - Frankfurt (Germany), Sinkkasten
Feb 17 - Tilburg (Netherlands), Noorderligt
Feb 24 - Bolzano (Italy), Auditorium Roen
Feb 25 - Ferrara (Italy), Circolo Renfe
Feb 26 - Padova (Italy), La Fornace
Feb 27 - Forli (Italy), Naima Club
Feb 28 - Ascoli Piceno (Italy), Cotton Club
Mar  1 - Todi (Perugia) (Italy), Teatro Communale
Mar  2 - Firenze (Italy), Sala Vanni
Mar  3 - Gorizia (Italy), Auditorium Regione

FRITH/COURVOISIER/NIGGLI/LEIMGRUBER
Jan 23 - Freiburg (Germany), Jazzhaus
Jan 24 - Uster (Switzerland), Countainer
Jan 25 - Biel (Switzerland), Rennweg
Jan 29 - Lausanne (Switzerland), Chorus
Jan 30 - Geneva (Switzerland), AMR
Jan 31 - Zurich (Switzerland), Moods

FRED FRITH "TENSE SERENITY"
Feb 17 - Stuttgart (Germany), Musik des Jahrhunderts
Apr 24 - Rostock (Germany), Zabrik
Apr 25 - Amsterdam (Netherlands), Bimhaus
Apr 26 - Utrecht (Netherlands)
Apr 28 - Unterschleisheim (Germany), Burgerhaus
Apr 30 - Ulrichsberg (Germany), Jazz Atelier
May  1 - Willisau (Switzerland), Rathausbühne
May  2 - Le Mans (France), Jazz Festival
May  4 - Gent (Belgium), Vooruit

FRED FRITH - SOLO/DUO GIGS
Feb 18 - Paris (France), Laboratoires (with Iva Bittovà)
Feb 19 - Paris (France), Laboratoires (with Keith Rowe)
Feb 20 - Lyon/Oullins (France) (with Louis Sclavis/J-P Drouet)
Mar 15 - Munich (D), Café Ruffini (solo)
Mar 18 - Paris (France), Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers (with Tom Cora)
Mar 19 - Paris (France), Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers (with T.Cora/C.Cutler)
Mar 25-28 - Rennes (France) (with François Verret)
Mar 29 - Karlsruhe (D), Blockflöte (solo)
Apr 18-19 - Brest (France) (with François Verret)
May 18 - St. Etienne (France) (with Louis Sclavis/J-P Drouet)
May 29 - Tullins (F), MJC (with Noél Akchoté)
May 30 - Figeac (F) (with Louis Sclavis)

IN CAHOOTS - EUROPEAN TOUR
[Miller-Dean-Dvorak-Lemer-Baker-Pyle]
Mar 6-11 - tba

GONG - EUROPEAN TOUR
[Allen-Smyth-Malherbe-Sharpstrings-Howlett-Moerlen]
France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden - late Spring 1998 (tba)

CANTERBURY SOUND FESTIVAL
 - CARAVAN, KEVIN AYERS & THE WHOLE WORLD, AND OTHERS
Jul 11 - Canterbury (tba)

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

                        END OF ISSUE #81

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