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:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - :: :: The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts :: :: Issue # 97 :: :: Tueday, June 16th, 1998 :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael Rae <raejonnymac@yahoo.com> Subject: Tom Cora Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 17:47:54 -0700 (PDT) Hello Aymeric, This is my first time sending correspondence to What's Rattlin'... I think you are doing a great job keeping all of us Canterbury fanatics linked together and informed... keep up the good vibework! Well, I realize that Tom Cora was not, in fact, a Canterbury artist 'tho the connection to Fred Frith via Skeleton Crew is undeniable; it is sad that he is gone from us....I recently attended the "Musique Actuelle" festival in Victoriaville, Quebec, and the fact of his passing was felt at the fest...The Montreal-based violinist Malcolm Goldstein dedicated his 2nd Improvisation to Tom, and, his old cohorts, The Ex, played a blistering finale to "The Victo" as well. And, anybody who has a taste for R.I.O. musics should check out Tom's Cello work with the group Nimal; his participation on the "Voix de Surface" CD is phenomenal! Nimal is now defunct, sadly, but the CD w/Tom is still available through RecDec in Switzerland. There are many more people Tom worked with, including Guy Klucevsek, but the Nimal work probably comes closest to the Canterbury spirit. Also, what has happened to "Brainville" the project that Daevid Allen was planning w/Kramer, Hugh Hopper & Pip Pyle? I know that Kramer had dropped out of the project....did this cause it to fall apart? Daevid had sent me a postcard, and he had mentioned that if I could hook up a gig , to work on the matter... Just wondering if there's still a Brainville, that's all. All the best, Mike Rae [As mentioned in WR#96, the Brainville gigs are still on, but as a trio of Daevid Allen, Hugh Hopper and Pip Pyle. Financial considerations dictated that Mark Kramer couldn't be flied over from the US this time around, but it is likely that he will be joining the others for a bigger European tour later in the year - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TMay102436@aol.com Subject: Present Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 15:21:43 EDT Although I have enjoyed this news letter for a while, I have not contributed. Until now. I saw Present in Chicago. If you have a chance to see them, please do yourself a favour and go. I flew from KC, MO to see the show, and it was the most rewarding experience I have had in quite some time! I won't go into the whole thing, but let me tell you, the drummer was awesome. He defined the phrase, tempo keeper/animal. The music was a cross between the anger and power of Magma, but with the tightness of Jethro Tull (although not musically like them at all). Anyway, thanks for all the letters I read, and keep the flame burning! Tom May [The drummer in Present, in its US incarnation at least, is Dave Kerman, who indeed is a fantastic musician. He is known predominently for his own band, 5uu's, as well as its spinoff group U Totem. In addition to playing with Present starting with the December 1995 European tour, he has also played with Motor Totemist Guild, the Dutch band Blast, and others, all worth checking out - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: nickl@lsil.com (nick loebner) Subject: Caravan: It's Never Too late Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 13:46:37 +0100 Hi all, here's a Caravan triva question:- I have a 7" single from 1980 of "Heartbreaker" (remix) b/w "It's Never Too Late". The cover states that the b-side is unreleased. A little detective work tells me that "It's Never Too Late" has since been re-released on "The Canterbury Collection" (although the remix of "Heartbreaker" hasn't re-surfaced). Can anyone confirm that both "It's Never Too Late"s are the same? Thanks, - Nick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: phil howitt <facelift@gpo.sonnet.co.uk> Subject: various Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 17:17:28 +0100 (GMT/BST) Hi Aymeric Thanks for your mention of the new Facelifts in the latest What's Rattlin. Releases to arrive at Facelift in the past couple of weeks include: Gong - Family Jewels - a double CD compilation on GAS featuring a mixture of 'to be released' and 'retro' tracks from the current Gong line-up. For example, a track from Pip Pyle's forthcoming solo album 'Seven Year Itch' is followed by a track from Pierre Moerlen's 'Second Wind', then a new Gilli Smyth track. All the musicians are represented, there are several recordings from the last UK Gong tour, and various bits and bobs not only from the GAS catalogue but also from record labels Tangram (Didier Malherbe