So Many Confused Words

I missed Kevin Ayers' 80th birthday on 16th August so by way of compensation, here's an hour long, 15-track selection for your listening pleasure.

Although I've had Joy Of A Toy and whatevershebringswesing for a few years, I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to Kevin's music. This selection draws from a limited number of albums and odds and sods, covering 1969 to 1973. 

I don't love everything that Kevin recorded and some of the lyrics are teeth-grindingly bad or off-colour at times, but there is so much gold to discover. 

I won't attempt a biography or to write about Kevin's origins in Soft Machine, as I don't know enough and there are much better-written blogs out there. What will I say is that sometimes compiling a selection is more than just a pleasure. I enjoy creating every one but this was one of the 'special ones', where sequencing each track was a joy.

When I started, I had in mind a 'quick' post, maybe 10 songs and 45 minutes. It ended up that the music dictated the shape, the form and duration, so you get 15 songs and 60 minutes instead. Lose yourself for an hour in the strolling bass, the guitar and piano harmonies, the duck calls and that deep, rich voice.

Nearly brought tears to my eyes.

 

1) Singing A Song In The Morning (Single Version): Kevin Ayers & The Whole World (1970)

2) Stars (Single Version): Kevin Ayers & The Whole World ft. The Ladybirds (1971)

3) whatevershebringswesing: Kevin Ayers (1972)

4) The Lady Rachel (Unreleased Single Version): Kevin Ayers & The Whole World ft. The Ladybirds (1972)

5) When Your Parents Go To Sleep: Kevin Ayers ft. Archie Legget (1973)

6) Gemini Chile (Alan Black Session): Kevin Ayers (1970)

7) Song For Insane Times: Kevin Ayers ft. Soft Machine (1969)

8) May I?: Kevin Ayers & The Whole World (1970)

9) The Interview (Top Gear Session): Kevin Ayers (1970)

10) Hymn: Kevin Ayers ft. Robert Wyatt (1973)

11) Clarence In Wonderland (Album Version): Kevin Ayers & The Whole World (1970)

12) Oh! Wot A Dream: Kevin Ayers (1973)

13) The Oyster And The Flying Fish: Kevin Ayers & The Whole World ft. Bridget St. John (1970)

14) There Is Loving / Among Us / There Is Loving: Kevin Ayers (1972)

15) All This Crazy Gift Of Time: Kevin Ayers (1969)

 

1969: Joy Of A Toy: 7, 15

1970: Shooting At The Moon: 8, 11, 13

1970: Singing A Song In The Morning EP: 1

1971: Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes EP: 2

1972: whatevershebringswesing: 3, 14

1973: Bananamour: 5, 10, 12

1976: Odd Ditties: 4 

2005: The BBC Sessions 1970-1976: 6, 9

So Many Confused Words (1:00:05) (KF) (Mega)

Daylight Saving

Seventy four minutes of Ultramarine aka Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond.

I think the first music I heard of theirs would have been the single Kingdom featuring Robert Wyatt, released in the summer of 1993. It was like nothing else I'd heard: an adaptation of a 19th century song, sung by the man I'd first encountered on Top Of The Pops, performing Shipbuilding, backed by music that was contemporary electronica yet pastoral and folky. I was hooked.

Ian and Paul have been making music together for over four decades now, initially as part of 5-piece A Primary Industry, who released a trio of singles and a sole album in 1986 titled, you guessed it, Ultramarine. Their debut album Folk emerged in 1990, they had a 13-year 'break' between 1998 and 2011, and their most recent release was a remix EP of $10 Heel (featuring Anna Domino) in 2022. 

 

In between, there have been multiple albums, EPs, remixes and collaborations. Far too many to reliably cover in a 12-song selection, but here's my attempt to capture the sunshine.

 

Robert Wyatt collaborated on several songs on 1993 album United Kingdoms. Happy Land featured here in April 2021 and was also released as a single, remixed by Aswad founder member Drummie Zeb as a glorious vocal and dub reggae sunsplash anthem.

Chris Coco remixed Ultramarine on the Nightfall In Sweetleaf EP way back in 1992. Nearly quarter of a century later, Ultramarine repaid the favour with a remix from his album How To Disappear Completely.

Japanese artists (and/or their labels) have a particular fascination with electronic artists reworking their back catalogue: Yellow Magic Orchestra, Fantastic Plastic Machine, Soft Ballet have all got in on the act. Tokyo-based female pop group Nav Katze released two volumes of Never Mind The Distortion in the 1990s, both worth looking up. Ultramarine opened the first of these in 1994 with an excellent remix of Nobody Home.

 

Black Hearted Brother are a super group of sorts, a 4-piece formed around the core of Mark Van Hoen (Locust) and Neil Halstead (Slowdive). There was a sole album - Stars Are Our Home - in 2013 and Got Your Love received the remix treatment from Ultramarine the following year.

