Original_To:  ALLM
Original_cc:  OLIVOTTO
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Thu, 17 Dec 1992 12:42:00 N
From:         "OUT,
              OUT - YOU'LL NOT FEEL THE FALL-OUT..." <OLIVOTTO@ITNCISCA.BITNET>
Subject:      Progressive - KC, Hammill, Soft Machine, Mason+Wyatt+Bley...

Michael Bloom says:

>No solid facts. The stories I heard added up to an interest on Fripp's part to
>get the '80s band back together, except that Bruford wasn't invited because he
>[...]
>than that he has every expectation that some form of King Crimson will play out
>before the next live box set comes out (two CDs of the _Court_ and/or _Islands_
>lineups is the current plan for that, watch for it by Xmas 1993). Did I already
>say all this? "I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time."

        Another box?!? Well. Or not well, it depends.
        I mean, KC (or, better, Fripp) managed to put together something like
8 CDs (i.e. 2 boxes) in a few months, and this stinks of commercial manoeuvre,
IMHO. I got the live set, and was slightly disturbed of seeing that there are
several duplicated songs, in different versions. IMHO again, a 2 CD set would
have done, or, even better, a 4 CD set covering a larger period of the band's
life. Or, maybe, I'm clueless and slightly slack myself :).

>Richard Sinclair (Caravan, Hatfield, Camel) just played here last night, and
>was just lovely. I'll talk more about it below, but I will note here that he's
>found some people expand their definition of the Canterbury scene to include
>Hammill, which is pretty ridiculous (maybe they're comparing Hugh Banton's
>organ sound with Mike Ratledge's).

        Haa haa, hee, haaaw... No comment.

>>Peter Hammill: Black Box, Fool's Mate, Over
>
>You'll get a better opinion from Marco, but of these I like _Black Box_ best.
>It's pretty weird though, even by his standards. I got into Hammill through
>Van der Graaf Generator, which I think I still prefer, and the Hammill solo
>I would recommend to a beginner would probably be _The Silent Corner and the
>Empty Stage_. _Fool's Mate_ is early and simplistic (although Crimso collectors
>will note the presence of Fripp on three songs) and _Over_ is about the end of
>a love affair and is unrelievedly depressing.

        Since I'm asked...
        My favourite album is _Over_, for personal reasons. I don't agree with
those who say _Fool's Mate_ was a masterpiece, though it contains some terrific
songs and, also, shows how Hammill moved from albums like VdGG's _The Least We
Can Do Is Wave To Each Other_ to subsequent essays like _Chameleon In The Sha-
dow Of Night_ (at least Peter has learned to keep his titles short, in years...
8-*).
        As for the best album to start with, I'd say _Over_ or _A Black Box_.
An underrated VdGG album is _The Quiet Zone / The Pleasuredome_, which contains
a couple of GREAT Hammill's songs, and it's not difficult enough to convince
anyone to drop the torch :) and not listen to anything else from VdGG/pH.
        But as for solo works, I guess there are some albums one *shouldn't*
buy, since they are relatively weak or, in some case, so off the usual rails
that the picture they give of the artist is blurred. I'd recommend you don't
go for _And Close As This_, _Skin_, _In A Foreign Town_. Also, be careful
should you be tempted to pick up anything live. If you have the nerve, OK -
otherwise you may never want to hear Peter singing again. Finally, if you want
to take it slowly, sweetly and in reasonable doses, go for _The Love Songs_,
revisited versions of quite mellowy ballads, issued in 1985.

>>Soft Machine: Third (2 on 1 CD)
>
>This is the record where jazz-rock fusion was invented from the rock side, and
>never got any credit. Actually this is Soft Machine's _Tales from Topographic
>Oceans_, which is to say these are works of great cosmic significance that go
>on too long :-) This is one of the very few genuinely progressive works to get
>high marks in the _Rolling Stone Record Guide_ (they also liked _Close to the
>Edge_ and Another Green World_, but they hated Crimson et al).

        As someone sometimes said, "anyone who dies without hearing 'Moon In
June', dies ignorant". It's on Third, obviously.

>>(Nothing from Caravan or Robery Wyatt listed.)

        I love "Dondestan" a lot. It was issued on Rough Trade, I believe, at
least in Europe. Also, Wyatt plays an important role on an old (and nearly
forgotten) solo album by Pink Floydean drummer Nick Mason. That was called
"Fictitious Sports" and was issued about 10 years ago. It's really different
from anything you may expect from any Pink Floyd, and if Wyatt and Carla Bley
share almost every song -- well, it's worth the money anyway :). Hey, this
will surely make me shake the dust off it tonight, it's always so -- somebody
asks and in the evening I automatically play what was discussed... "I'm a
mineralist..."

        Well, you all, have a swell day.
        And, if we don't get in touch, a swell Xmas, a swell 1993, a swell
everything, a swell..

        Ciao, Marco
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