releases), Amp and Demi Monde (Daevid Allen stuff). Of perhaps greatest mention is the fact that their is new stuff from Gilli Smyth, Pip Pyle and Mike Howlett Elton Dean - two new albums - one with Newsense, his updated version of Ninesense - I think this could well be another session from the 'Bladik' and 'Rumours Of An Incident' CDs involving Roswell Rudd last autumn, but sounds a bit more structured. It's on Slam (3 Thesiger Road, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 2DX). The second is on Culture Press with Marcio Mattos, Ivan Zagni (guitars) and Pip Pyle, and is entitled Three's Company, Two's A Crowd. Just settling down to listen to this. Marshall Travis Wood - ex Softs drummer John Marshall plays some very interesting sounding but eminently listenable impro stuff with guitarist Mark Wood (once saw them playing together with Nucleus) and sax/flute player Theo Travis. There is a website for this at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/TheoTravis, apparently with sound samples. You sent me an e-mail a while ago asking me about the Facelift website and saying that the old address wasn't valid. Ponk, who set up the site (it only consists of two back issues and an index to issues 1-14 have moved themselves and the Facelift back issues page is now: http://www.ponk.com/facelift.htm I can e-mail anyone who wants a full index of what's in each issue, including later issues up to the current issue 19, with prices etc. Finally, I was just trying to get the cricket score at work by looking at the BBC website at work the other day (England's other great product after Canterbury music, and Canterbury actually has a very unusual cricket ground) when quite by chance I came across the following on practically their front page: Music innovator Robert Wyatt mixes it Mixing It, BBC Radio 3's eclectic music magazine, plays host to Robert Wyatt, one of England's most enduring singer songwriters, on Monday 29 June. It goes on to talk about Schleep etc, doesn't give a time, but I think Mixing It goes out in the evening, so look out for that.BBC website is http://www.bbc.co.uk OK - think that's it for the moment. Keep up the good work. Phil ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: justin_joyce@swissbank.com Subject: Calyx website Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1998 11:19:39 +0200 Hi - I just wanted to say a big thank you for a very interesting and informative website! I have been and still am a big fan of many bands of this genre/era, and to find information on so many of them at one place was great. I am particularly impressed by the detailed Gong biography - I have never come across so much information on them before, and I have never found anything on Tim Blake before!! I was very pleased to hear that Gong and the likes are still active and touring. I hope to catch up with them one day. My main interests from this period are Hawkwind, Gong and related artists, and I found your website by searching on Tim Blake. I first heard New Jerusalem in the early 80s, and saw him at the Glastonbury Festival around this time (this appearance is not mentioned in your biog - it was either 81 or 82? - (the same year that Randy California played, I seem to remember, if this helps!). I have been searching for record or CD copies of his releases ever since... I would also like to suggest a couple of artists for inclusion on your pages - firstly I believe the Here and Now Band deserve a mention - they frequently worked with Gong, and members switched between the 2. They were also well known on the free festival / concert circuit of the 70s / early 80s. I don't have so much information, but could certainly provide at least a partial list of record releases and track listings / line ups. In fact, one omission from your Gong discography is the Floating Anarchy 77 album, featuring artists from both groups. I will send you details. Their gigs were always great - the last time I saw them is when a friend and I organised a small gig for them in Brighton, around 1988 / 89. Any ideas what they are upto? I wouldn't dare ask you to include Hawkwind - this would be a large project on its own, with all the various line ups and perhaps doesn't fit in with the concept of Canterbury music, but another big favourite is Nik Turner - he was pretty active after leaving Hawkwind, and I have most if not all of his Inner City Unit output, and Xitintoday. His gigs were always a blast. Do you know what he is upto today? Lastly, some questions, if you have the time to answer them: 1.Do you happen to know if the Glastonbury Fayre triple album has ever been put on CD? I have a worn copy on vinyl, but would be glad to have a clean version! 