Camberwell Now - "Live Basel, Kulturwerkstatt Kaserne 16/06/1984" (Bootleg)

A great, crystal clear, radio performance recording from Basel in Switzerland, in front of a small but ,eventually, enthusiastic audience. Lots of amusing stage banter, and a great set from this ignored This Heat spin off;.......as has been said, its more of a Matching Mole/Soft Machine relationship to their former band, than an actual continuation. There's also an interesting interview tacked on, which gives a overview of Stephen Rickard's 'Machine', which was basically a cassette version of the Mellotron,and a precursor to the sampler.

Kulturwerkstatt Kaserne
16 June 1984

Charles Hayward - voice, drums, keyboards etc.
Trefor Goronway - voice, bass, percussion etc.
Stephan Rickard - recordings, tapes etc.

1-9 (aud.) with sony TCS-310 Walkman/built-in microphone
10 from FM radio

Tracklist:

1. Tuning
2. Working Nights
3. Daddy Needs A Throne
4. Speculative fiction
5. Sitcom
6. Wheat Futures
7. Green Lantern
8. The Ghost trade
9. The End
10 Interview Radio DRS III june 1984.

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Camberwell Now - "Live @ Tegan Tonen Frestival, Amsterdam 08/05/1986"

At last a high quality live recording of post This Heat avant-prog combo Camberwell Now. As captured by VPRO Radio at the Tegen Tonen Festival in Amsterdam in 1986.
This band never really did themselves justice on vinyl, and were better heard in a live situation. A slightly mellower and less abrasive offspring of This Heat. Most notable for ex-Heat sound engineer Stephen Rickard's mellotron inspired cassette-based 'sampler' invention.

Track Listing:

1- Working Nights
2- Daddy Needs A Throne
3- Sitcom
4- identity parade
5- Billboard and Beyond
6- Greenfingers
7- Green lantern

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Charles Hayward ‎– "Survive The Gesture" (Ink Records ‎– INK 31) 1987

Charles Hayward,drummer and voice of This Heat and Camberwell Now, makes solo album that sounds not unlike his previous groups,except Quiet Sun of course! Mainly because they were built around his idiosyncratic drumming style,his identifiable vocals,unless you mistake him for a more in yer face Robert Wyatt, and his unimpeachable politics.

I especially like the damning critique of humanity of the first track “Make Believe”,which is full of profound couplets concerning the short sighted stupidity of human 'progress'; a “We're Burning our houses to keep ourselves warm”, kind of thing.

The rest of the album keeps on with the same style, a minimalist This Heat with everyone except Charles Hayward faded out kind of sound. All that’s left are the drums and the voice,with a few accompanying keyboards,and the odd session bassist joining in,in an understated way naturally.

I've heard a few Charles Hayward LP's,and this is the best one in my humbles.

Tracklist :

 
A1 Make Believe 4:31
A2 Lets Pretend 3:01 

A3 North Southwark 3:18
A4 Pretend To Believe 3:43
A5 Crystal Palace 7:38
B1 This Misunderstanding 2:44
B2 You And Me 3:37
B3 Time And Motion 3:18
B4 That Distant Light 4:19
B5 Australia 4:45 

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Camberwell Now ‎– "Dejaunost V Studentskem" (Nikad Robom ‎– 004) 1987

Camberwell Now were a different proposition in a live situation, where Steve Rickard's innovative analogue sampling method,"The Tape Switchboard", could be used to the max. Strangely subtle on the studio recordings,but less so on this live cassette recorded in  Ljubljana in former Yugoslavia(Now Slovenia).

The acoustics of this venue has the ambient qualities of a large steel drum,so the sound is pretty harsh,like its being played over one of those awful public announcement systems at a railway station.Very noisy.

Nevertheless, this is a rare document of live Camberwell Now,and is therefore of great interest to those with a This Heat OCD.

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Camberwell Now ‎– "Greenfingers" (INK Records ‎– INK 1224) 1987

Another This Heat rehash, gives this EP it's title,and opening track. This again suffers from losing Charles Bullen's guitar melody,as best heard on the 1982 European tour bootlegs,like “live in Amsterdam”. There is one original on this record that I absolutely love,and is strangely one of my favourite songs ever!?....”Know How”,is a profound reflection on the bizarre stand off that exists between this planets (not so) secret rulers and the controlled masses. We all know whats going on,and we know that they know,and they know that we know!? Hidden in plain sight like a gorilla on a basketball court ,nobody notices he's there because they are so distracted by the game. But we know he's out there puncturing the ball,and selling it back to the referee. Just because they're out to get you,doesn't mean you're paranoid.

The simple melody harmonises perfectly with the truth of the text,to make a sad indictment of the human character....”If you knew how, you'd do it too”. Its the same trait that turns pop stars from great and talented people into Arseholes. Of course we all like to think that we wouldn't turn into the worst kind of meglamaniac given a smidgen of power;but the sad fact is 99% of us do.History has shown endless examples,from traffic wardens/extermination camp guards,to Local Politicians/Genocidal Dictators. You total fucking Arseholes! Love Jonny Zchivarsehole.

Tracklist:

A Greenfingers  5:40
B1 Mystery Of The Fence  3:10
B2 Know How  3:42
B3 Element Unknown  1:32

 

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Camberwell Now – "The Ghost Trade" (Ink Records ‎– INK 19) 1986

An definite improvement on “Meridian” was Camberwell Now's debut LP, “The Ghost Trade”. Starting off with old This Heat number, “Working Nights” it begins to sound less like solo Wyatt, and more like Camberwell Now; although far inferior to This Heats version,as heard on The “Live in Amsterdam” bootleg, it misses the lead guitar melody provided by the absent Charles Bullen.

“Sitcom” sustains the standard sufficiently,to excuse the blatant disco of “Speculative Fiction”.

This fine album finishes off with the classic “Green Lantern”,and the title track, which marks some kind of a return to form.

Tracklist:

Working Nights 7:41
Sitcom 4:40
Wheat Futures 6:11
Speculative Fiction 6:09
Green Lantern 3:11
The Ghost Trade 11:11 

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Camberwell Now ‎– "Meridian" (Duplicate Records ‎– 0011) 1983

Camberwell Now was basically the line up of This Heat's 1982 European Tour,minus Charles Bullen. A sort of This Heat-lite,much missing Bullens guitar, and sounding more like a Robert Wyatt tribute band rather than the vicious angular unit of 1977-81. Also missed are Gareth Williams' non-musicianly contributions.He left This Heat in 81,and that was effectively the end.

Basically Charles Hayward and backing band, Camberwell released their debut recording quickly after the 'split', the maritime themed “Meridian”. A fairly staid affair, with only 'Daddy Needs a Throne' touching on the intensity of Hayward's previous groups work; but interesting nonetheless, especially if you like Robert Wyatt's solo work.

  

Tracklist :

A1	Cutty Sark
A2	Trade Winds
A3	Pearl Divers
B1	Spirit Of Dunkirk
B2	Splash

 

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