Iain Ballamy is a noted composer and saxophonist. In 1996, the compilation Music With No Name Volume One (also highly recommended) included Ultramarine's remix of All Men Amen, the title track of Iain's 1994 album.

I discovered Tranquility Bass aka Michael Kandel via an Astralwerks sampler CD. We All Want To Be Free was remixed from the 1997 album Let The Freak Flag Fly and is the longest track on this selection, nine minutes of blissed out beats and circular vocals. Sadly, Michael passed on 17th May 2015. You can find some of the final Tranquility Bass releases on Bandcamp.

Woo are brothers Clive and Mark Ives who have been making music even longer than Ultramarine. However, their worlds finally converged in 2020, Ultramarine providing a remix of Arc II to close Woo's album Arcturian Corridor.

 

The selection began with a prog legend and so it ends in the same way, with fellow Soft Machine alumni Kevin Ayers, er, covering one of his own songs.

Hymn originally appeared on Kevin's 1973 album Bananamour and Ultramarine recorded their own version, until legal bullshit nearly put paid to the single's release, full stop. Happily, Hymn finally saw the light of day in 1996 with two CD singles packed full of songs and remixes. The 'lead' version and several reworks feature the gorgeous vocals of David McAlmont. However, it could only ever be Kevin's version to bring this selection to a fitting close.

If you like what you hear, you can find many of the more recent Ultramarine releases via the Real Soon label on Bandcamp.

 

1) Happy Land (Remixed By Drummie Zeb): Ultramarine ft. Robert Wyatt (1994)

2) It An Tells Ya (Ultramarine Remix): Chris Coco (2016)

3) Nobody Home (Ultramarine Mix): Nav Katze (1994)

4) Hooter (Album Version): Ultramarine (1993)

5) Got Your Love (Ultramarine Remix): Black Hearted Brother (2014) 

6) British Summertime (Album Version): Ultramarine (1991)

7) All Men Amen (Ultramarine Remix): Iain Ballamy (1996)

8) Citizen: Ultramarine ft. Pooka (1995)

9) $10 Heel: Ultramarine ft. Anna Domino (2019)

10) We All Want To Be Free (Ultramarine Remix): Tranquility Bass (1997)

11) Arc II (Ultramarine Remix): Woo (2020)

12) Hymn (Ultramarine - Kevin Ayers Version): Ultramarine (1996) 

 

1991: Every Man And Woman Is A Star: 6

1993: United Kingdoms: 4

1994: Barefoot EP: 1

1994: Never Mind The Distortion: 3 

1995: Bel Air: 8 

1996: Hymn EP: 12

1996: Music With No Name Volume One: 7 

1997: We All Want To Be Free EP: 10

2014: Got Your Love EP: 5

2016: It An Tells Ya EP: 2 

2019: Signals Into Space: 9

2020: Arcturian Corridor: 11

 

Daylight Saving (1:14:09) (KF) (Mega)

Diving For Pearls

Side 1 of a CD-R compiled by Atom Boy @ Metropolis Studios, Shizuoka, Japan, for me and Mrs. K in November 2004.

I've split this 20-track compilation into two vinyl facsimile sides as tracks 10 and 11 feel very much like the close of one side and the start of another. Also, I'm recreating this mix and writing this post very, very late on a Friday night-into-Saturday morning and I'm likely to fall asleep at the keyboard if I attempt the whole mix in one go...

So, this was a gift from my sibling, who was living on the other side of the world at the time. I'm not quite sure what the occasion was - it was out of synch for an anniversary, birthday or Christmas gift so it may well have been a random act of generosity.

On paper, this side is a great mix of alternative classics from the 1980s, nudging into the 1990s, with a ton of teen favourites. The only thing that marred the original CD-R was that the compilation coincided with Atom Boy's discovery of open source mixing and editing software, so every track was cross-faded into the other, without exception to unfortunately irritating effect. My recreation has ditched that for a more traditional, but hopefully more sympathetic segue from one song to the next.

But I can't deny that the track listing is really very wonderful. Side 2 is equally beautiful and you won't have to wait too long to find out why.

1) Bedbugs And Ballyhoo (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen (1985)

2) Down On Mission Street (Album Version): Lloyd Cole & The Commotions (1984)

3) Life In A Northern Town (7" Mix): The Dream Academy (1985)

4) Powderfinger (Cover of Neil Young): Cowboy Junkies (1990)

5) An Elegant Chaos (Album Version): Julian Cope (1984)

6) Rainy Season (Album Version): Howard Devoto (1983)

7) Shipbuilding: Robert Wyatt (1982)

8) The End Of The Affair: Weekend (1982)

9) The Last Dictator I: Crime & The City Solution (1990)

10) For One Moment (Cover of Lee Hazlewood): Marc Almond (1986)

1982: La Varieté: 8

1982: Shipbuilding EP: 7

1983: Jerky Versions Of The Dream: 6

1984: Rattlesnakes: 2

1984: World Shut Your Mouth: 5

1985: Bring On The Dancing Horses EP: 1

1985: The Dream Academy: 3

1986: A Woman's Story EP: 10

1990: Paradise Discotheque: 9

1990: The Caution Horses: 4

Side One (40:10)

Plague Songs

In 2006, 4AD released an album called Plague Songs, where a variety of artists perform songs based on the ten biblical plagues described in Exodus. The songs were originally commissioned and performed as part of Exodus Day on 30th September 2006 and you can read more about this on The Margate Exodus website.