2. I have been searching for Tim Blake material (either vinyl or CD) for years - I have tried ordering through music stores (his releases are still in the catalogues sometimes), and have searched second hand shops, but never succeeded. Do you have any idea if and where New Jerusalem, Crystal Machine and Magick can be purchased? 3. Do you know of any live footage of Gong on video, and where it could be ordered? I saw in the discography that some of the recordings were from concerts and TV sessions (and while I think about it, Steve Hillage too). I never got to one of their shows, so this would be great to see. 4. Lastly, I recently heard on Swiss radio a track from a group called Gilgamesh (on Fragile Records) called Delta Rain Dream, but it was definitely a new age / trance track - I was wondering if this could be related to the Gilgamesh listed on your site - from the description, it doesn't sound like it, unless the group has remixed old material or has been restarted. I saw them listed on the Fragile Records web page, but they seem to have mostly rave / techno artists. Do you know anything about this? I really appreciate your site - I wish I had as much detailed information to contribute as you already have accumulated. I will be visiting your site often!! Regards, Justin Joyce, Switzerland ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Reed A. Callais" <mirage@cajunnet.com> Subject: Cafe Jaques Date: Tue, 09 Jun 1998 18:27:40 -0500 Anyone know where I may find cd'c of Cafe Jaques. Have a couple ofalbums in poor shape. Any help on finding these great albums from the past would be deeplu appreciated. REED [I think this has been discussed here already, and I seem to remember these are not yet out on CD - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: drj_saro <drj_saro@neo.lrun.com> Subject: Jenkins Date: Tue, 9 Jun 98 23:16:55 [In WR#95, LuvOf Cici <LuvOfCici@aol.com> wrote:]>I am a cellist and i've recently gone to every music store on the entire>starbucks eastern coast music store yada-yada-yada well every place i've>gone to says that they can't find palladio. I hope you know the song, it's>like way famous. well do u know someplace that i can order this music by >karl jenkins? It's on the "Diamond Music" CD - Sony Classical SK62276. Try CDNow on-line (or really, just about _anywhere_!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Voci" <david_voci@tcibr.com> Subject: Pls add to Mail List Date: 10 Jun 1998 13:04:03 U Dear Aymeric, Please add me to all possible mailing lists for CBury related topics and CD ordering information for this genre. I would love to be part of the email distribution on What's Rattlin/Calyx etc..I love the wealth of info found in What's Rattlin as alot of people report that there is nobody close by where they live to rap about these topics with...just the same with the prog/electronic scene which is also heavily underground as well. I am amazed at the amount of responses/mail that is composed about the CB scene... Many more discussions than I've seen in the Electronic circles. I have almost every Softs CDs imaginable except for some of the live stuff (don't have Proms/BBC I/Paradiso) and have some side projects too but not as many as I would like... would like to buy more CD's locally (San Jose/Frisco area in California) from people like Elton Dean/Hugh Hopper/Centipede/Planet Earth/Nucleus etc. I love Jenkins period Softs as well as other periods equally and also the first two Nucleus albums (on 1 CD). NH/Hatfield/Caravan are new listens for me and I really never developed, until recently, that side of Cbury even though I've known about it for years... I am extremely pleased with the long suite on Caravan's Grey and Pink CD... this track which is 22:40 long is recorded so clean and crisp on the Deram reissue that I find it hard not turning the volume way up and air keyboarding nearly the whole song... what a superb composition with tons of feeling/emotion. Today I will proceed to go to Rasputin records in Campbell, CA and pick up more Caravan as this genre (especially the keyboard heavy material I just mentioned) is extremely appealing to these 38 year old ears. Thanks and keep up the good work pal. Sincerely, david_voci@tcibr.