Track Listing

1. Marchides/Instant Pussy/Smoke Signal
2. Part Of The Dance
3. No 'Alf Measures
4. Lithing And Gracing
5. Immediate Kitten
6. Instant Pussy
7. Lithing And Gracing
8. Marchides
9. Part Of The Dance
10. Brandy As In Benj

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43468 in Music
• Released on: 2007-02-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .16 pounds

Customer Reviews

Wyatt's Prog Mole
If you have a soft spot for Matching Mole - Robert Wyatt's short lived post-Soft Machine band, you'll enjoy this 77 minute round up of BBC recordings from 1972 - 3 Peel sessions & a Radio One in Concert. However I hesitate to recommend it for several reasons. If you are a fan of Wyatt's later career you may be disappointed - there are no songs, hardly any vocals & apart from a nice instrumental arrangement of Kevin Ayers' No Alf Measures there are no "tunes" as such. The music is basically riffs & noodling jamming led by Phil Miller's speedy guitar & Dave Macrae's electric piano. Musically it's not as accomplished as Soft Machine - it's not really jazz rock but more like prog with the usual prog mix of intricacy & bluster. And, surprisingly for 70s BBC sessions, there are sound quality issues. The notes are a bit confusing but it seems two of the Peel sessions are sourced from "recorded from air" tapes by a fan - not BBC masters (presumably lost) & you certainly notice the inferior sound on those tracks. Nevertheless, despite these caveats, this is an authorized, worthy & nicely packaged release & will be a useful addition to the 2 studio albums for long-time Mole fans or Canterbury aficionados.

Match All Previous Moles and More
Robert Wyatt has said that this is the definative Matching Mole album which I would almost agree with. Little Red Record to my mind will always be a singular listening experience, especially in it's side 2 first CD format, but this CD is excellent and will definitely be getting a lot of play from me. It is certainly worth having and will be a worthwhile addition to any Matching Mole fans collection and is more complete than either March or Smoke Signals, both of which are really good but a bit too rough around the edges in places and although the recording quality is a bit rough in the odd place here this in no way detracts from the pure pleasure of hearing a brilliant band at the height of their powers.

There is certainly a unified feel about this album with Robert Wyatt well settled into the group setting. This is as strong a Mole experience as you will hear, I would strongly recommend it.

I am always torn when I consider what the next Matching Mole music would have been like had Robert Wyatt not had to modify is musical direction in respose to his changed circumstances following his accident. I am tantalised by this music and what he would have done next in a new matching Mole but I also love his solo work. He has also contributed significantly to a number of other bands albums; his collaboration with Phil Manzanera on Vozcero is outstanding