Egg – "BBC Sessions And More (1968-1972)"

Eggs are an essential part of the modern Diet, and so are Prog Royalty Egg,served gloomy side up ,raw ,for your full English Breakfast.....No Black Pudding here however, as this stuff is as White as you can get.

The following statement of fact will make yer average Q-Anon cowboy twat vomit up his early morning Grits,but ,and once again, thank fuck for the BBC and the much maligned "Deep state" (who of course own the Beeb....not).Y'know WOT...they,yes 'They' can have it (da world).Which do you prefer? Living under the yoke of some fantastic secret world government running everything, or Egg?....I know which one i'd prefer....pssst,it begins with an 'E'.

 Despite having wiped a few medium sized warehouses of classic TV shows and Radio Sessions from a famously myopic period in popular culture before 68',they came good and preserved most of what was then becoming clear as a Golden age, even a  new Renaissance of the Arts.

Egg were one of those bands that one had heard of yet never bought their records. Obviously very talented musicians,they could play in any dodgy time signature one could care to mention....13/12 anyone?

Of course, this kinda talk is a real turn off for the ladies,or anyone non-binary,which seems to be everyone these days,so there's no great prospect of Egg making a comeback.Not that they'd want to,as the prospect of endless touring playing for static spotty longhairs,earning fuck all money, and never getting laid is a great reason for Punk Rock. However, as has now been well documented, most of the first wave of UK Punx were all into Egg,and in fact anything Prog as it turned out. The second wave were somewhat different,and stupider,so we get Sham 69, UK Subs and The Exploited.

EGG - extolling the benefits of a woolly sweater,and putting a brave face on not getting any (Adult) lady action  

You may have noticed the droning voice of a late Paedo-DJ introducing "Long Piece part 3" ,no not Jimmy Savile,the other one that got away with it by dying,whom is somewhat idolised by sad trainspotters comme moi,everywhere.He manages not to mention School Girls on this appearance,in reverence to Egg;but any proof you want can be found in his Biography,and on the cover of the Ruts "The Crack" LP; but like Glitter,one must separate the wheat from the chaff,and the man from the music. I hear the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury has now been re-named....don't wanna upset anyone who's middle-class now would we?

The last three tracks are in fact the pre and post Egg band Uriel/Arzachel, with Canterbury chum, Steve Hillage.A project put on Ice while Hillage was on University duty.The first 11 tracks are actually EGG,and markedly superior, no offence to Steven intended.

Would love to imagine a collaboration between Egg and Egg,Eggs,or even those Lovely Eggs? There being a small 50 year musical gap between the suggested incumbents. Noticing the terrible attempts at humour,on tracks 4 and 9,these more 'modern' type bands could certainly help out in that department. That's another thing the ladies,binary ones, or non-Binary ones,require in a sexual partner which,in lonely hearts app speak,a GSOH!

This acronym does however get trumped by a.... Ferrari of course.Sorry to be cynical (again!) but its a set in stone fact.

Notes for the very sad:

Tracks 1-3 recorded for BBC 'Sound Of The Seventies' on 22nd February 1972.
Track 4 recorded for BBC 'Sound Of The Seventies' on 13th March 1972.
Tracks 5 & 7 recorded live for BBC 'In Concert' on 4th February 1971.
Tracks 9-10 recorded for BBC 'Top Gear' on 5th September 1969.
Track 11 recorded live at Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London, 22nd February 1971.
Tracks 12-14 recorded at Studio 19, London in November 1968 as Uriel(otherwise known as Arzachel when Steve Hillage was around).

Tracklist:

1 Germ Patrol 5:30
2 Enneagram 8:45
3 Wring Out The Ground (Loosely Now) 7:57
4 There's No Business Like Show Business 3:12
5 A Visit To Newport Hospital 7:52

6 An Announcement by John Peel 0:31
7 Long Piece No. 3 (Parts 2, 3, 4) 16:38
8 While Growing My Hair 3:43
9 Seven Is A Jolly Good Time 3:05
10 McGillicuddle The Pusillanimous 4:56
11 Saturn 6:22
12 Swooping Bill 3:25
13 Ego Man 4:08
14 The Salesman Song 2:57

DOWNLOAD the egg that came before the chicken HERE!

Samla Mammas Manna - "Måltid" (Silence – SRS 4621) 1973

In a glaring attempt to pick something not Obvious from the groups who performed at the genre defining original Rock In Opposition Featival back in yee olde days of 1978. I give you a Swedish band who ,(A), aren't Abba, (B) contain no future ABBA collaborators or Members, and thirdly, (C), are certainly NOT Swedish Punk,or on a Killed by death compilation. All this blatant non-alignment with Swedish musical cliché,without even mentioning IKEA or Volvo, suggests a record of great promise.

As it turns out ,they are basically Canterbury Prog emulators with some rather annoying vocal bits that suggest a.....sharp intake of breath!.....sense of humour!? Prog Humour is never something to boast about,and is even more frown defining than even Psychedelic Humour. Comedy music is seldom recommended,99% of which ends in disaster and polite embarrassed applause. Especially if you're making serious music,and add a spot of  funny stuff to show that you don't take yourselves seriously,when you most obviously do.

I spotted this cover from afar,and thought it was a unhalfbricking style photograph of a pair of elderly types having a Gravelax sandwich....disappointingly it turns out to be a semi-photorealist painting,that, again may suggest prog humour!?

I'll tell you what definitely is NOT funny about this record,is that god-awful high-pitched, falsetto i think they call it, vocalizing.

