Matching Mole
music — UK — 1972

6.5
I`m not sure whether this was recorded before or after the bands leader Robert Wyatt fell out of a window and got paralyzed from the waist southwards but he still doesn`t need much of his drumming skills on this album. The record is very quiet and absolutely uncommercial (which is no wonder knowing that Wyatt rarely has tried to become a charts favourite on the course of his quite long career). The album opens with my favourite Matching Mole song ever (which isn`t that much of an achievement though for the band with two albums) - "O Caroline" is a very heartfelt and beautifully arranged ballad. The following "Instant Pussy" is much more daring with quite a few mood changes and weird laughing sounds (a bit similar to that on Wyatt`s solo "The end of an ear"). The third song - "Signed Curtains" - has some of the greatest lyrics captured on a record ever, mostly it`s just a piano with Wyatt singing the number of the verse, including the following lines: "And this is a chorus / or perhaps it`s a bridge / or just another part of the song / that i`m singing". On "Part of the dance" the band suddenly learns to rock out and does that pretty well. After that follows another song with the word "instant" in the title, this time it`s "Instant Kitten" - quite a good instrumental. That is followded by "Dedicated to Hugh..." - now that`s a song I don`t like, for it`s somewhat head-ache inducing. And the following "Beer as a braindeer" isn`t very apalling either. And in the end we are treated with another "Curtain" song - "Immediate Curtain". What`s with the song titles anyway? Perhaps there`s some sort of a story behind the album although that would be strange considering that most of the pieces are instrumental. Anyhow, I really enjoy the first side but the second side is too untrivial for my dumb taste.
2006-03-13
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