What are your favourite 'Canterbury' al***s?

Dr Jazz - sir, you are a man of impeccable taste.
I would, of course, add



This is a song from the bottom of a well / I didn't move here / I just fell

I love Canterbury Scene music - we're not alone on the forum - there are several threads that show this.



Another favourite is Camel.

I have records by

Kevin Ayers (Joy of a Toy, Shooting at the Moon, Whatevershebringswesing, Bananamour, The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories, June 1, 1974 with Nico Cale Eno, Sweet Deceiver, We Have No Mañanas So Get Your Mañanas Today,
Rainbow Takeaway, Still Life with Guitar and The Unfairground)
Soft Machine (Jet Propelled Photograph, The Soft Machine, Volume Two, Third,
Fourth, Fifth, Six, Seven and Bundles)
Caravan (Caravan, If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It All Over You, In the Land of Grey and Pink, Waterloo Lily, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, Cunning Stunts, Blind Dog at St. Dunstans and Caravan and the New Symphonia)
Gong (Camembert Electrique, Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and You)
Hatfield and the North (Hatfield and the North, The Rotters' Club and Afters)
Camel (Camel, Mirage, Music Inspired by The Snow Goose, Moonmadness, Rain Dances and Breathless)
Comus (First Utterance and To Keep from Crying)
Egg (Egg, The Polite Force and The Civil Surface)
Gilgamesh (Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into)
Henry Cow (Henry Cow Box)
Khan (Space Shanty)
Matching Mole (Matching Mole, Little Red Book)
The Wilde Flowers (Wilde Flowers)
Arzachel (Arzachel)
Robert Wyatt (Rock Bottom and Ruch Is Stranger Than Richard)

Possibly others .... I'd unreservedly recommend them all

Forgot Steve Hillage L and some live Carvan recordings.

Caravan's Land of Grey and Pink is as enjoyable to me now as it was when I first heard it 38 years ago.

Pete

Henry Cow - Legend
Lol Coxhill/Steve Miller - Miller/Coxhill
Soft Machine - Third
Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom
Gilgamesh - Another Fine Tune
Egg - Civil Surface

Out of these I only return to Soft's Third regularly these days. Great ideas, tunes and riffs; worldly wise. And I suppose Henry Cow moved away from the Canterbury Scene soon after Legend. And let's not forget Lol Coxhill, who was often associated with these bands, either guesting or supporting them (or stealing musicians for his own projects!).

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
This is worth a punt.

I have not heard it though.
I have the original un remastered cds.
ROTF,
I think you have them also????
Stu

I do and I have listened several times and enjoyed them very much indeed. I prefer Caravan/Soft Machine to Genesis/Yes by a long way as I posted on another thread.

Khan- Space Shanty is the one for me. For me most of the others sound dated.

I suppose they will, ewemon, they were all recorded over 35 years ago! Depends on what you really mean by 'dated'.

For me what was interesting about listening to these bands at the time is where they led me. Soft Machine Third, for example, is full of contemporary musical references and influences from artists such as Terry Riley, Ornette Coleman and Keith Tippett. Likewise Henry Cow got me listening to the likes of Bartok, Edgar Varese, Thelonius Monk, Eric Dolphy and Evan Parker. I don't think I'd have made these steps without such bands.

quote:

Originally posted by graham halliwell:
I suppose they will, ewemon, they were all recorded over 35 years ago! Depends on what you really mean by 'dated'.

For me what was interesting about listening to these bands at the time is where they led me. Soft Machine Third, for example, is full of contemporary musical references and influences from artists such as Terry Riley, Ornette Coleman and Keith Tippett. Likewise Henry Cow got me listening to the likes of Bartok, Edgar Varese, Thelonius Monk, Eric Dolphy and Evan Parker. I don't think I'd have made these steps without such bands.

I had the pleasure of seeing most of them in concert at the time (70's) Graham and loved a lot of the albums but now I just can't listen to them. They just come across as being a bit twee and lightweight.

Suppose I better duck for cover now as some of the members here will crucify me. By being dated I mean they sound like they are 70's albums.

Unlike you they never turned me on to any other kind of music.

Mind you I was never a great Moddy Blues fan either.

I like their Madrigals and Plainsong.

I think I have most of the albums that other members have mentioned and very fine they are too.

Caravan's 'The Show Of Our Lives' is well worth getting but you might want to wait for the Caravan box set 'The World Is Yours' that is coming at the end of March:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-...id=1267411111&sr=1-6

The remastered Caravan CDs are well worth getting as most of them contain excellent bonus tracks and have been remastered really well.

I think that my most prized 'Canterbury' CD is the sessions that Hatfield and the North recorded for the BBC. Most were recorded prior to the release of the first album and several tracks that were included on the debut album are featured in very different versions. The CD that I have was given to me by Dave Stewart and it was taken from his personal first generation copy of the master tape. Quality is therefore impeccable.

Soft Machine's 'Third' is a very important album in my collection, as is Henry Cow's 'Western Culture'.

Although 'In the Land of Grey and Pink', 'For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night' and 'If I could Do It All Over Again...' are all brilliant albums, the Caravan album I love above them all, I think, is:



Curiously, I think the non-remastered CD is audibly superior to the remastered version. But with music this enjoyable, who cares?

Regards, CB

..Wot no Matching Mole?

You're probably right. The first Matching Mole album should be there.