You know that feeling you get when you trip over a crack in the paving,or are passed by an over revving Moped in first gear; that you momentarily wanna kill some fucker!?....that's how i feel when these Swedes from Canterbury make their silly hi-pitched noises.

Other than that it's okay.

It would be five years before the inauguration of Rock In Opppostion,so maybe they sacked off the vocals by 1978?

I've never been brave enough to try and find out.

I understand that the Turkish objections to Sweden joining NATO were based around having heard this record. Now NATO are considering using it to counteract all that state approved prog on the old Soviet official record label that Putin has been secretly hoarding alongside the Novichok;.. Melodija(its spelt several different ways smartarses!).

Tracklisting:

1 Dundrets Fröjder 10:43
2 Oförutsedd Förlossning 3:10
3 Den Återupplivade Låten 5:53
4 Folkvisa I Morse 2:07
5 Syster System 2:27
6 Tärningen 3:33
7 Svackorpoängen 3:11
8 Minareten 8:21
9 Værelseds Tilbud 2:26
10 Minareten II 4:40
11 Circus Apparatha 6:02
12 Probably The Probably 3:54

DOWNLOAD some flatpack canterbury prog via sweden HERE!

Moving Gelatine Plates – "Moving Gelatine Plates" (CBS – S 64399) 1971

CBS (Can Be Shit), not very DIY (Do It Yourself) I know, but however misguided the corporate interest,these evil organisations can sometimes do world culture a favour and provide for us monkeys something worthwhile.Yep, it's the Moving Gelatine Plates' debut album, which,despite an inferior cover to its successor is,probably,slightly, better? Yes dey waz a gallic Canterbury scene Soft Machine tribute band in essence,but if you close your eyes it could actually be our heroes reformed and back on Soft Machine's Third form?...well almost.

Inevitably,the corporate interest waned when the dumb bastards(CBS) realised they weren't gonna get a number one hit on the Billboard top 200, and sadly had to cease spinning the plates and let them crash to the floor.As was the destiny of 99.999994% of all pop groups (figures taken from the national office of Statistics).It's dog eat dog out there,but you might get laid for your troubles,which is basically all a young male human wants out of life anyway so who's complaining?Money and fame you will NOT get......especially in the present.

Without randy dick-led show-offs there would have been no new inventions,new discoveries,No Art,and forever relevant to this blog, FUCK ALL MUSIC!

As your author's labido is currently winding down,this blog's continuation is in the greasy hands of mother nature;although I have yet to get laid because of my wordy internet activities,at least not to my knowledge.I did wake up in a post alcohol stuper  a few times with a sore arsehole.....but the doctor assures me that was just hemorrhoids or a Freudian Adjective about myself?  

Shit! That means the only reason for making music theses days is "Art for Arts Sake" for Fucks Sake!....hey,wasn't that a song by 10cc?

Tracklist:

1 London Cab 8:30
2 X-25 2:00
3 Gelatine 8:10
4 Last Song 15:20
5 Memories 3:15
6 Destruction 2:47
7 Tout Autour De Toi 4:13
8 Fréquence Nocturne 4:22
9 Solaria 3:45

DOWNLOAD the very moving gelatine plates HERE!

Moving Gelatine Plates – "The World Of Genius Hans" (CBS – CBS 64146) 1972

Prog died the day the Moving Gelatine Plates signed to CBS.

Not really, but it sounds good dunnit?

Often compared to Caravan and other Canterbury scene proggers, MGP sound most like jazzy era Soft Machine,who are also lumped in with the Canterbury lot themselves;mainly because some of the members came from that sleepy tourist hotspot and UNESCO world heritage site in Kent,known as Canterbury.The one which gave us,not only The Soft Machine,Caravan and Egg,but Geoffrey Chaucer as well.

Luckily for the  bands who sprung up in small numbers in Saint Thomas a Becket's old stamping ground,where Tom took one for the team; with almost saintly impeccable timing,the M2 had just been finished by the end of 1965,coinciding with the beginning of the UK Psych era. So Soft Machine and buddies had plenty of gigs at UFO and Middle Earth awaiting them in swinging London,just at the other end of the motorway.

Sadly for the Gelatine Plates, they were stuck on the pop music desert island of France,where Soft Machine were becoming rather popular too.So there was plenty of work awaiting any Soft Machine tribute bands who turned up,when the real thing weren't off partying in London.

Despite that Ker-razzy name,and the bizarre cover art,the band don't really live up to their promise.Its all fairly standard Canterbury style jazz prog,nothing wrong with that,but, that was being done elsewhere,dare I say better? There were dozens of petit Soft Machines everywhere in Europe,especially in Germany,where it now gets called 'Krautrock'......but,you silly hipsters, its obviously Canterbury rock innit?

I ain't got two or three hundred quid at hand to buy a copy of this on vinyl,but the CD is reasonably priced,but not as reasonably priced as it is on here.

The bonus tracks are shite from 1980,but they are included just in case you're bothered?

Tracklist:

1 The World Of Genius Hans 14:00
2 Funny Doll 4:25
3 Astromonster 6:15
4 Moving Theme 3:46
5 Cauchemar 3:46
6 We Were Lovin' Her 3:28
7 Un Jour... 1:25
8 Syntheme 3:28
9 L'Alchimiste 3:20
10 Les Êtres D'Or 5:50
11 Ombres 3:30
12 Rire De Peine 7:07

DOWNLOAD this machine molleux HERE!