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jose Douglas" <jpdouglas@mindspring.com> Subject: Fred Frith/accordion Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 18:01:38 -0400 Hello all! My in-laws dropped by on their yearly migration to Nova Scotia Canada from the West Coast of Florida; as usual, they drop off all sorts of stuff... this time including some CDs they didn't listen to anymore & didn't particularly like. There were some New Age music, and other things... and a CD from Guy Klucevek called Transylvanian Softwear. This guy plays free-bass accordion! The last track on the CD (and no doubt the best) is called The Disinformation Poka and is written by no other than Fred Frith. A Fred Frith song done in accordion, wow!!! Pretty strange... I told my in-laws Henry Cow, at which they just stared at me. I started playing Legend for them... Now, they thought THAT was strange... Anyhow, I pretty amazed to find a Frith song on an accordion CD. Bye for now, Jose ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Martin Wakeling <marwak@globalnet.co.uk> Subject: New 'Why Are We Sleeping' website Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 19:27:11 +0100 KEVIN RELEASE DATES and New WAWS Website Just a quick note to let you know that the 'Why Are We Sleeping' website has been completely revamped and made over, with all the corners dusted - now boasting a NEWS section with some reviews of Kevin's recent San Francisco and Los Angeles dates. THANK YOU to those of you who sent reports. Address as ever is http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~marwak/index.html Please visit, sign the guestbook (no smut, we're British!). I have permission to include some audio clips and will upload some tasty morsels soon. Please let me know too if you have a Canterbury site apart from those already included that you would like to be linked. News form Hux Records is that 'Too Old To Die Young' double CD is due for release on JUNE 29 with Banana Follies due on JULY 27. Scans of both are on the WAWS site. Hux Records can be contacted at http://www.huxrecords.com Best wishes as ever and thanks as always for your excellent work with WR Martin ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JibCrafno@aol.com Subject: New Wyatt reissues Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 21:14:02 EDT Hello list... I picked up the Robert Wyatt reissues today and I must say the red carpet has most certainly been rolled out for these LPs. Although I'm puzzled as to why the original cover for Rock Bottom was replaced with an inferior graphic (anyone know why?) the package, on the whole, is quite beautifully done. The essay by RW is illuminating though a bit short. As for the mastering - what can I say. To the person who was asking whether the re-master sounded any better than the original Virgin CD, yes, it made a huge difference. The new one sounds incredible. I was further pleased with the fact that both albums were on sale for a very low price, $14.99 Canadian (Canadian CDs generally sell for $21.00, or $25 if they're imported, with popular new releases selling at about $17.99) All in all, an outstanding effort from Hannibal. A question now:When I first played the newly released Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard CD, I was shocked to hear Muddy Mouse (a) rather than the familiar bass line of Soup Song. You see, I first bought this album as part of a double package, paired with Rock Bottom. This was a british release. Side 3 of that package was "Side Ruth" and side four was "Side Richard". Does anyone else have this package? It would seem that Virgin accidentaly got the two sides mixed up. With the new CD release I heard the 'correct' version for the first time. Also, does anyone know if this mistake was made on any other issues of this album? thanks Sam Andreeff [As far as I know, until this new reissue, Side 1 of the album has always been "Side Ruth", and Side 2 "Side Richard". I would guess the label (& Robert) thought the "Muddy Mouse" bits were a more appealing way to start the album. Note that the order of tracks was altered too on the latest reissue of Matching Mole's second album, apparently at Wyatt's insistence - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Age Rotshuizen <Age.Rotshuizen@pjmi.knaw.nl> Subject: Gong's Missing pieces Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 20:33:42 +0100 Hello everyone, The last few months I've bought almost all Gong CDs feat. Daevid Allen. I've started out with the Flying Teapot this summer, just checking the guy-who- once-was-a-member-of-the-Soft-Machine & it really blew my mind. The Canterbury Discography turned out to be very handy (thanx Aymeric), but I kept on asking myself the question, why two recordings, once released on LP, were never released on CD. I'm talking about the Glastonbury Fayre songs & the Greasy Truckers live set. I know that the Henry Cow part of Greasy Truckers is available as a bonus on their 1976 Concerts album, so why isn't Gongs part never rereleased? I'm getting very curious, especially since their not playing their 'greatest hits' like Flying Teapot & You Can't Kill Me. IMHO they - i.e. the record-companies - should have released the 1977 Live Etc. album on a double CD including the two missing pieces of Gong, instead of putting the 'Doomsday' track on Angels Egg (There are two versions of Angel Egg, I bought the wrong one, i.e. without the Live Etc.