August 5, 2002
Get a few positive emails regarding the Fool performance (including one from the organiser who wants us back for next year’s festival).
After a week of reading Frank Skinner and Douglas Coupland and mainly listening to old favourites (Bjork, Martyn, Mitchell, Davis etc…), in honour of the new S Club Juniors release, I go out and buy the latest King Crimson reissues. How contemporary!
Earthbound is fascinating. Totally unlike the quiet/loud Art Beauty of the band’s first four albums, it’s sometimes very good (Sailor’s Tale) and sometimes more like an orthodox blues band playing in a pub in Diss than the mighty King Crimson. Boz’s scat singing is mundane and on a couple of tracks RF sounds as if he’d rather be somewhere else (probably Diss). Mel Collins is, as ever, excellent.
USA is stunning and the remaster sounds immaculate. A distinctive band at a creative peak.
Thrak, to me, still sounds overproduced (especially in comparison to Vroom).
Overall, it’s an album that I’m still not sure about, although it’s undoubtedly very impressive in parts. Perhaps more importantly, it’s the sound of a band entering its fourth decade of existence and still caring about the noise it makes, with certain pieces (B’Boom, for instance) hinting at a fresh future.
In contact with Sid Smith regarding a possible Burning Shed release.
Sid’s late 70’s/early 80’s work is a wonderful snapshot of where electronic/ambient music was at at the time. Clearly influenced by Eno, Steve Reich and some early electro-pop (Cabaret Voltaire/Human League?), there’s a warmth to the recordings and some genuinely nice ideas. As a forgotten album from a distant age, it’s ideal Shed material.
Talk with Steven Wilson and Carl Glover regarding the new No-Man album and an offer that has recently emerged. Steven and Carl are all for going it alone, although I’m worried about the potential lack of profile that might entail.