National Health

CARAVAN were the other half of the WILDE FLOWERS - the SOFT MACHINE being the other - that originated in Canterbury, Kent. The band itself was originally formed in early 1968 by guitarist/vocalist Pye HASTINGS, keyboardist Dave SINCLAIR, bassist/vocalist Richard SINCLAIR (later of HATFIELD & THE NORTH, NATIONAL HEALTH, etc.), and drummer Richard COUGHAN. All four members of CARAVAN were, at one time or another, in that band. They were a leading exponent of what became known as "the Canterbury sound". “In the land of Grey and Pink” is one of Caravan’s finest albums, possibly THE finest. While the centrepiece is the side long “Nine feet underground”, the complete album offers a melodic and coherent 40 minutes. A truly superb album, worthy of any music collection (prog or otherwise!).

Recorded at various European performances from the spring of 1972, this is a substantial addition to the catalog of a band that only put out two studio albums. The sound is good, and the performances almost wholly instrumental art jazz-rock, not far removed from those heard in the early 1970s by the Soft Machine, drummer/singer Robert Wyatt's previous band. It's electric pianist Bill McRae who wrote most of the material. Wyatt goes off into some wordless scats at one point, but these aren't conventional rock-songs-with-lyrics at all. There is an admirable variety of textures with some distortion and buzzing, cooked up by McRae and guitarist Phil Miller, but it doesn't boast very accessible melodic ideas, preferring to furrow into angular and at times ominous progressions. The eerie, lectronically treated vocal scatting on Wyatt's mischievously titled "Instant Pussy" is a highlight. Five of the nine songs, incidentally, do not appear on the band's studio albums.

Richie Unterberger

Somewhere between National Health, Soft Machine, Henry Cow, and the original Mothers Of Invention lies the sound of this album by The Muffins. The music is primarily played by four core multi-instrumentalists: Billy Swan, Paul Sears, Tom Scott and Dave Newhouse (of course it helps to let Wayside Music/Cuneiform Records owner Steve Feigenbaum play on the album). The result is a wonderful journey through sometimes improvised, sometimes tightly written, jazzy rock music…

Area's uncompromising blend of jazz-rock, ethnic folk, experimentation, and political philosophies made them a unique presence in Italy during the 1970s…

Empire is the creation of Rolf Munkes, one of the most talented German metal guitarists. Although he isn't much of a brainstorming judging by the band name, he is one hell of a string bender and song writer which he once again proves with the third Empire album. "The Raven Ride" is however lifted to an even higher level by the voice of Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath) whose experience comes in more than handy. As usual Munkes has scored an all-star line-up and Neil Murray provides his finger skills once again while André Hilgers (Axxis, Silent Force, Razorback) makes his debut behind the drums.

Brainville is a collaboration between Shimmy Disc founder Kramer and three of the legends of Canterbury rock, Gong founder Daevid Allen, Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper, and Pip Pyle, who drummed for Gong, Hatfield and the North, and National Health. Despite three of the musicians having made their names during the psychedelic and progressive rock eras, the band's music has a contemporary sound. Kramer collaborated with both Allen and Hopper on two albums each and so it was only a matter of time before he collaborated with both at once.