The line-up is impressive: Brian Eno & Robert Wyatt, Laurie Anderson, Cody ChesnuTT, The Tiger Lillies, Imogen Heap, Scott Walker, Rufus Wainwright, King Creosote, Stephin Merritt/The Magnetic Fields and Klashnekoff; the reality is that the album is a hit-and-miss affair. I picked up my copy from a bargain bin at Fopp in Bristol many years ago for a couple of quid, so it was worth the punt.

 

You can listen to the entire Plague Songs album on YouTube. Rather than picking a "favourite" tune, I've mashed Scott Walker's acapella with Brian Eno & Robert Wyatt's layered 'human fly' swarm, with a little bit of tweaking and editing here and there to create a composite sampler. 

 

Normal service will hopefully resume on Friday. 

 

Flies / Darkness (Khayem's Phlegmatic Mash-Up): Brian Eno / Robert Wyatt / Scott Walker (2021)

 

Forever Green

On 27th August 2020, I had the privilege of having my first guest posting on The Vinyl Villain, part of the long-running and always excellent Imaginary Compilation Album series. I chose to feature Scritti Politti aka Green Gartside, in my opinion one of the finest voices and songwriters there is. The ICA featured 10 songs, spanning 1979-2020, plus a bonus EP with 4 Green Gartside collaborations and guest spots. 

 

To celebrate - and in growing excitement at the prospect of seeing Scritti Politti live in concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London in 5 weeks' time - here's both sides of a mixtape that I recorded on 24th April 2000. I'm pretty sure I did a previous version of this for a girlfriend in the early 1990s, with a fairly similar tracklist. The mixtape title is a play on Gartside's name but it would also have been inspired by the completely unrelated song by Finitribe. 

 

This selection focuses very squarely on the 'pop' period, covering the albums Songs To Remember (1982), Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985) and Provision (1988), plus a few 12" mixes thrown in for good measure. Several tracks have been taken from vinyl rips and earlier CD issues, so please excuse the variable quality across each side but turn up the volume and enjoy some perfect pop sounds for the next hour and a half.

Today's post is dedicated to JC, for his encouragement and positive feedback with each guest post, and The Vinyl Villain family, who have been a constant source of inspiration and motivation, particularly in the pandemic years, both on TVV and their own music blogs. Thank you!

 

Side One (46:23)

1) First Boy In This Town (Lovesick) (Extended Remix) (1988)

2) A Little Knowledge (Album Version ft. B.J. Nelson) (1985)

3) The 'Sweetest Girl' (Album Version ft. Robert Wyatt) (1982)

4) Sugar And Spice (1988)

5) Faithless (Triple Hep 'n' Blue) (Part I) (12" Edit) (1982)

6) Overnite (1988)

7) Philosophy Now (Album Version) (1988)

8) Perfect Way (Album Version) (1985)

9) Gettin', Havin' And Holdin' (1982)

Side Two (46:28)

1) Absolute (Version) (Remix By Gary Langan) (1984)

2) Best Thing Ever (Album Version) (1987)

3) Jacques Derrida (Extended Version) (1982)

4) Sex (1982)

5) Hypnotize (Long) (Remix By Gary Langan) (1984)

6) Asylums In Jerusalem (Album Version) (1982)

7) Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) (Album Version) (1985)

8) Boom! There She Was (Sonic Property Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero) (UK Edit ft. Roger Troutman) (1988)

9) Oh Patti (Don't Feel Sorry For Loverboy) (12" Version ft. Miles Davis) (1988)

Side One (46:23)

Side Two (46:28)

If that's whetted your appetite for more Scritti Politti goodness, I posted another item in July, featuring a selection of radio sessions.

 

Scritti Politti's official website lists the upcoming UK tour dates in September and October and available tickets and (as yet) nothing else. In November, Scritti Politti will be supporting O.M.D. on 6 dates of their Architecture & More UK tour

Happy Land

From 1993, Ultramarine with Robert Wyatt on vocals and lyrics adapted from a parody of the popular patriotic Victorian song of the same name.

My favourite version is the remix by Aswad's drummer & founding member Angus Gaye aka Drummie Zeb, with it's vocal and dub halves. You'll find it on the Barefoot EP from 1994 and 2011's expanded digital version of the United Kingdoms albums.

Happy Sunday!

 

Ultramarine - Happy Land (promo video) 

Ultramarine - Happy Land (Remix By Drummie Zeb)