-track) & releasing Live Etc. as a single CD. But I guess that's wishful thinking. Is there anyone who've heard this missing pieces of Gong & could tell me if they're worth rereleasing? Is there anyone who've seen them on one of those festivals? Or maybe anyone knows about plans of rereleasing this music. Age Rotshuizen Amsterdam, the Netherlands P.S. Thanx Martin for answering my question about Joy of a Toy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Age Rotshuizen <age@cable.A2000.nl> Subject: New Voiceprint releases Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 16:26:19 +0100 >From the Voiceprint website: Artist: Soft Machine Title: Live 1970 Label: Blueprint Cat No: BP290 Track Listing 1.Out-Bloody-Rageous 2.Facelift 3.Pig 4.Orange Skin Food 5.A Door Opens and Closes 6.10-30 Returns To The Bedroom 7.Facelift 8.Moon in June Information:We did a lot of gigs around 1970 - by then the Softs were well established as the darlings of the progressive rock scene, especially in France, Holland and Germany. Fans (and particularly it seems to be German fans) still come up to me when I'm playing today and tell me how their lives were totally changed by hearing Third or seeing us live. There was plenty of nervous energy and tension then in the band. Irresponsible young men in charge of powerful machinery. A lot of raucous fuzz Lowrey organ and brain-searing fuzz bass through 100 watt Marshall stacks. We weren't scared to do our ears in, or the audience's ears, either. So here is a sample of two live gigs in 1970 somewhere in Europe - and interesting maybe for archive buffs is the fact that the shorter chunk with excerpts from Facelift and Moon in June is one of the very few gigs we did as a quartet with just Lyn Dobson - Elton was presumably stuck somewhere else in Europe... Bill Nelson... Artist: Pierre Moerlen's Gong Title: Full Circle Live 88 Label: Outer Music Cat No: OM-1006 Track Listing 1.Second Wind 2.Deep End 3.Exotic 4.Leave It Open 5.Drum Alone 6.Soli 7.Breakthrough 8.Xtasea Information:Every album tells a story and You lucky listener are in possession of a most enchanted musical recording, which only through good grace of the bemused guardians of the Planet Gong has found its way into your charmed domain. This album was originally recorded live to cassette in Bremen Germany in June of 1988 by Baron Harrald Von Harscher, after which it was recovered by drummer, band leader and UFO pilot Cpt. P. Moerlen who proceeded to air drop the cassette into his hidden pouch where it mysteriously fell into the musical void for the better part of ten years, only to miraculously resurface in the Spring of 1997 in Mrs. P. Moerlen's trap case aboard the Brand X Orient Express, where it was passed on to one Commander Ahearn, an intrepid American entrepreneur who was assigned the mission of transforming and editing the collection of raw gems into a finely crafted collage of digitized aural delights, which were then shuttled to a "Dead Beat" musician from the gold mines of California who tastefully refined and mastered the assembled collage into a polished piece of audio Xtasea. The final result of which is Pierre Moerlen's Gong Live '88 Full Circle. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** FORTHCOMING CANTERBURY-RELATED CONCERTS ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [for more info : check out the 'Concerts' page of CALYX - see URL below] BRAINVILLE - UK TOUR [Daevid Allen-Hugh Hopper-Pip Pyle] Jun 17 - Stoke-on-Trent, The Wheatsheaf Jun 18 - Ashburton, The Lanterns Jun 19 - Leicester, The Physio and Firkin STEVE MILLER BENEFIT GIG[Phil Miller-Pip Pyle-Lol Coxhill-Roy Babbington-Mark Hewins etc.] Jun 28 - London, Vortex Jazz Bar CARAVAN - EUROPEAN DATE[Hastings-Sinclair-Richardson-Coughlan-Leverton-Boyle-Bentall]Jul 19 - Burg Herzberg (Germany), festival appearance [headliner] FRED FRITH - WITH THE ENSEMBLE MODERN & SPECIAL GUESTS Jun 21 - Halle (Germany) FRED FRITH - WITH LARRY OCHS & MIYA MASAOKAJun 25 - Vancouver (Canada), Vancouver East Cultural Centre Jun 26 - Seattle (USA), OK HotelJun 27 - Portland (USA), OR, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art Jun 29 - Los Angeles (USA), Luna Park (West Hollywood) Jun 30 - Oakland (USA), Yoshi's Jul 02 - Chicago (USA), Unity Temple (Oak Park) Jul 03 - Chicago (USA), Unity Temple (Oak Park) Jul 05 - Los Angeles (USA) FORGAS BAND PHENOMENA Jun 29 - Paris (France), Duc des Lombards Sep 3 - Paris (France), Petit Journal Montparnasse Sep 11 - Paris (France), Le Glaz' Art Sep 18 - Paris (France), Studio des Islettes Sep 19 - Paris (France), Studio des Islettes Oct 09 - Paris (France), Peniche 'Le 6/8' * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * END OF ISSUE 97 _________________________________________________________________________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 _________________________________________________________________________